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A family of porcelain dolls that has lived in the same house for one hundred years is taken aback when a new family of plastic dolls arrives and doesn't follow The Doll Code of Honor.Tags
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jrbeach Life size rag dolls, who are alive.
Member Reviews
If you are looking for something in depth and intellectual, this isn't the book for you, but if you are weary, tired and simply wanting something smooth, delightfully creative, imaginative and unique, then by all means, take a journey through doll land where magic occurs.
A porcelain family of dolls have inhabited an antique doll house for four generations. They come alive during the day when the house is empty and at night when the house is quiet.
There are funny adventures, both inside the doll house where the 100 year old family bangs away at a old fashioned wooden piano singing Aretha Franklin's Respect sockittome. sockitome, sockitome and outside the doll house where they hesitantly wander down the dark halls, sneaking under the show more sofa, hiding from the family cat who is ever lurking to catch them.
The book is uniquely illustrated by Brian Selznick and would not be as wondrous without the stunning creative art work.
When the young daughter of the real life people family receives a gift, the 100 year old doll family meet a brand new, modern, adventurous plastic bunch of characters who are not as rigid, up tight or breakable.
The author delightfully intertwines the personalities and the cultural differences of the older and modern doll family members.
I liked this book for many reasons, primarily for the imaginative wonderment of it all. show less
A porcelain family of dolls have inhabited an antique doll house for four generations. They come alive during the day when the house is empty and at night when the house is quiet.
There are funny adventures, both inside the doll house where the 100 year old family bangs away at a old fashioned wooden piano singing Aretha Franklin's Respect sockittome. sockitome, sockitome and outside the doll house where they hesitantly wander down the dark halls, sneaking under the show more sofa, hiding from the family cat who is ever lurking to catch them.
The book is uniquely illustrated by Brian Selznick and would not be as wondrous without the stunning creative art work.
When the young daughter of the real life people family receives a gift, the 100 year old doll family meet a brand new, modern, adventurous plastic bunch of characters who are not as rigid, up tight or breakable.
The author delightfully intertwines the personalities and the cultural differences of the older and modern doll family members.
I liked this book for many reasons, primarily for the imaginative wonderment of it all. show less
How many of us, as children, believed that our toys, dolls or stuffed animals, came to life at night when we were asleep or out of the house? The Doll People takes that childish faith and breathes life into the Doll Family and Funcraft family in this delightful tale.
For over 100 years the Doll Family has resided in the antique doll house and been playmates for four generations of young girls. When the family isn't at home or are asleep, the Dolls come to life and experience the same activities over and over. They have sing-along's at the old wooden piano and wonder around their own house. They cannot be caught moving or out of position because if they are, their punishment is 24 hrs of doll state - that's being unable to move. If there show more is a major offense they could end up in a permanent Doll state, OH NO!
Annabelle Doll, 8 years old, has not seen her Auntie Sarah doll in 45 years (these dolls don't age - we should all be so lucky). She finds her aunt's journal one day when she is in the library of the doll house and after reading it decides that Auntie Sarah must be somewhere "blending".
She decides that she wants to go looking for Auntie Sarah. Persuading her Uncle Doll to go with her, they sneak out in the night and discover that a new family is moving in next door. The story of the two families - one antique dolls and one modern dolls and the cultural differences is just perfect to make the reader smile with delight. The adventures that they get into are truly amusing - just what a child would dream up for their dolls.
I have to thank Whisper1 for the recommendation of this book. After the chunky reads I've done this month, I needed something light and playful and this fit the bill perfectly. This story was uniquely imaginative and thoroughly creative for everyone who as a child always imagined that their toys really were alive and had spirit. I still believe that my Teddy Bear talks to me even with the threat of a permanent stuffed state. show less
For over 100 years the Doll Family has resided in the antique doll house and been playmates for four generations of young girls. When the family isn't at home or are asleep, the Dolls come to life and experience the same activities over and over. They have sing-along's at the old wooden piano and wonder around their own house. They cannot be caught moving or out of position because if they are, their punishment is 24 hrs of doll state - that's being unable to move. If there show more is a major offense they could end up in a permanent Doll state, OH NO!
