The Return of the Doll Book of the Month Club! A Question of Time

   I know. The Doll Book of the Month Club has been on hiatus for a while. But it's back! I found a book to do, so we're back in business. 

  The book in question is, "A Question of Time" by Dina Anastasio. It was first published in 1978,  That's handy to know, considering the timeline of the story. The illustrations are by Dale Payson.

  Apparently the author's daughter's doll collection inspired the book.

  As the book opens, Syd Stowe is told that she and her parents will be moving from New York City, to a small town in Minnesota, leaving behind her great grandfather, Jake. 

  Jake left the same small town in 1910, as an 18 year old, to pursue his dream of acting in New York City. He only returned once, and he's in his 90's now. Syd hates leaving her beloved New York City, and her best friend, Jill. And she's determined to hate her new home town.

  Syd is finally persuaded to have a look around her new town. She visits a store, where there are some very interesting dolls on display. They are very detailed, hand carved wooden dolls. On one visit to the store, an old man arrives and delivers a new one. The shop lady tells Syd that his name is Mr. Stowe, (Syd's last name!), and that he makes the dolls. He wants them to all be sold together, and he still has one to make, so she isn't selling them yet.

  Of course, Syd is curious: about Mr. Stowe, (Is he related to her somehow?), about the dolls. (Supposedly they are based on real people. What is the doll made in a reaching position supposed to be doing?) She finds the exact people the dolls seem to be based on, in an old book about the town that she finds in the library. But then the book disappears. Mr. Stowe gives his address to the lady in the shop, but the only house there has been deserted for years, after the family who lived there died.

  Syd writes to her friend Jill often. As time passes though, she becomes caught up in unraveling the mystery surrounding the dolls. She meets a girl named Laura, who plays marbles on the sidewalk in front of a store, while waiting for her grandfather. Oddly, she looks just like one of the dolls. Even the bag of marbles looks like the one the doll carries. Syd becomes friends with the shy and depressed looking Laura.

  Does Syd solve the mystery? Why is a kid in the late 70's playing marbles? Is Syd related to the doll maker?

  Okay, I'm not going to discuss the ending completely. I'll just say that the book wasn't bad, but there were some plot holes. I would have liked it when I was a kid, because I loved this sort of thing: mystery, ghostly stuff, time travely things. There are some spoilers below you can check out after reading the book. My opinions on those plot holes.. 

  The book doesn't quite make sense. The house has been deserted and everybody in the town thinks Jake was murdered, because one night there was an argument, heard by passing locals, where someone threatened to kill someone. Then he disappeared, (to New York.). Okay. This is a small town, where everybody seems to know about everybody. Surely the whole town would have known that Syd's great grampa left town to become an actor. Maybe the family didn't like to talk about it, but wouldn't someone have asked where he was? If he left town, it was probably on a train, so wouldn't someone have seen him? And if there was suspicion of a murder, wouldn't the police have questioned his family?  And if the rest of the family died in a boating accident, everybody must have known about that too. After all, Syd finds it in the old newspapers. So why do they think the house is haunted by a murdered family?  Didn't anybody try to contact Jake when his family died? Okay, maybe they didn't know where to get in touch with him. Or, maybe they still thought his dad murdered him. But when he came back and his whole family was gone, didn't he ask anybody in town if they knew what happened? Surely somebody would have known. And they would have known he wasn't murdered if he came back. I have an issue with Jake leaving for New York to become an actor. In 1910, wouldn't he have gone into vaudeville or something? Was New York where people started an acting career in 1910?  And one thing, just personal, but if this guy is almost 100 years old, wouldn't you wait a couple more years before moving away and leaving him? Are you going to:

 A. Miss the last couple of years you might have with him. 

and B. Leave when he might need you the most? Suppose he needs help at his age? What are you, a monster?

  I thought it was going to be a time travel book of sorts. I thought that way into the book. Instead, it turned out to be a weird ghost story/magic sort of book. Why did Syd's family come back as ghosts at that particular time? Why didn't they just talk to her? What was the purpose any way? And didn't she think it might make her Great Gramps feel better to know what happened to his family? Why didn't she tell him they found out? One final thing, if you don't want to read the book, but you're wondering what happens to the dolls, the shop keeper says Mr. Stowe said to give them to Syd.

