Now when I was a child I hated dolls. Hated them with a passion. Baby dolls especially raised my ire, but fortunately I received relatively few of them. Like many girls (more than you would think) I was more interested in stuffed animals and, on occasion, trucks and farm equipment toys. No silly frilly dollies for me, thank you very much. So I think a five-year-old version of myself would have been the perfect receptacle for Barbara McClintock's wonderful, "Dahlia". This is one of those rare books that tries to encourage girls to like dolls, but to do so in their own individual ways. For the girl-child that eschews the pink delicacy of your average Madame Alexander porcelain creation for rough n' tumble Tonka toys, this book makes an ideal gift.
Charlotte leads a great life. She gets to play outside with her stuffed bear Bruno and make as many mud pies as she would like. Then, one day, she receives a beautiful doll from her stuffy and elderly Aunt Edme. Charlotte and Bruno are not at all certain they will like this new doll (christened Dahlia). They explain to her that she does not belong to a tea-party-frilly-pram girl. She belongs to a digging-in-dirt-and-climbing-trees girl. Dahlia accompanies the two as they go about their day and it soon becomes clear that she's enjoying herself. The three win a wagon race against the local boys, make more mud cupcakes, plant rocks, and climb trees. And when an overly ambitious Dahlia goes a little further out onto a limb than she should have, Charlotte finds she may really love her little doll after all.
The book is set against a Victorian backdrop, a setting that cleverly places Charlotte in that nebulous age where acting like a "boy" wasn't frowned on yet. The story itself is great. The more outdoor activities Dahlia partakes of, the happier she appears. McClintock took care to give her inanimate characters just the slightest hint of life as well. Bruno and Dahlia never seem to move of their own accord, but their facial expressions do tend to change ever-so-slightly from scene to scene. I loved the delicate pen and inks that illustrated this book as well. McClintock shades and details each and every picture in this story with loving intricacy. These pictures draw you into them, giving you the chance to search them through for hidden secrets and minutia. The colors are muted, but rather than making the book ladylike and wan, it makes the book appear to be wholly in its own little world. And a beautiful little world it is too.
And of course, I love the story. Who wouldn't? Everybody wins here. For those stodgy individuals amongst us who believe that all little girls should play with dolls, here's a book that justifies that sentiment. For people who like books in which girls break out of traditional stereotypes regarding what they should play with and how, this book also fulfills a need. It has something for everyone, yet remains a deeply touching and unique work. "Dahlia" is a great treat for young and old alike. My favorite doll story yet.
