The Doll Book of the Month Club Twofer! : Miss Happiness and Miss Flower, and Little Plum

 I'm making up for missing last month's Doll Book of the Month Club by giving you TWO books this month. They are "Miss Happiness and Miss Flower", and it's sequel, "Little Plum", by Rumer Godden.

  Ivy always had a special love for Rumer Godden's book, "The Story of Holly and Ivy". (You can read my review of it HERE.) So we looked for other books written by Rumer Godden. We came across these two at a library sale or thrift store I think, or maybe one of each. I read the first one at least to Ivy, and we thought it was okay, good, but not "The Story of Holly and Ivy" good. I don't think we ever read the second one though. So I have read it now. But let's start with the first one.

  I have seen this book described as ' a children's book for adults', in that, adults can enjoy it too. Miss Happiness and Miss Flower are two Japanese dolls. 

They have been sent to a little girl named Nona, who has been sent from her home in India to live with her aunt and uncle and cousins, (including Belinda, who is a year younger than Nona), in England. 

She feels out of place, so she feels sorry for the dolls, being so far away from home. As she and her cousins make a Japanese house and accessories for the dolls, Nona begins to feel more at home too.

   

Belinda is a crabby character who makes life hard for Nona, but that gets straightened out as well. And throughout it all, we get to hear what Miss Happiness and Miss Flower are thinking, for they can hear each other, but, of course, can't be heard by humans. 

  It's a sweet story, and there are details for how to build the Japanese house in the early editions of the book, that I think are left out in later ones. And by the end of the book, there is another Japanese doll in the dollhouse.

 

  The book gets some complaints these days for not being  politically correct in some of it's terms and stereotypes, but it means well. I think it's still readable these days, and those things can be discussed with the child at the time.    

  "Little Plum" is a Japanese doll too, but she doesn't belong to Nona, or her cousin Belinda.

In fact, there isn't nearly as much of Miss H and Miss F, or their thoughts, or even Nona, in this book.  This book centers around Belinda, and her war with the new girl next door. 

  The new girl is named Gem Tiffany Jones. Okay. Let's forgive Rumer Godden for that one. Belinda and Gem can't seem to get along. What is worse for Belinda is, Gem has a Japanese doll too, but she doesn't play with hers. Day after day the doll sits alone and forlorn in Gem's bedroom window. This riles Belinda no end, and she decides the doll needs some things, and Gem needs scolded. Add into the mix that Belinda decides to hand deliver the items to Gem's bedroom window sill via tree, not only because she has been told by Gem's snooty aunt not to come to their house. (Belinda is 'too rough' to be allowed to play with Gem.) It's made clear that no child except Belinda would or should even think of doing such a thing. Good save Rumer.

  The gifts Belinda begs Nona to make for Gem's doll, whom they name "Little Plum", sound wonderful. The fate of the gifts, well...And do Gem and Belinda, who at one point beat the tar out of each other, ever become friends? Does Little Plum ever get to be played with? You'll have to find out for yourselves. 

  I enjoyed this book actually. It's not as, shall we say, dry, as the other one. The other one is good though. I don't think you necessarily have to read the first one to enjoy the second one, but I think you'll want to.

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!

The Doll Book of the Month Club: D is for Different

   This month's Doll Book of the Month Club book is "D is for Different".

  As you can see, this book is a Barbie book. Emma used to be in the Barbie and Friends book club to get these when she was a kid. She always loved these books, and recently bought this one, because it was one she didn't have from childhood.

  The book concerns a girl named Danni, and her annoying bully classmate Alice, who is constantly making fun of Danni. Danni is having trouble with her spelling but she's a whiz at playing the piano.

  Danni is, in fact, having so much trouble with her spelling and other subjects that it's becoming a problem. But, this is a Barbie book, so guess who saves the day? Danni's teacher has a big surprise for the class. A famous author is coming to their classroom. It turns out to be Barbie Roberts. Who knew Barbie was a writer too? When Barbie visits the class, and sees Danni being teased for her bad spelling, she comforts her. Barbie thinks that maybe Danni has a learning disorder involving her short term memory. Barbie offers to help Danni by giving her some 'tricks' to help her remember things.

