Week 5: The Doll People

Book Cover Image:

 Book Summary:

This book is about a group of porcelain dolls that are “alive” and have lived in the same house for a hundred years. Annabelle Doll is the main character and has many adventures in this book. She is forever 8 years old and meets a new friend, Tiffany Funcraft that is plastic. She is a newer doll but they are just the right age to become best friends. This book mainly features an adventure these two girls go on, and to some extent this whole doll world goes on, to find Annabelle’s Auntie Sarah who has been lost for 45 years. With the help of Auntie Sarah’s journal, they just might find her. They have several exciting ventures out of their doll houses that are sometimes scary. If they get caught by a human doing something so human-like, like talking, they could become a permanent doll and live in doll state forever. This is because the Doll family took an oath to protect their secret way of life and this would jeopardize that life. The punishment is to become a regular doll again and not “live” like the other dolls. This book is suspenseful and is recommended for grades 3 through 5.

  

APA Reference:

Martin, A. M., & Godwin, L. (2000). The doll people. New York, NY: Hyperion Books

            for Children.

My Impressions:

This is a great book for grades 3 through 5. I think even 2^nd grade would really enjoy this but maybe as a story time book. It has much of what children this age like in a book, mystery and fantasy. There is quite a lot of action, too. There are several great parts of this book that really stuck out. One was when Annabelle Doll asked her family if she were missing would they come out of the doll house and try to find her. This shows how courageous Annabelle Doll is to risk so much to find her Aunt Sarah. Another moment in the book that I thought was really sweet and many little girls reading this could relate to, is when Tiffany gave Annabelle a best friends necklace. Each of them have half the heart to wear that says, “Best Friends.” And the last favorite part I like is the ending of this book where the Doll’s current owner, Kate, wonders if they are really “alive.” I love the way children are encouraged to imagine and fantasize with the events of this book. Also, the illustrator, Brian Selznick does a fantastic job bringing life to the dolls with his pencil drawings. It gives the old world feel like back in the day when many girls actually played with porcelain dolls. Even though this book might be leaning toward more of a girl type book, boys this age can also enjoy the fantasy and mystery part of it. 

  

Professional Review:

“Grade 3-5-A lighthearted touch and a dash of drama make this a satisfying read. When Annabelle Doll finds her Aunt Sarah's journal, she hopes it offers a clue to the whereabouts of her aunt, who has been missing for 45 years. Annabelle is forever eight years old-the same age as Kate, the current owner of the Victorian dollhouse in which she and her family have lived for the past century. Their new neighbors, the all-plastic Funcrafts, who arrive for Kate's younger sister's birthday, are modern and brashly confident. Their pink plastic house has a barbecue, a computer, and a VCR. Tiffany, the Funcraft doll-girl, is just the right age to be a first real friend for Annabelle, and her daring spirit inspires the child's quest for her aunt. Determined and brave, she persuades her cautious parents to let her venture out of the dollhouse in search of her relative. Along with the usual perils of moving about in the real world, there is the risk of being seen by a human and succumbing to "doll state" or even worse, "permanent doll state." Selznick's illustrations are perfectly suited to the innocent charm of the dolls and do much to draw readers into their world. The delightful endpapers, which resemble pages from toy catalogs past and present, tell their own tale about the characters. A light and uncomplicated fantasy/adventure in the tradition of Rumer Godden's doll stories or even Pam Conrad's The Tub People (HarperCollins, 1989).”

Review Reference:

Meizner, K. (2000, November 1). [Review of the book The doll people, by A. M. Martin

& L. Godwin]. School Library Journal, 46(11), 128. Retrieved from http://www.schoollibraryjournal.com/

Library Uses:

Focus ages: elementary students grades 3 through 5:

This book could be used as the first chapter book used in a series reading. It would probably take all school year to finish the whole series. The librarian could read to the students at story time and the classroom teacher could, too. Once this series of books is completed, the class could hold a discussion of the process of this series reading.  Also, between books, they could do write some predictions of what they think will occur throughout the book series. They could then share their predictions once completed.