Unwell for a long time herself, Alison sets up a doll hospital where she can help others, and eventually goes into the hospital herself for an experimental treatment that might cure her once and for all.
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Book Description
Editorial Reviews
From Publishers Weekly
Eight-year-old Alison is an invalid with an undisclosed, life-threatening malady. Her only friends, other than her too-good-to-be-true 13-year-old brother Christopher, are her dolls Nettie and Boodles, who talk only to her. After Alison nurses new doll Denise through the measles, she opens a doll hospital, with Christopher as head doctor and Nettie as supervising nurse. Neighborhood children send in their sick and wounded dolls. Alison's health improves dramatically, then, just as dramatically, fails. Her doctor gives her a sick doll that is cured with the help of his experimental medicine. Then Alison goes into the hospital for a round of experimental medicine that likewise miraculously cures her. The plot of this book is remarkable for its predictability and complete lack of tension. Alison and the other human characters are cloyingly sympathetic (what bedridden child doesn't misbehave sometimes?), and it isn't made clear whether the dolls' speech and actions are meant to be magically real, or just a lonely child's fantasies. Dull and precious. Ages 8-12.
Copyright 1989 Reed Business Information, Inc.
Copyright 1989 Reed Business Information, Inc.
From School Library Journal
Grade 3-6-- Eight-year-old Alison, an invalid for as long as she can remember, realizes that she is different from everyone else. She counts her brother Christopher and her dolls and stuffed animals as her best friends. When Denise, her beautiful French doll, comes down with the measles, Alison convinces Christopher to help her convert Mama's old sewing room into a doll hospital. The two children decide to accept outside patients, and the doll hospital begins to play a significant role in Alison's own medical treatment and recovery. In this quiet, old-fashioned story, the characters, even the dolls and animals that come to life, are not fully developed. The plot is predictable, and there is too little action in this slow-moving tale to capture and hold young readers' attention. Unexciting fare. --Bonnie Wheatley, Emma Conn Elementary School, Raleigh, N.C.
Copyright 1989 Reed Business Information, Inc.
Copyright 1989 Reed Business Information, Inc.
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews
2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Childhood first love,
This review is from: The Doll Hospital (Library Binding)
I got this book when I was about 6 or 7. I was an advanced reader for my age, reading books like 'The Wizard of Oz' in first grade, so this wasn't unusual for me to read chapter books at such a young age. My mom used to get so frustrated with me because, as much as I loved to read, as soon as I finished this book, I would start it all over again. It seemed to be the only book I would ever read in my spare time. I read it all the time all the way through my early teenage years. I'm 24 years old now and I still get this book out when I need a pick me up. I have a friend with a 6 year old daughter who loves to read and I plan on purchasing this book for her, passing on my first love, 'The Doll Hospital'.
5.0 out of 5 stars
wonderful!,
By
This review is from: The Doll Hospital (Library Binding)
i read this book when i was 9 or 10, i read it about 8 times. i found it amazing and wonderful. i think i even started a hospital of my own...
1 of 3 people found the following review helpful:
3.0 out of 5 stars
A Lost Book,
By Drew (...Where in the world is Carmen San Diego?!) - See all my reviews
This review is from: The Doll Hospital (Hardcover)
I started reading this book when I was around seven or eight. For the record, I am now thirteen and will be fourteen in a little less than two months. I absolutely fell in love with this book when I found it on a book shelf in my first grade classroom. While I am sure older readers will fail to appreciate the wonders this book has to offer, for a beginning reader like I was, it is a treasure that paints a picture in your mind of how the story plays out; never mind a lack of description or reality. Unfortunately, I never was able to finish this book, for it was stolen from my cubby hole before I was even halfway through, and I could never find it in any library so that I might finish it. However, from what I read that I can remember, it's the perfect book for the first grader in us all. And now that I have found it here, I am sure I will order it someday soon, and get re-aquainted with the first grader in me.
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