The Doll People by Ann M. Martin

I decided to start interspersing some reviews of my all-time favorites in-between posts about newer books. Today, I want to talk about The Doll People by Ann M. Martin

This story is one that has been with me since, gosh, fourth or fifth grade. I still remember the day I first read it in class. I was so entranced with it immediately. I grew up playing with dolls my entire childhood. My sister and I would spends hours and hours, days on end, just playing with our dolls, completely immersed in their world. I think that's why I loved, and still love, this book so much. My sister and I even used to write numbers on the back of our dolls and toys, and set them up carefully. Then in the morning, we would check to see if they had moved during the night. We were convinced that our toys were actually living, and just hiding from us; a notion probably brought on by reading this book.

While I haven't read it recently, I still remember the story vividly, and nowadays there isn't anything a quick Google search won't solve ;) Anyways, I think what has always struck me so much about this book, is the sheer imagination of it. I can just envision (and remember myself) a little kid being so completely fascinated with the concept of living dolls, and the idea that they could be having this entire life, a whole other world, while we're not looking. I have always been fascinated with the concept of anthropomorphism, which makes sense, because it is seen a lot in children's literature, which I grew up reading. Another similar story that comes to mind is The Velveteen Rabbit by Margery Williams, which if you don't know the story, it follows the tale of a stuffed rabbit who wishes to be real, and his journey to become so. Children can so easily drift into their own imagination, creating wondrous and fantastic worlds that can only exist in dreams, not it reality.

One of the most entertaining aspects of this book, is that it is from the perspective of dolls, which live on a much smaller scale than humans. It was so fun to imagine being that small, and see things that normally wouldn't bother us at all, as huge obstacles (like a cat, for example). It is a true adventure story, with perils, obstacles, and triumphs. As an elementary schooler reading this for the first time, I found it exceptionally entertaining.

Well, that was fun to re-visit my childhood for a moment! Whatever age you are at, I think that The Doll People is an extremely fun read, and will awaken the imagination in everyone. Have you read it? Let me know in the comments! :)

Until next time,
Danielle

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