  Alice, who is a great speller, turns out to be lousy at the thing Danni excels in: paying the piano. Will Danni help her tormentor? Will Alice stop being such a creep? Will Barbie straighten out Danni's learning problems? Well I think you can guess the answer to all these questions. This is a Barbie book Come on!

  The book does talk about some learning problems that kids might relate to, as well as showing how being a bully can backfire, when you realize that the kid you're making fun of, is better than you are at something. Everybody is bad at something, and it isn't right to be cruel to someone. There is a lot of bullying in school, and kids need to learn how it makes others feel. So, there are some lessons to be learned here. One thing they deal with, but don't talk about directly, and it's Barbie who has to come up with the idea. Danni's teacher is oblivious.), is how hard it is for some kids to talk in front of the class, or be the center of attention. Danni is seriously nervous about spelling in front of everyone, because she's so bad at spelling. No matter the reason, this sort of thing is hard on kids. It's tough being humiliated in front of your classmates. Danni's teacher has the class do a spelling bee, and awards a 'speller of the week' star to the winner. He thinks it will help kids get used to speaking in public. But some people just aren't made for that. And do they really have to be? When I was in middle school we had to give book reports in front of the class. One boy was so nervous that he couldn't speak at all. He stood there at his desk shaking and eventually broke down in tears. Luckily we had a sympathetic teacher, who told him to sit down, and told the class that there's no point n forcing somebody to do something that they find so upsetting. I have always respected her for that.

  The writing in the Barbie books was pretty good, compared to doll based books like the Only Hearts Club dolls book I posted recently. The very first page of this book describes April's ponytail as standing out behind her like a large question mark, (or was that an exclamation point?). When Alice, laughs at  Danni, it's said that her ponytail is shaking around like it is laughing at her too. There's a lot more description and care taken to actually write a decent story than there was in the Only Hearts Club book. 

Alice, left, laughs at Danni, right, who is begging the bell to ring before it's her turn to spell a word.

  But let's get real here. The best thing about these Barbie books was always the pictures! Another thing they have over the Only Hearts Club books! I complained in that post about how little care they had taken in posing the dolls, and in 'dressing the sets', so to speak. In one picture the dance studio wall paper was obviously just notebook paper, and then they reused the notebook paper wall paper in the main character's bedroom too! And in those pictures, the 'wallpaper' didn't even cover the whole wall! You don't get shoddy decorating like that in the Barbie books! The detail in the pictures was always amazing. The rooms were decorated like real rooms, with every little nick nack and do dad accounted for. Of course, as I said in the Only Hearts Club book post, Barbie obviously is going to have a lot more money behind her. These books weren't even accompanying a doll, or available to the average consumer. To get these books you had to belong to the book club.

Emma and I were discussing the grass in this picture. It looks like real grass. Was it fake grass that was just very realistic? Was it photo trickery? Did they even have programs good enough to composite a picture like this using a photo of real real grass and dolls? Or is the grass just a photo? If it is, they did a really good job of making it look three dimensional and making it look like the bicycle and the dog are really on it. There is at least one bit of photo trickery in this picture. I'm pretty sure Danni has the legs with the jointed knees, and they have photoshopped the joint out.

The other thing we were talking about is something we also used to enjoy doing when Emma was a kid. We always like spotting which dolls and which clothes were used in the books. In the picture above we spotted Flashlight Fun Whitney's shoes on Danni's friend on the left, and Bowling Party Janet's socks and shoes on Danni's other friend. 

Danni's name is spelled with a 'y' on the board because April teased Danni so much about 'not even spelling your own name right', that Danni angrily changed it and asked April if that was good enough. I'd have made her eat the chalk too. I did not take to teasing, and as a red haired kid, I got plenty of it.
I loved seeing Mulan's Captain Li Shang as a modern guy! He's Danni's teacher, Mr. Lee.

You can see my post on this Captain Li Shang doll HERE.

I also caught another little goodie in the photo. At the far right edge you can see a lunchbox. I immediately recognized it as a Basic Fun keychain lunch box, but which one?

