"Finding Walter",originally published in 1997 is a book Ivy and I got from the library, and I read to her ,when she was little. She enjoyed it a lot. We never owned a copy though. I always meant to get one,but all I could find were used copies,and a nice one was always what I considered over priced for a used book. Since deciding to do a monthly doll book post I had again been thinking about trying to find a copy of "Finding Walter". I finally found one listed as 'used, very good condition' on a site called Thriftbooks. It was a very good price, better than the paper backs I'd been seeing on Ebay,and it was supposed to be a hard back. When it came I found out it was a first edition hard back,with dust jacket,which didn't even seem to have been read beyond the first 20 or so pages. The spine wasn't broken and the book didn't open all the way beyond that. So whoo hoo! I made a great find.
"Finding Walter" concerns two girls, Emily and Rose,who move to the country with their family for their father's health. Rose is not pleased with the move. She hates living in the country away from parks and museums. (Kid, who needs a park when you have the whole of the outdoors?!) She's very grouchy and unhappy. One day the old family dollhouse is uncovered in the attic. The house is filthy, and the dollhouse dolls are dirty and their clothes are moth eaten and faded. Emily gets right on cleaning the house and the dolls. Rose helps, but isn't as into it as Emily. In fact,she gets pretty snotty about it,and most other things too.
The story turns to the doll's side of the story. Once awoken from their sleeping state of not being played with, the dolls realize that one of them isn't there. Walter is the youngest dollhouse child, and he is missing. The dolls call to Walter,but get no answer.
The subject of the book now becomes the doll's efforts to communicate with the girls,and the dolls and the girls',attempts to find Walter and bring him home. Along the way Rose becomes more comfortable in her new home. Her mood improves and she and Emily begin to get along better. As for the dolls, they have many adventures.
Walter is lost in the woods somewhere. Walter does eventually wake up and answer the dolls' messages, but even he's not sure where he is. But where he is is not as much the problem as getting the girls to locate him. The dolls can communicate with Walter, but they aren't able to move or appear alive in front of the humans, and they can't travel the distances needed to search for Walter on their own. This is when we learn that dolls can also communicate with humans. The dolls send mental messages to the girls,trying to tell them Walter is missing, and where they need to look for him. Emily is responsive to their messages right away. But Rose is harder to get through to. At first Rose doesn't believe Emily is really hearing the doll's thoughts. When Rose finally does get a message from the dollhouse son she's so terrified she runs away. Can you really blame her? Wouldn't you think you were going insane? It is a bit creepy when the dolls start putting images and messages in the girls' heads. It's a good thing they aren't evil dolls. (That would make a good horror book.)
There's also a fire in the meadow by the woods. Will they save Walter in time?! I think kids will enjoy the mystery and the adventure of "Finding Walter". Ivy did. Scholastic rates the books as being for grades 3-5. Younger kids could enjoy the book too. As usual,you know your kids better than anyone. Use your own judgement.
You could have listened to "Finding Walter" for free HERE. It seems to have been removed since I started working on this post! However, you can still buy "Finding Walter" for your Kindle.
That one sounds like a cute one!
ReplyDeleteThis sounds like an interesting book. It makes me think of Ann Martin's book, The Doll People.
ReplyDeleteDorothy, this book reminds me of the Doll People as well. That’s a great series that I remember my daughter really enjoying. I think there’s 4 in the series. This book, Finding Walter, also sounds really interesting. I’ll have to see if my library has it.
ReplyDeleteIt is a bit like the doll people. I love that series. I still have one to read from that series. I'm hoping to get it in time to do it as the book of the month for December, since it's a Christmas book.
DeleteI have a Kindle so I have started looking for these books you give us. I know some are only going to be in print, but that's okay. This one sounds good too.
ReplyDeleteI got this one last night for my "read before bed" story. I loved it! It was long enough to satisfy my need for a complete story but short enough that I didn't stay up all night reading it. lol Kindle also has the one about the rabbit doll and the garden doll. I plan to get those but will not read the garden one before bed. I know its a children's ghost story, but some of those are still pretty real.
ReplyDeleteI LOVE Edward Tulane. It's such a beautiful book. I wouldn't worry about the Garden doll book. It seems like it would be creepy, but it isn't really. I wouldn't want to go to bed on Behind the Attic Wall though!
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