  That's it for this month's Doll Book of the Month Club. See you soon.

The Doll Book of the Month Club: Barbie and Skipper Go Camping

   I'm back again. I can't claim to have been busy working on the house, because I haven't gotten nearly as much done with the house as I should have. I have sanded part of the bathroom to get rid of the soot, because it wasn't scrubbing off. But then Ken stole my step ladder. I took down some of the sooty wallpaper. I have been going through stuff in the bedroom and cleaning soot off it. I have cleaned some books and DVDs off that were in there. We've been slowly washing sheets and pillow cases out of the linen cupboard. 

   I have been doing some stuff with family pictures that has taken some of my time. I don't know if you have ever even heard of Shutterfly, but it's a site that prints pictures, etc. I am always fighting with the website because it always has problems. I always swear I'm never going to use it again, but I always do. I was in a battle with Shutterfly the night before last that kept me up until 7AM yesterday morning. I was trying to simply finish up a photo book I had been working on. What should have been a  short job of adding a few last minute pictures turned into Night of the Living Shutterfly. It was a battle to finish before my discount code expired, and I lost. I knew the deadline had passed, but I kept going, hoping it might take the code because I had started before it expired. I tried to get hold of the supposedly 24/7 customer help before the deadline to let them know it was their fault I was about to lose my discount and have them stop it expiring. Of course, they were down for maintenance. 

  I had tried to add pictures to the project, but  it went against my click and added them randomly to the book itself, erasing my previous pictures, not only from the pages, but from the whole project. They all had to be reloaded.! My carefully arranged, chronologically ordered pictures. It happened at least three times. It took forever to even put the book back the way it was, let alone put the new pictures in. 

  I was up so late that I got up super late yesterday. Then I had to get a hold of Shutterfly customer assistance, and tell them my tale of woe, and have them give me that discount. By the time I got done dealing with them, (and to their credit, they did give me the discount I was supposed to have used),  and talking to my sister, I hadn't eaten all day. So I went to make something to eat. Those teeny tiny potatoes should only take two or three minutes in a microwave, right? I cooked them for three to make sure. While that was going, I fed the cats a soft packet of cat food I got at the bin store. The potatoes came to a stop. Then I put cheese on, and cooked them for another minute. The cheese didn't melt, but I had another type too. So I put the second layer of cheese on and put it back in for another minute...then another. The cheese was molten. The plate was so hot I could hardly hold it. The potatoes had to be cooked, right? I trudged back upstairs to the computer because I was supposed to call my sister back on messenger and talk while I ate. But I tried to eat a potato, and they were still as hard as rocks, or, in this case, uncooked potatoes. So I trudged back downstairs to heat them some more. After another 3 minutes I said, 'screw it, I'm eating them if they're done or not', and trudged back upstairs. 

  What greeted me was....well, let's just say the new cat food didn't sit well with somebody. I suspect it was Joey, who throws up every time he eats anyway. Not only that, but he had done his deed in the middle of my bed. It went all the way through the comforter to the blanket below. Only the bottom sheet was still dry. So I took the comforter to the bathroom and shook it off into the toilet. Then I had to rinse the rest off in the sink. Once I moved the comforter to the sink I saw that part of the cat food clump had gone onto the seat instead of in. So once I rinsed the comforter, I had to sanitize the toilet seat, and then the sink. Then I sat down to eat and the boiling margarine on the plate splashed me in the chest when I tried to slice a potato. After I ate I now also had to go into the bedroom and find a blanket or something that wasn't smoke smelling and covered with soot. Not an easy task, but otherwise I would have had no covers last night. Even the sheets and pillow cases in the linen cupboard on the landing are sooty. I found a minimally sooty and smoke smelling blanket and comforter and pulled out some more things to wash today. By that time I was so tired that I just wanted to go to bed. And that's why you didn't get your book yesterday!

  So here is the book for February. It's "Barbie and Skipper Go Camping".

 It's a Whitman Tell-A-Tale book from the 70's. The copyright says '1977 1973', so I am assuming it was first printed in 1973, and reprinted in 1977. The Whitman Tell-A-Tale books were smaller than Golden Books, and aren't remembered nearly as well as them either. I had several of them when I was a kid, and they often had cute stories and nice illustrations. This one has neither really.  