I figured it out. It's a "Gunsmoke" lunchbox, from the series of classic TV show lunchboxes! How many kids were carrying Gunsmoke lunchboxes in the 90's or early 2000's? I suppose they figured no one could tell what kind it was anyway.

  Another fun thing was, often special dolls were created just for the books That was a little aggravating, because some of them were ones we would have liked to have bought!  Danni's mom was an early 'curvy' doll. She has obviously wider hips and chunkier legs than standard Barbie dolls of the time. Danni herself is a doll specially made for the book, and not commercially available. Her face paint is definitely one of a kind, except maybe in the picture with the grass. That smiling face, (which was a mistake, because she's definitely not smiling in the part of the book.), look like the Stacie's that were sold. But there was never a brunette Stacie friend without bangs.

 They reused a lot of real clothes Mattel actually sold, in fashion packs or on dolls, (like the shoes and socks mentioned above.), but often the clothes were specially made too.

  So yes. These books are fun, and not badly written. These days you can buy them by the stack on Ebay. They turn up now and then at yard sales and thrift stores too.

  Don't forget to check out today's doll too!

Doll Book of the Month Club: Raggedy Andy Stories by Johnny Gruelle

   Last month, (Or rather, the beginning of this month, since it was late!), we looked at the original Raggedy Ann book, "Raggedy Ann Stories". This month we're looking at the follow up book, "Raggedy Andy Stories", by Johnny Gruelle.

  Raggedy Andy Stories first appeared in 1920. two years after the first Raggedy Ann book. 

  As the story goes, Andy was invented when a friend of Gruelle's found an old rag doll from when her mother and Gruell's had made their daughters rag dolls, and gave the doll to Gruelle. The story found in the Raggedy Andy book is slightly different. The person who gave him Raggedy Andy was someone who had played with his own mother when she was a child, and it their mothers who had made the dolls.

The whole tale became part of the stories themselves.

  Like the Raggedy Ann Stories book, Raggedy Andy Stories is a sweet, gentle book, full of stories about what toys get up to when people aren't around. 

Like pillow fights.

A nd running into Santa Claus. As in most dolls stories, the dolls collapse at the risk of being seen being alive, because no one can see them that way. By the way, the Santa thing is why I was going to use this book for December...forgetting it would be after Christmas when I posted this.

I hope kids these days still like things like that. (Oh, nd the illustrations are also beautiful.)

The original illustrations by Johnny Gruelle are bright and colourful, and full of life and coziness. 

Andy isn't as popular as Ann. I see way more Raggedy Ann dolls and other products than I do Andys. Traditionally boy dolls aren't as popular as girl dolls. But I always loved Andy best. Raggedy Ann and Andy aren't as popular in general as they used to be. The Raggedy Ann and Andy museum in Gruelle's hometown of Arcola, Illinois, closed down in 2009. The museum was run by Gruelle's granddaughter. When it closed some of the books and rare dolls were donated to the Strong National Museum of Play in Rochester, New York. The museum has 43 pages of Ann and Andy goodies on their website, which you can start perusing  HERE. 

  See you tomorrow for Doll-A-Day 2023!  

The Doll Book of the Month Club: Doll Hospital, Charlotte's Choice

  Can you believe we've reached the end of the first month of the new year already?! Time really flies. Ivy went back to college yesterday. There' a surge of Covid in Indiana in general, and her college specifically, so I'm worried. At least she recently got her booster, when we did, while she was home.

  So anyway, I'm on my own again while Ken's at work. Know what that means Raging Moon and Barb? It means I'll soon be digging out those dolls for you. I'll also be listing some more dolls and doll things on the blog's sales page. What doesn't sell on the page in a month or so will go on Ebay for a slightly higher price, since on there I have to cover the fees. (Can you believe they now take a share of the money paid for shipping too! That's for shipping! I don't even get any of that! It's because a lot of people were trying to avoid the Ebay fees on their 'final value', so they priced the item very low and charged a crazy rate for shipping. Now we all have to pay part of our shipping money to Ebay! I always put a regular price on the item, so that means I don't actually get what I asked for anything now, because part of my profit goes to pay shipping. I hate Ebay.) 