Annabelle Doll, 8 years old, has not seen her Auntie Sarah doll in 45 years (these dolls don't age - we should all be so lucky). She finds her aunt's journal one day when she is in the library of the doll house and after reading it decides that Auntie Sarah must be somewhere "blending".
She decides that she wants to go looking for Auntie Sarah. Persuading her Uncle Doll to go with her, they sneak out in the night and discover that a new family is moving in next door. The story of the two families - one antique dolls and one modern dolls and the cultural differences is just perfect to make the reader smile with delight. The adventures that they get into are truly amusing - just what a child would dream up for their dolls.
I have to thank Whisper1 for the recommendation of this book. After the chunky reads I've done this month, I needed something light and playful and this fit the bill perfectly. This story was uniquely imaginative and thoroughly creative for everyone who as a child always imagined that their toys really were alive and had spirit. I still believe that my Teddy Bear talks to me even with the threat of a permanent stuffed state. show less
Recommended by L. Frank
Annabelle Doll lives with the rest of the Doll family in their house in 9-year-old Kate's room; they've been there for a hundred years, and Aunt Sarah has been missing for 45 of those years. When Annabelle decides to search for her, she discovers the Funcrafts: a plastic doll family who, together with their pink plastic dollhouse, are going to be a present for Kate's little sister Nora for her 5th birthday. The adventurous Funcrafts help the Dolls search for Aunt Sarah; Annabelle finds clues in Aunt Sarah's diary, and Tiffany Funcraft helps her make a plan to follow them. Along the way, they perform a daring rescue (Papa Doll is carried off by the family's cat) and visit the attic.
Wonderful, in the vein of [see show more also] Toys Go Out, The Borrowers, Diary of a Mad Brownie, Ivy Lost and Found (Book Buddies series), and Toy Story (movie). On to the sequel!
"You know, I'm a lot like [Auntie Sarah]. I get so bored sometimes. I want to go places and see things. But we are stuck here because of the Doll Code of Honor. I don't want to put my family in danger. But I hate having to hold still, and be quiet, and pretend I'm not alive." (Annabelle to Tiffany, 105) show less
Annabelle Doll lives with the rest of the Doll family in their house in 9-year-old Kate's room; they've been there for a hundred years, and Aunt Sarah has been missing for 45 of those years. When Annabelle decides to search for her, she discovers the Funcrafts: a plastic doll family who, together with their pink plastic dollhouse, are going to be a present for Kate's little sister Nora for her 5th birthday. The adventurous Funcrafts help the Dolls search for Aunt Sarah; Annabelle finds clues in Aunt Sarah's diary, and Tiffany Funcraft helps her make a plan to follow them. Along the way, they perform a daring rescue (Papa Doll is carried off by the family's cat) and visit the attic.
Wonderful, in the vein of [see show more also] Toys Go Out, The Borrowers, Diary of a Mad Brownie, Ivy Lost and Found (Book Buddies series), and Toy Story (movie). On to the sequel!