Barbie is a redhead on the cover, but a blonde in the actual story.

It's a fairly predictable story and the illustrations are, well, not my type of art.

Notice the Superstar Barbie logo, and hey! The book actually has an author. It's Eileen Daly.

  There is one thing about this book that kind of interesting though. Look! Barbie really does have parents!

It's a sighting of the rare and elusive Mr. and Mrs. Roberts!

 Now days the story would come off a bit racist. There are some stereotypes going on here. 

  So the kid is a Native. That means he's never heard of a camper? And I bet he was really enthralled by that sleeping bag. They probably don't have those in their TeePees, right Barbie? Geez.

  Skipper comes off as a spoiled brat. So the guy won't loan her a pony and she wanted to have a pony of her own to ride that weekend. Well hey, not his problem. She knew she didn't have a pony when she got there, so stop pouting about it.

  As I said, it's also predictable. Barbie gets to save the day and prove that all 'Outsiders' aren't so bad. Except for Skipper, who has been a total spoiled butt this whole time.

 

  But of course she gets her pony for the day anyway.

Why does Petie have 5 o'clock shadow?

  I suppose kids might enjoy this book, but should they? I would have been uncomfortable reading it to my kids.  There would have been a lot of explaining and saying how not all Natives use the word Pow Wow, etc. And also how Skipper is a spoiled brat...

  That's the book for February. Most of my doll books are packed away somewhere, but I have a few set aside. Hopefully the March book will be on time.

  

  

 

The Doll Book of the Month Club: The Bad Times of Irma Baumlein/Irma's Big Lie

   It's time I caught up a little bit here, and delivered last month's Doll Book of the Month Club entry. It's "The Bad Times of Irma Baumlein", also produced in a Scholastic version as "Irma's Big Lie". 

That's the version I have from when I was a kid. That's the version I read to my kids when they were little. For my refresh to my memory, since I was at Emma's, I used a second hand hardback copy I rescued from the books from the fire. Luckily it didn't suffer any damage, and is in really nice shape.

  Whichever title you want to use, I always liked this book. It's by Carol Ryrie Brink, who  I didn't even realize wrote the famous "Caddie Woodlawn", and another kid's book I read a couple of years ago, just because it looked like the kind of book I liked as a kid, "The Pink Motel". She published her first book in 1934. 'Irma' is one of the last books she wrote, published in 1972. 

The illustrations are by Trina Schart Hyman. Her work was used in a lot of kid's books when I was growing up, so her illustrations always give me a warm, familiar feeling. She illustrated about 150  children's books, and her art included black and white illustrations like the ones in 'Irma', as well as beautiful colour illustrations in editions of  "Snow White", "The Secret Garden", and  "A Christmas Carol".  

  "Irma's Big Lie" concerns a girl named Irma Baumlein. Irma has moved with her father, from her 'cozy' apartment in New York, to the huge Baumlein mansion in another town. 

Irma and her father, (Her mother is finishing painting a mural and is supposed to join them when she's finished.), now live with Irma's grouchy great uncle and deaf great aunt, as well as their two servants.

 Irma's father has come to help his uncle modernize the family department store, founded by Irma's grandfather. The Baumleins are big names in town, but Irma doesn't feel big. She feels lonely as the new kid in school, and in the big house, where her father doesn't have time to talk to her very much, as business and his uncle have been taking all his time.

  Irma makes a habit of trying to look disinterested. But one day, weeks after their move, one of the girls from school strikes up a conversation with Irma, and invites her to her house on the way home from school. She's  a very friendly girl, who explain she has a big family, with a baby, a dog, and a bunch of hamsters. After reeling off all that news she asks Irma, "What do you have?" She wasn't trying to brag, just explain her family. She very likely meant, did Irma have any siblings, or, a dog or cat. But Irma feels pressured to top her, and blurts out, "I have the biggest doll in the world.". Irma doesn't even like dolls, preferring chemistry sets. She has no idea why she said it, but she goes on with the pretense, explaining that the doll can wear her clothes, has hair the colour of ripe oranges, and eyes that are cerulean blue.

  After her lie, Irma feels terrible, and doesn't know why she said it. She wishes she could take it all back, but the lie spreads to all the kids at school. 