 This month's Doll Book of the Month Club entry is really a series of books. The series, by Joan Holub,  is called "Doll Hospital".  Although we'll concentrate on The book "Charlotte's Choice", we'll also talk about the series in general.

  The series 'Doll Hospital' books are about two sisters, 8 year old Lila and 10 year old Rose, who are sent to live with their grandmother  when their doctor parents go to Africa for a year to work. They call their grandmother  'Far Nana', because she lives far from them, and they have rarely seen her. The idea of them living with her is so they can get to know her better. Far Nana is a bit of an old hippy. She wears lots of bead necklaces, which click together when she moves. She also repairs dolls, thus the 'doll hospital' of the series title. 

  But the interesting thing about Far Nana's doll repairs is that when Far Nana repairs the dolls, they 'talk' to her, (Not out loud.), and they tell her their histories. Far Nana tells the stories to Rose and Lila as she works. That's how we learn the stories, as the reader is obviously listening in. 

  There are six books in the series. The first was "Tatiana Comes to America", the story the girls' arrival at Far Nana's, and of a doll who escapes Russia in 1907. The second book was "Goldie's Fortune", and the doll in the story is from the Depression era. Third in the series was "Glory's Freedom", and the doll was the doll of a slave traveling the Underground Railroad. The fourth book in the series was "Saving Marissa", about a doll from the 1950's. The fifth book was "Danielle's Dollhouse Wish", the story of an 1890's dollhouse family from Paris. (I'd like to get hold of that one.)

  The book we're looking at more closely is, as I said, "Charlotte's Choice", the sixth and final book in the series. 

In this book, Lila and Rose have just gotten off school for winter vacation. They want to go to the Winter Carnival, but Far Nana has other plans, which infuriates the girls. Far Nana tells the girls they are going to an historic Shaker village, where Far Nana is going to visit an old friend and repair a doll for her.

  Lila and Rose decide to give Far Nana the cold shoulder, to let her know how mad they are that they don't get to go to the Winter Carnival. Far Nana's friend works at the Shaker village, which is now a tourist site, and Far Nana and the girls are going to be staying in the 'dwelling house' at the village. 

The doll Far Nana is going to repair was found in an attic in the village. The doll has paper mache' limbs, (except for  a missing leg), a cloth body, and a wooden head. 

But dolls and toys weren't allowed by the Shakers until well after the era of this doll. How did she get in the attic? What's she doing in the Shaker village? 

Maybe Far Nana will find out as she repairs the doll. (In the process of repairing the doll we learn how Far Nana makes a new paper mache' leg by making a mold of the remaining leg and casting a new leg.) And do Lila and Rose get over being mad at Far Nana? Do they end up enjoying their visit to the Shaker village? 

  Of course, you probably have figured out that, of course Far Nana tells the doll's story, of course the girls get over being mad at Far Nana, and of course they enjoy their visit. That's how these books go. But  is it an enjoyable journey getting to the end of the story? Well, yes. These books are fun. It's never  explained whether or not Far Nana can really 'hear' the dolls' thoughts, or if she's making it all up. I like to think she has a little magic and can really hear the dolls. I suppose I would also have enjoyed them as a kid because there's always a little history in each book too. I always loved history. Ivy liked these books when she was little, and we read two or three of them. 

  The book is a quick  read of less than 130 pages, about the length of all the books in the series. The age recommendation is ages 8-10. It could be read to younger children if they are interested.

  Author Joan Holub has written a lot of books for kids. And I mean A LOT. More than 180, in fact. She acquired a Fine Arts degree and spent a few years as an art director with a graphic design firm. But she always wanted to write kids' books. Eventually Joan moved to New York and got a job designing books for Scholastic Books. She also edited books for them. In 1992 the first book she had illustrated was published. She became an illustrator, until the publication of her first authored book, in 1996.  Today Joan Holub is 66, and apparently has cats named after Scout and Boo from "To Kill a Mockingbird". (One of my favourite books, so I have to love that! By the way, I highly recommend "To Kill a Mockingbird" to everyone, and the movie is great too!) 