"You know, I'm a lot like [Auntie Sarah]. I get so bored sometimes. I want to go places and see things. But we are stuck here because of the Doll Code of Honor. I don't want to put my family in danger. But I hate having to hold still, and be quiet, and pretend I'm not alive." (Annabelle to Tiffany, 105) show less
This post has taken me far longer to write than I'd like to admit and I think that's largely because I found this book pretty lukewarm. The Doll People by Ann M. Martin (with pictures by Brian Selznick) was another one of those books recommended as a great book for the kids in your life who are trying to stretch their legs as early and eager readers. I didn't realize at the outset of reading it that it was actually the first in a series which follow the lives of the members of the Doll family. This is like Toy Story but dialed up to 11, ya'll. We follow the adventures of Annabelle Doll who is preoccupied with the mystery of her aunt's disappearance 45 years ago. Like Toy Story, there are certain rules about letting the humans see them show more moving but they actually have an oath with consequences attached. (We learn about Doll State or Permanent Doll State where they are frozen either temporarily or permanently.) The storyline is slow and rather predictable but suitable for beginner readers who are gaining confidence with chapter books. I guess the most 'interesting' part (if you can call it that) was when a new set of dolls entered the house and the reader can see the difference between the older porcelain toys and the newer plastic ones. 4/10 show less
Annabelle Doll is 8 years old--and has been for over 100 years. Nothing much has changed in the dollhouse during that time, except for the fact that 45 years ago, Annabelle's Auntie Sarah disappeared from the dollhouse without a trace. After all this time, restless Annabelle is becoming more and more curious about her aunt's fate. And when she discovers Auntie Sarah's old diary, she becomes positively driven. Her cautious family tries to discourage her, but Annabelle won't be stopped, even though she risks Permanent Doll State, in which she could turn into a regular, nonliving doll. And when the "Real Pink Plastic" Funcraft family moves in next door, the Doll family's world is turned upside down--in more ways than one! Fans of The show more Borrowers and Stuart Little will love this exciting story of adventure and mystery. The relationship between the two doll families, one antique, one modern, is hilariously, wonderfully drawn. The Funcrafts are reckless and raucous, with fearlessness born of their unbreakable plastic parts. The Doll family is reserved and somewhat prim, even though they occasionally break into '60s tunes like "Respect" in their sing-alongs. Annabelle is a heroine with integrity and gumption. show less
The Doll family, beautifully crafted china dolls, has been passed down through four generations of girls in one American family. Annabelle Doll is eight years old and has been for over 100 years. Not a lot has happened to her, cooped up in the dollhouse, with the same doll people, day after day, year after year...until the Funcrafts move in. Unlike the cautious, traditional Doll family in every way, the Funcrafts are carefree and delivered straight from the factory shelves. Tiffany Funcraft is made entirely of plastic and lives in the scariest room of the house, but she's an adventurer and after 100 years of boredom, that's just what Anabelle needs. Especially when she vows to solve a decades-long family mystery.
I guess it was mostly ok, with some good bits... but did the creators really want to give young readers the impression that their parents might be too afraid to try to rescue them if they go missing? And the message that being careless is better than being careful, w/ careful = timid? Despite a few words to the contrary, those are the themes that come through all too clearly in this.
I much prefer older doll house stories. Heck, I prefer the movie Toy Story to this.
This is superficial, an adventure story about a brave little girl, that's all We don't get to know the characters of any of the other dolls (not even the boy, and if Bobby had been developed I could imagine boys liking this book).
I much prefer older doll house stories. Heck, I prefer the movie Toy Story to this.
This is superficial, an adventure story about a brave little girl, that's all We don't get to know the characters of any of the other dolls (not even the boy, and if Bobby had been developed I could imagine boys liking this book).
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- Canonical title
- The Doll People
- Original title
- The Doll People
- Original publication date
- 2000
- People/Characters
- Annabelle Doll; Kate Palmer; Bobbie Doll; Captain (a cat); Baby Betsy Doll; Mama Doll (show all 18); Papa Doll; Grandma Katherine; Uncle Doll; Nora Palmer; Auntie Sarah Doll; Nanny Doll; Mom Funcraft; Dad Funcraft; Tiffany Funcraft; Bailey Funcraft; Baby Britney Funcraft; Annie Palmer
- Dedication
- For Kate and James
and for all our nieces and nephews:
Brett
Nora
Katelyn
Jenna
Rachel
Ben
Henry
Jonah
---A.M.M. and L.G.
For my nephews:
Brennan
Dillan
---B.S. - First words
- It had bee forty-five years since Annabelle Doll had last seen Auntie Sarah.
- Quotations
- Annabelle felt a tremendous sense of relief, as if something very heavy had been lifted from her heart. "So if I did (italics) disappear, you would (italics) come looking for me? Even if you were a little afraid? I mean,... (show all) if you thought something awful had happened and I wouldn't be returned by Kate or someone in a few days?"
"Oh, yes. Yes, of course, Annabelle."
Annabelle leaned forward and hugged her mother.
(pp. 229-230) - Last words
- (Click to show. Warning: May contain spoilers.)Annabelle, still draped over the kitchen chair, didn't more. But she smiled to herself.
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