  Irma is asked to bring her doll for a fundraising exhibit at school. She can't let her class down, as the class who raises the most money wins a prize. Irma searches desperately for a doll that can pass for the biggest doll in the world. Her great aunt offers Irma her old doll, which is, she says, very large. Irma gets excited, but the dolls turns out to be old and somewhat big, but can no way pass for the biggest doll in the world, and definitely does not have hair the colour of ripe oranges or eyes that are cerulean blue. Irma takes her anyway, and bonds with her great aunt, who obviously loved her doll very much.

  Irma's father mentions that the new shipment of dolls is in at the store. Irma puts together all her money, including birthday money she's been saving, and would rather spend on a chemistry set, and goes off to her great uncle's store. Her search of the doll department is fruitless, but on her way out, Irma sees a mannequin that has been removed from the window, a mannequin the size of Irma, with hair the colour of ripe oranges and eyes that are cerulean blue...and she's standing right by the exit door. You can guess where this is going.

  Irma's experiences with the doll are funny and tense. Does she get it home undetected? Does she manage to get it to school undetected? What happens at the school exhibit? Does Irma's lie get exposed? I won't say. It's an enjoyable book though, with a satisfying, if unlikely ending.

  That's the book for January! I'll be back very soon with February's book, and maybe a doll or two.

  

The Doll Book of the Month Club: Drusilla

   The last Doll Book of the Month Club entry for the year, (But not forever. I'll still be posting the monthly book.), is Drusilla, by Emma L. Brock, who also did the illustrations.

  My poor copy got ruined in the fire. But I had been wanting to read it myself, and I wanted to share it with you, so I rescued it as best I could. It's a bit sooty on the outside, and mildew stained and torn up, but still readable.

It was published in 1937, and was in quite nice condition before the fire.

  Drusilla is a corn husk doll, made for a little girl named Sarah, by 'Aunt Polly', (who isn't really an aunt, just a friend of Sarah's grandma.). 

  Drusilla is made of corn husks, with stitched in jet bead eyes and a red silk mouth. Now, I've attempted to make corn hush dolls, and I don't know how you stitch anything into something that dry and brittle without it falling apart. But...

  I'm a lover of lists, and making them. I enjoyed the bit about what all was made for Drusilla: her dress, her bonnet, her bed and bedding, etc. 

  The book is told from Drusilla's point of view. But after the discovery that the family is moving to more fertile lands in Minnesota, the action pretty much just follows the family's story...until the last part of the book, where Drusilla becomes the focal point.

  As a lover of lists I also was interested in the family's choices of what to take with them on the wagon trip to Minnesota. Things had to be chosen carefully because there was very little room. Unlike most wagons to the Promised Land, this family also took an extra uncovered one to haul extra stuff. Still, Aunt Polly had a list that would choke a horse, and had to leave a lot of it behind.  The things she managed to sneak on the trip with her did prove useful along the way. In case you haven't figured it out, Aunt Polly is the comic relief in this book. She gets more page time than Drusilla.

  The trip is fairly uneventful most of the way. The wagon does get stuck in a huge pot hole, and there's a big rainstorm. But other than those things,  it's pretty much ride, eat, sleep, which I'm sure is how a lot of those trips went.

 But toward the end of the book things get more lively...until they don't. The trip continues after one exciting night. Then, Drusilla, sitting in the back of the wagon on the bag of corn seed, plops off when the wagon goes up a steep bank, crossing a creek. She lays there in the grass, while the wagon goes on to their destination, at least a day away.

  Will Drusilla be found? Will Sarah come back for her somehow? What will happen to her? I won't ruin it for you. 

  I enjoyed "Drusilla". I think my kids would have liked it when they were little. It's an easy read. The illustrations are cute too. Can recommend. But be forewarned that there are some stereotypical depictions of Native Americans. I'm also not sure about Sarah's father's advice to 'Treat them like White men, and they'll act like White men. Treat them like Red men, and they'll act like Red men." I think, unintentionally, he was saying that if you treat them civilly they'll act civilly, instead of treating them like they are about to attack, and attacking them first. That's obviously the right way to treat anybody if you want them to react in a friendly manner. It's an opening for discussion.

  That's the book for this month. We'll look at another doll based book next month. I've got some good ones lined up for next year. 

The Doll Book of the Month Club: The Gingham Dog and the Calico Cat

 This month's book is one that was a favourite of mine when I was in first grade. It's The Gingham Dog and the Calico Cat.