  Oddly enough, Joan Holub didn't illustrate the Doll Hospital books. They're illustrated by Ann Losa. I guess Joan is too busy these days writing those 180 plus books to illustrate them too. But the illustrations by Ann Losa are nice. 

  That's it for this month's book. See you again soon.

The Doll Book of the Month Club: The Doll In the Garden

   If it's not one thing, it's another. You won't believe what happened to us now. Before we get to this month's book, let me tell you a tale. 

  Saturday afternoon I was talking to my sister on the (land line) phone, when  all went silent. Turns out, our electricity was off. We assumed it was everybody's electricity, and it would soon be back on. So we went on with our lives. Ken went to work. The fact that he didn't come back home should have tipped me off to the fact that, at least, it wasn't the whole town. I just thought of that. But at the time I was thinking when it started to get dark, and neighbours' lights were coming on, that, 'maybe it's just our block'. Unfortunately, it was not our block, but just us. 

  Ken worked late Saturday  night, and went in early Sunday morning, so he didn't really have a chance to figure out why we had no electricity until Sunday evening. I know nothing about the electric, so I wasn't even going to try. When Ken sorted it out it appeared we need a new main breaker. We went to try to find one Monday, after helping Emma and Fuzz move Fuzz's stuff to a new apartment. Nobody seemed to have one. As we were waiting at a red light to turn onto the street to Home Depot, an electric repair van drove past. I joked that maybe he had our part, and Ken said maybe even that guy was going to Home Depot for supplies. So the light changed and we drove to Home Depot right behind the electric guy! He was going to Home Depot for supplies! Home Depot didn't have the breaker, but Ken talked to him in the electrical aisle, and he confirmed what Ken thought was the problem, He also said that since the pandemic it has been really hard to get supplies like the breaker we needed. He said it might take months to get the breaker. Noooooo!!! He told us about an electrical supply place we could try. They also didn't have the breaker, and called loads of other stores, including competitors, to see if anybody had it. Nobody did. So we resorted to ordering one from Amazon. We paid extra for expedited shipping...a LOT extra. It was supposed to come between Wednesday and Sunday. I thought it must be coming from China or somewhere. Well, it turned up today and it only came from FLORIDA! It should not have cost $30 to expedite something from Florida to Ohio, and still have taken 3 days! 

  Anyway, it was worth it. We have our electricity back. While it was out, there was no house phone, no internet, (because it goes through the phone line and there was no electricity to the phone base), so, no sound, and no light! I have a heavy duty flash light, so I could get around. But by Tuesday night I was talking to the cats, to myself, anything for some sound. And the dim light was causing me to nearly have a panic attack. I was trying to take a shower in the dim light and started freaking. I kept saying to myself, "I can't do this. I can't do this." I'm not afraid of the dark. It was just that I couldn't see clearly. At the best of times I like a super well lit room. If I can't see properly it just drives me crazy. I don't like candle light, or dimly lit restaurants. I need to SEE! I had to keep myself from starting to hyperventilate. I've had panic attacks. I had them every day at the end of my school days, (which finished early because of it.)  I knew one was coming on. I did have some tears, but managed to settle myself and get through the shower. When I went in my bedroom I turned on every battery operated light we had. Ken came home and saw the bedroom window and thought the electricity had come back on. Seriously.

  Anyway, once we got the electricity back on today, not everything came back on, and we had to go out and get one of the lesser breakers too. Luckily Lowe's had one.

  So, we got our internet back just in time for this month's book. Talk about coming down to the wire. But, continuing Ken's luck, tonight he locked the car keys in the trunk! He had gotten off work and put something in the trunk and left the keys in it. The police had to come and get into the car for him.

  This month's book is "The Doll in the Garden", by Mary Downing Hahn.

  From the cover you'd think this book gets pretty gory and scary. But read on.

  The story begins with an 'almost 11' year old Ashley moving to a new apartment with her mother. Ashley's father has recently died and she and her mother are still coming to terms with their loss. The apartment was rented from a real estate agent, but the house belongs to the occupant of the downstairs half of the house, a crotchety old woman named Miss Cooper. 

