From Publishers Weekly
With illustrations quaint enough for Christmas cards, an author's note that explains the history of nesting dolls, and a story reminiscent of The Tin Soldier, Bliss's (Matthew's Meadow) picture book will especially please collectors of Russian matryoshkas. The story begins "in a small shop in a snowy village in Russia," where Nikolai the doll maker, a Geppetto-like wood carver, fashions a set of six nesting dolls. He tells them, "You are six sisters," and names each one. Anna, the largest doll, watches as they travel to America, where they are lined up on a shelf, and the smallest doll, Nina, is accidentally knocked to the floor and kicked outside into the snow. After a plow scoops up Nina and a snow truck dumps her outside of town, the shopkeeper sells the remaining matroyoshkas to a girl, Jessie, for half-price. Nina rides a river of melting snow to a stream, is picked up by a heron, found by a squirrel, tumbles down a rain pipe and is eventually found by Jessie and her cat, who reunite the six sisters. "How they rejoiced to be together again!" as "Anna smiled the smile that had been painted on by Nikolai the doll maker in Russia, so long ago." Brown's (Tough Boris) paintings are sweetly old-fashioned, the images perceived as if behind a scrim of fantasy. They suit the nostalgic mood of the narrative. What this story lacks in originality, it makes up for in neatnessAthe elements fit together as cozily as the dolls nesting one inside the other. Ages 4-8. (Sept.)
Copyright 1999 Reed Business Information, Inc.
From Library Journal
Kindergarten-Grade 2-Created by a doll maker in Old Russia, a set of six nesting dolls travels to America and finds its way into a toy shop. When Nina, the littlest "sister," is accidentally brushed off a table, she begins a journey that rivals the Perils of Pauline. She is lost in a pile of snow, survives a waterfall, is threatened by a blue heron, gathered up by a squirrel, jostled down a drainpipe, and played with by a cat before she is discovered by Jessie, the young girl who had purchased the incomplete set. Bliss's story and text are most successful when they incorporate elements of traditional folklore: Although the narrative tends to be long-winded, it nevertheless makes for an effective read-aloud. Brown adopts a representational style and a palette consisting mostly of soft shades of blue, brown, and green. Against this pastel background, the nesting dolls-with their traditional bold red and yellow coloring-become the focus of each picture. The art does a credible job of capturing the action of the text but is less successful in establishing a consistent sense of time and place. Still, the adventure has definite appeal. A note on the history of these dolls is included.
Denise Anton Wright, Alliance Library System, Bloomington, IL Copyright 1999 Reed Business Information, Inc.