 I went to a four room school, and we didn't have a library. But my teacher had a stack of books that we were able to borrow every week. There are two versions of this particular book. There is this version, which contains not only The Gingham Dog and the Calico Cat, but also The Dinkey Bird. Here are some of the beautiful illustrations from the Dinkey Bird. No dolls, but it's gorgeous, isn't it?

In some editions one book is on one cover, and the other book is on the other cover, with the covers facing the opposite vertical direction. That way either side is the front cover of the book, depending on which way you hold it, and the stories can be read with either first. In this one both covers are The Gingham Dog, and it doesn't even mention the Dinky-Bird. The stories simply come one after the other, like a regular book. 

   I borrowed a different edition of this book quite often in first grade, because I loved both poems the book was made up of, and their accompanying illustrations. That edition had The Gingham Dog and the Calico Cat, and Wynkyn, Blynkyn  and Nod. Both poems were written by Eugene Field, and illustrated by Helen Page, (as was The Dinkey Bird). These days these editions of the poems, which have been published many times, are expensive and hard to find. I bought a more modern version of Wynkyn, Blyken, and Nod for Emma when she was small, but nothing comes close to the beauty of Helen Page's illustrations. I was really excited, when Ken and I were on our anniversary day out, to find this book in an antique mall. I was disappointed that it was the Dinkey Bird version, but glad to have the other poem, at least, in the edition I loved all those years ago. And the price was affordable, and Ken insisted on buying it for me for our anniversary.

  

   Now, I will warn you, the poem is disturbing! Some people who read it as kids were creeped out. I don't remember ever being scared by the poem, but I think I found it dramatic. You see, the story concerns two stuffed toys, the dog and cat of the title. 

  

From the off we're told that there's gonna be a fight.

"The air was littered, an hour or so, with bits of gingham and calico."

It's pretty violent, but the end is still a bit unexpected. Spoiler ahead.

  I remembered the last line being something like 'all they found was the tail of the dog and the hair of the cat', or something like that. But it ends this way: Next morning where the two had sat, they found no trace of dog or cat. And some folks think unto this day that burglars stole the pair away! But the truth about about the cat and pup is this: they ate each other up!

  They ate each other! Pretty gross, huh? I suppose it was reading stuff like this that made me what I am...whatever that is. The other poem in the one I read, Wynkyn, Blyken, and Nod, is very sweet and sentimental, and makes me cry these days. 

  That's the book for this month. For once I'm on time, sort of. Also check out today's other post for the doll of the day. See you tomorrow for another doll.

The Doll Book of the Month Club: The Tub Grandfather

   Beware: Ahead there be spoilers!

  The last time we checked in with The Tub People, they were trying to save the Tub Child from the bathtub drain. In The Tub Grandfather, also by Pam Conrad, with illustrations by Richard Egielski...

... the family are playing on the rug. Grandmother pretends it is 'a sunny field from long ago', and pretends to plant seeds. 

When the family, (and the policeman and the doctor, and the dog), decides to play ball. While they are playing, a little wooden man sleeps under the radiator, where 'it's warm and dark and no one had looked there for a long time.'

But when the ball rolls under the radiator, the tub child finds the sleeping man.

The Tub People bring him out from under the radiator. He's missing one eye, and the other is closed. At first no one knows who he is, but Tub Grandmother gently asks, "Walter dear, is that you?" 

The gentleman doesn't answer. But he is, indeed, Walter, the Tub Grandfather. The Tub People try to wake him, by inviting hm to play ball, and by having a loud parade, with no success. That night they all line up as usual, only now there is also the Tub Grandfather.

The next morning they even try taking him to the tub. He still doesn't wake up. Finally they take him back to the rug. When the radiator comes on and begins to whistle, Tub Grandfather begins to rock back and forth on his feet. That's when Tub Grandmother figures out what to do. She begins to hum to him.

    Is that not the sweetest thing? This is such a warm, quiet, old fashioned story just like it's predecessor. This book was a bit wet, and had to have it's pages separated, after being discovered in a wet box in the bottom shelf of what was left of the book case in Fuzzy's room. I had it out today, drying in the sun, when Fuzz arrived and spotted it, and smiled, "Oh! The Tub Grandfather!"