  Miss Cooper hates Ashley on sight, and Ashley can't seem to stay out of trouble with her. She forbids Ashley to go into the weedy old garden at the back of the property. Of course, Ashley goes anyway. There she finds a statue and fish pond amongst the weeds. and a white cat. When Ashley meets her new neighbour, Kristi, Kristi tells Ashley that the white cat is a ghost, and connected to mysterious crying that's heard every summer.  

  Ashley talks Kristi into coming into the garden with her, even though Kristi is very afraid of the 'haunted' garden and the mysterious white cat. While clearing out the weeds Kristi uncovers a wooden box, buried in the garden. The box contains a very old doll, and a note from someone named Carrie, apologizing to someone named Louisa, and asking for her forgiveness. Kristi is afraid of the doll and insists that Ashley leave the doll in the box. But both girls later feel sorry for the doll, and Ashley retrieves her.

  Okay. From the moment they find the doll anybody could figure that the crying is a ghost girl wanting her doll back. But this story goes further, and deals with death and grief, and regret. It's not a super scary story, but  has just enough eerieness to get things going. The end is a sad/happy one. It may not end the way we wish it could end, but it ends realistically and satisfyingly.

  I don't think the book will be too sad for kids, although it did make me cry. (I cry at anything. Just ask my family.)  It's sad, but in the end we learn that it's okay to be sad sometimes. It's also not too scary, as I said. In fact, those looking for a horrifying story might be pretty disappointed. I liked the book. I think most kids will too.

  There are no illustrations. The book was originally published in 1989, (...which makes the timeline of the book more understandable. You have to read it to know what I mean.) , and has been published with a few different covers.

  That's the doll book this month. See you soon.

The Doll Book of the Month Club: The Runaway Toys

   This month's book is The Runaway Toys, written and illustrated by Lillian Baker Sturges. It was first published in 1920.

My copy is from 1934, but appears to be exactly like the original. A handwritten note on the fly leaf says it was given as a gift in 1935.

 The story is all in rhyme. According to the story Nuremburg is known for it's wonderful toys, and yet, they are all shipped out to other countries to be sold in shops far and wide. According to the story, the local kids get squat. No toys for you, Nuremburg kids!

  One night the owner of the local toy shop, (I thought all the toys were sold elsewhere. Make up your mind Lillian Baker Sturges.), leaves the door open as he heads home. The toys are all tired of sitting in the shop, and want to see the world. (Ok. Maybe this is the shop where the guy makes the toys. Maybe they aren't actually for sale.) In any case, the toys decide to leave the shop and see what's beyond. 

 They make a lot of noise as they go down the street, waking all the kids in town. The kids, thrilled to see toys walking down the street, all get out of bed and follow the toys. 

 The toys head toward the moon on the horizon. Meanwhile, back in town, mothers checking on their sleeping children find all the children gone. They chase after the kids, who are still following the toys out of town. I don't know about you, but I'm getting a Pied Piper vibe.

  The toys all board the train out of town, (Wait until the conductor finds out none of them have the fare. Hope the train doesn't have a wood burning engine...), but the mom's stop the kids before they board, promising them that if they come back they will be given all the toys they want.

  Hmmm. I'm not sure I like the lesson here. Don't run away, (as you shouldn't be doing), and you'll be rewarded with as much as you want. In any case, it's a beautifully illustrated book. I'm not sure how little ones of today would take it. Kids these days don't seem to be reading rhymes as much as they were in 'the old days' when I was a kid. (I was watching a show last night about people digging up antiques at a 200 or more year old dump. One young woman found a piece of pottery with a picture of a cow, and part of a rhyme that went, "The sheep's in the meadow and the cow's in the corn." AND SHE DIDN'T KNOW WHAT IT WAS FROM! She said, "I've never heard that one." What?! For Heaven's sake! Am I THAT old? Nobody knows "Little Boy Blue" any more?)

  The book is available online and probably in second hand bookshops and antique stores. (Pay attention though, because there are several books called "The Runaway Toys".) I think I got mine in an antique store. It's usually expensive, but I got mine pretty cheaply. 

  That's the book for this month. See you soon for another post. (Really!)