Review by Booklist Review
Gr. 3^-6. It's not easy to write a good book about dolls. There are so many things to work out. Are the dolls "alive" ? Is there consistency to their existence? How do they navigate outside their home? Martin and Godwin not only set up a realistic doll world but also provide a credible mystery. Annabelle and her Doll family have lived in the dollhouse, now owned by Kate, since it came from England several generations before. In 1955, Aunt Sarah Doll disappeared, and Annabelle, with the help of Sarah's journal, is determined to find her. The authors add a wickedly funny touch with the introduction of the Funmarts, a dollhouse family meant to placate Kate's little sister, who's always messing with the Dolls. The Funmarts are a brash, breezy family of plastic dolls who can't believe the Dolls don't have a microwave. Still, Anabelle and Tiffany Funmart become friends and are soon taking great risks to find out what happened to Aunt Sarah. The story gets a wonderful boost from Brian Selznick's pencil drawings, which include charming endpapers. He catches every bit of humor, especially when he's drawing those Funmarts. --Ilene Cooper
From Booklist, Copyright (c) American Library Association. Used with permission.
Review by Publisher's Weekly Review
This novel, named a PW Best Book of 2000, introduces the Doll family, who has lived in the same dollhouse, in the same room of a family's home for 100 years. "The authors provide plenty of action and suspense, but it is their skillfully crafted details about the dolls' personalities and daily routines that prove most memorable. A fun-filled adventure free from nostalgia," wrote PW in a starred review. Ages 8-12. (Sept.) (c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved
(c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved
Review by School Library Journal Review
Gr 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).-Kathie Meizner, Montgomery County Public Libraries, Chevy Chase, MD (c) Copyright 2010. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
(c) Copyright Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
Review by Horn Book Review
Bothered that she hasn't seen her aunt Sarah for forty-five years, Annabelle Doll embarks on a search that takes her out of her protective dollhouse. She braves dangerous territory beyond the nursery to discover not only the answers to family secrets but also a whole new family of dolls. Black-and-white pencil drawings illustrate this lively addition to the doll-fantasy genre. From HORN BOOK Spring 2001, (c) Copyright 2010. The Horn Book, Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
(c) Copyright The Horn Book, Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
Review by Kirkus Book Review
Little girls are in for a marvelous treat in this delicious fantasy that captures many of the rituals, fancies, and habits of girlhood with sweetness and honesty, while imparting gentle lessons about risk, self-fulfillment, and dealing with difference. Annabelle Doll lives with her family in their dollhouse in Kates room: her family of Victorian china dolls had belonged to Kates grandmother, and mother, and now belongs to Kate. Like the characters in Toy Story, the doll family has elaborate rituals for activity when the human family is asleep or occupied, and Annabelles parents are extremely protective and fearful. Theyve all taken the Doll Oath to keep their lives secret and fear Permanent Doll State, when they would simply be inanimate at all times (Barbies never take the Oath, and are always inanimate, we learn). But Auntie Sarah has disappeared (45 years ago) and Annabelle, whos discovered her journal, longs to bring her back. Kates pesky little sister Nora soon acquires a dollhouse of her own, and the Funcraft family, with their modern ways and funky plastic accoutrements, inspire Annabelle, who becomes best friends with Tiffany Funcraft. Tiffany and Annabelle form a private club, share secrets, and contrast their families in ways that will resonate with every girl who has ever wondered if her dolls talk to each other. In the end, they find Auntie Sarah and rescue Papa Doll from the fiendish clutches of the cat. The whole is fabulously illustrated by Selznick, whose pictures have a shapely richness that captures not only the sturdy tubbiness of the modern dolls, but the fragile rigidity of the Victorian ones. (Fiction. 8-12)
Copyright (c) Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
