Finding Walter [Hardcover]

Ann Turner (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: August 1, 1997 | Age Level: 8 and up | Grade Level: 3 and up

A family of dolls languishes in the dusty dollhouse up in the attic for years until two little girls, nieces of the original owner, clean the dolls up and play with them. Just as the dolls begin to enjoy their new “life” in a universe parallel to that of the girls, they realize with horror that one of them--the young son, Walter--is missing. The dolls desperately attempt to communicate with the girls so they’ll help find Walter. But nothing works until a friendly dog helps to bridge the gap between the two worlds.

Editorial Reviews

From School Library Journal

Grade 4-6. Turner's offering is a confusing hodgepodge of themes. Sweet little Emily and horrible older sister Rose are cleaning out their aunt's doll house. Naturally, the dolls have rich inner lives, and they manage to communicate with Emily almost immediately. Rose is a tougher nut to crack, but then she is suffering from the trauma of her family's move to Gran's, out in the country. Rose does horrible things to the dolls until they break through her tough facade. Walter is the youngest doll, who is missing somewhere in the great wilderness of the backyard. The search for him involves the dolls' manipulating the family into getting a dog, surviving a fire, and telepathy. The boy doll, like Oz's Tin Man, even gets a heart. Turner's use of language makes for some vivid reading. However, it's not enough to compensate for the breakneck pace of the plot or shallow human characterizations. With the added tensions of some family problems, the fears associated with starting a new school, and the sisters' rocky relationship, there is just too much going on. In addition, the fantasy of the dolls fails because Turner is inconsistent with the rules. By giving the dolls the powers to connive and exert free will, she kills the need to willingly suspend disbelief. Recommend Betty Ren Wright's The Dollhouse Murders (Holiday, 1983), William Sleator's Among the Dolls (Dutton, 1975; o.p.), and Jean S. O'Connell The Dollhouse Caper (Crowell, 1976; o.p.), and forget about finding Walter.?Patricia A. Dollisch, DeKalb County Public Library, Decatur, GA
Copyright 1997 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From Kirkus Reviews

For readers who ever felt that dolls had thoughts and feelings comes a funny, touching fantasy from Turner (Mississippi Mud, p. 728, etc.). Two sisters, Emily and Rose, clean up an old dollhouse they find in their grandmother's attic. The dolls have been lying dormant, abused by mice, moths, and dust, and are relieved to have someone play with them again. But as they reemerge into life, the doll family finds that the youngest member of their clan, Walter, is nowhere to be found. By sending the girls mental images, the dolls communicate their plight and the warring sisters work together to help the dolls become a complete family again, and mend their own relationship, too. Emily and Rose's alliance unfurls nicely in the background without upstaging the real starsthe dolls. Readers will embrace the characters and warm to the old-fashioned manners and attitudes the dolls demonstrate. Turner's style is gentle and timeless, masterfully shifting between the ``real'' world and the doll world. Not only a humorous, thoughtful adventure, the story is a smart allegory that, like Sylvia Cassedy's Behind the Attic Wall (1983), has the makings of a classic. (Fiction. 8-12) -- Copyright ©1997, Kirkus Associates, LP. All rights reserved.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Reading level: Ages 8 and up
  
• Hardcover: 176 pages
• Publisher: Harcourt Children's Books; 1st edition (August 1, 1997)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 015200212X
• ISBN-13: 978-0152002121
• Product Dimensions: 8.4 x 5.7 x 0.7 inches
• Shipping Weight: 12.8 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #3,296,144 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

I was born in a small town in Western Massachusetts to creative parents who always encouraged my writing and painting. I went to Bates College, majored in English, and spent a wonderful year abroad in Oxford, England, giving me a taste for neat Scotch, Evensong, and very old churches and buildings. I've been married long enough to break all records and have two grown children. I am especially drawn to telling stories about outsiders, rebellious girls, and people who don't fit in--as I didn't growing up. I was always a bit too loud, too passionate, moved too fast, made up too many stories, and thought that life moved just a tad too slowly for me. I love to cook, garden, swim, pet my wild Jack Russell terrier, talk to friends and my "kids," and laugh at my husband's wild, original stories. I also actually answer letters and emails sent to me by fans, and when I do school visits, I tell people--"Don't ever let anyone tell you you can't do it!"

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars a doll story for ALL readers, June 10, 1998

By A Customer

This review is from: Finding Walter (Hardcover)

The Mennyms have turned this reader into a fan of doll books which will delight readers who have yet to convert. When the family is forced to move back to grandma's house in the country (so Dad can recuperate from his heart attack) Emily and Rose are distracted by a curious, neglected doll house in the attic which hasn't been touched since Aunt Alice played with it many years ago. Emily is immediately captivated and able to communicate with the dolls through thoughts and dreams. Rose, who is very angry about their recent move and jealous of her sister's attention to the dolls, is more difficult to win over. Their story of sibling discord is one children will relate to but the dolls' story is the dominant one. The author skillfully creates exciting and dramatic scenes (when the dolls plan, with the help of the family dog, to search outside for their lost baby brother Walter and when they become stranded outside in the woods in the midst of a grassfire). She handles the touching scenes (like when they get refurbished at the doll maker's office) just as well. The dolls' characters are unique and humorously drawn (William speaks like a bible-thumping minister because he picked up the lingo when he once traveled to church in Aunt Alice's dress pocket.) The two plots are seamlessly woven together in a timeless but old-fashioned atmosphere and unfurl themselves at just the right pace. This is funny, exciting, sweet, and has a very satisfying ending.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Especially for doll lovers., October 7, 1997

By A Customer

This review is from: Finding Walter (Hardcover)

A charming and delightful story for anyone who knows dolls come alive when people are not around. When Emily and Rose begin to play with their aunt's long abandoned doll house, the doll family who live there discover that their baby, Walter, is missing. The doll family's problem nicely mirrors the difficulties the sisters' family face without being too heavy handed. By sending the girls mental images, the dolls are able to communitcate their need to find Walter and enlist the help of the girls. Rose's anger and the fighting between the sisters are well drawn, and are wonderfully commented upon and analyzed by the warm, old-fashioned dolls. Emily is convinced that reuniting the doll family will ease her own family's transition into a new phase of their lives, and it gently does. A must read for doll lovers of all ages.