    You can hear The Tub Grandfather read HERE.

  That's the doll book for this month. See you tomorrow for another doll.

The Doll Book of the Month Club: Raggedy Ann's Mystery

   Sorry we seem to be heavy on Raggedy Ann recently. Right now I have to post whatever I have access to, and a few weeks ago I bought this book, Raggedy Ann's Mystery.

 It was, in fact, the same weekend I bought the boxed Raggedy Ann,  but not at the same sale.

  This book was published in 1962, so it's the same age as I am. I believe this edition is a reprint of a 1947 one. It's a story by Johnny Gruelle, the Raggedys originator, and not a later story by someone else. Gruelle didn't do the illustrations though. They are by Ethel Hays.

Now, before I get to the story of this...story, I have to say something. This story concerns a missing character, and the efforts to find him. What kills me is, the character, who has what looks sort of like dreadlocks, is called...wait for it! Snoopwiggie!

Is it just me, or is that funny?! Ken barely gave me a smirk, but Emma got a good laugh out of it. I just keep thinking of the name and the coincidence and giggling to myself. I mean, I suppose Snoopwiggie just has what Emma, (or was that Ivy?), used to call 'boingy curls', but come on! It's especially funny when you hear that Snoop Dogg is going bald, and is considering just being bald and wearing wigs all the time. Then he really will be Snoopwiggie! I kill me!

  Anyway, on to the book. The 'mystery' is that Snoopwiggie, (HA!) is missing, after inviting everyone to his birthday party. A guy called The Nice Fat Policeman, (must be the doughnuts...), wakes Raggedy Andy up in the middle of the night because of the missing...guy. 

Did this guy invite everybody to a middle of the night birthday party? Why is TNFP so worried and checking on him at night? Oh right: cake. So the Raggedy's get on the case, mainly because trying to think clogs up TNFP's brain. 

They come across Betsy Bonnet String. 

Apparently she's magic. She can twitch her apron and make things appear, like a birthday lunch for everyone, so they don't miss it. (The heck with Snoopwiggie. We don't need him and his birthday! We can have a birthday party without him! That's basically what Betsy says!) It's a lunch, in the middle of the night too. What's with that?

  Raggedy Ann notices that there are no footprints around Snoopwiggie's door, so 'someone must have carried him off'. Okay then. Where are their foot prints? She then guesses that the culprit who snatched Snoopwiggie, (Who said anyone snatched him? Maybe he went all 'wiggy' because he was having another birthday, and flew off on an age induced vacation.), MUST be the No Fun Elf, because of course it was. Sounds a bit...'elfist' to me.  She figures he used his magic cart. Maybe it doesn't leave tracks. Who knows?

  Raggedy Ann says that if they had red bicycles, because 'red ones go faster than any other kind', (Raggedy Ann seems to use the same logic as the Highway Patrol.), they could go to the No Fun Elf's house and find Snoopwiggie. 

  So Betty Bonnet String twitches her apron again, and two bikes with red wheels appear. They ride them to the No Fun Elf's house and find the door is locked.  Raggedy Ann says she knows Snoopwiggie is in there because she feels it in her candy heart But how do they get him out?

Wow. Raggedy Andy action hero. But isn't that a felony?

They decide to laugh, to aggravate the No Fun Elf so he will come out to try to drag them into his depressing house. Then Raggedy Andy can run in and get Snoopwiggie. It works, but the No Fun Elf notices and winks his eye, closing and locking the door, with Andy and Snoopwiggie inside!

  They struggle with how to get them out. Why can't Betsy wiggle her apron again? That's my question.  Then Raggedy Ann suddenly remembers that anyone with a candy heart that says 'I love you' can make one wish for someone on their birthday. So she wishes them out and the door springs open. (Why couldn't she have just wished for Snoopwiggie in the first place? 

  Raggedy Andy is carrying a black heart. It belongs to the No Fun Elf, and Andy found it in the house. So they wash it in the Laughing Brook, and the No Fun Elf gets nice.  

They all ride off to Snoopwiggie's, (HAHAHAHA!!!), for the party, including the now Fun Elf, and everybody has a happy ending.

Cake for everyone! Where's TNFP?

  Sorry for the lack of seriousness in this review. It was late and...Snoopwiggie! Ha!