The Doll People

My first grader is an independent reader and loved the Judy Moody and Ivy and Bean series of chapter books, so when she finished those, I began to search for a new series that would engage her (especially since she has such an active imagination). I read many positive reviews about The Doll People series of books (there are two others so far in the series), and when I discovered that Brian Selznick, who wrote the amazing The Invention of Hugo Cabret illustrated these books, I went ahead and purchased all three books. My daughter loved The Doll People and read it over the span of a week as she found the storyline to be interesting with lots of mystery and suspense, and of course, a high sense of adventure. The Doll family have been around for more than a hundred years, traveling all the way from England on a ship to the United States sometime in the late 1800s. Annabelle Doll has been eight years old for a long time, living in her dollhouse with the rest of her family, i.e. Papa Doll, Mama Doll, Uncle Doll, her brother Bobby, Nanny, and adopted doll Betsy. Annabelle's life has been quite happy, but she feels a yearning for adventure. An opportunity presents itself when she finds an old journal that used to belong to Auntie Sarah, who was part of the Doll family, but went missing a long time ago. Annabelle wants to go look for Auntie Sarah, but many of her family members are fearful - what if Annabelle were discovered, and what if this caused her to go into Permanent Doll State, where she would remain a regular doll (without the ability to speak or move about) for the rest of her days? Intrepid Annabelle decides to take the risk anyway, and is accompanied by Uncle Doll, who is supportive of her. On their first trip out of the dollhouse, the pair come across a box containing another family of dolls called the Funcrafts, and this is where the adventure truly takes off. I think part of why this story fascinates my daughter is because she loves playing make-believe with her dolls in her dollhouse, so reading this story gives her imagination full rein to think up all sorts of new storylines to play with. She is now eager to read the other two books in the series, The Meanest Doll in the World and The Runaway Dolls (Third Doll People Stories) . I hope they will be as, if not more engaging than The Doll People!

Love this book so so much! Even as an adult I still read it and it makes me smile. Happy to have it on my bookshelf.

I teach 4th grade and this series is a HIT with girls and boys alike. SOOOO goood!!!

I'm reading this to my daughters, age 3.5 and 5.5 and they are begging for more chapters. The wonderful illustrations by Brian Selznik are sprinkled across most pages which makes it a pretty good read-aloud book for younger kids who are ready for chapter books. There are some details of the book that younger kids won't really get as well as older kids -- such as the juxtaposition of the antique dolls' lives compared to the modern house and mannerisms of the plastic dolls. But the story line and major themes are certainly accessible for younger children and are fun for all ages. (Probably best as a read-aloud for kids around age 5, mostly in terms of attention span). As an adult, I'm loving this book and it is a delight to share it with my kids. I know I would have fallen in love with this book as a young girl and probably would have read it multiple times or read all in the series. It has the qualities of a classic like Indian in the Cupboard or Raggedy Ann. The theme of "living toys" is classic and has been done and redone. But the book offers a satisfying explanation of what happens to dolls if they are seen moving or talking by humans: they enter "Doll State" for 24 hours, an uncomfortable but appropriate sentence for anyone breaking the doll honor code. This is a new family favorite and I'm sure we'll want to get the next books in the series. It's one I'm glad to have on the bookshelf because it will likely get read and loved again and again over the years.

I love this book! I read this book myself in the 6th grade. Ive been trying to find books for my 5th grade niece to read and bought this for her. I hope she loves it as much as I did!

my 8 year old daughter loves this book! we read it together every night. Can't wait to get the other ones in the series.

This is how I feel about The Doll People : I feel that I will always love this! I also feel that this is my favorite book that I ever read and trust me, I am eight right now and I read about a million books in my entire life if you count all the books I read and reread. This book was very interesting and I read it twice. I plan to read it at least ten times. That's how fun it is. I would have twenty times but as I grow older I will have less free times where I can read it, right? This book has a lot of action and adventure so if you like both those things I suggest you read this book. I recommand this book to everyone in the entire world and I believe it should written in every language so everyone can read it and ...hold on a second! I'm confused about two things. I'm confused why the book doesn't say bestseller. It should be a best seller. Maybe I should write that on the cover of the book with a sharpie. (Why is a sharpie called a sharpie? It isn't that sharp.) Anyway, I also wonder where the other books in the series are. There isn't enough. Oh, I also wonder if Ann M. Martin got her best author prize. If there isn't a best author prize, I would give her one. This is the best book!

So, so, so CUTE! Lovely! I recommend this series to all in search of tender stories enriched with fascinating drawings!

Item was exactly as described

Who doesn't love the idea of toys coming to life when humans aren't around? I remember very well fantasising about this as a child. This story feeds directly into that reverie, and I would have LOVED this as a child, it would have enthralled me. Our characters are dolls, living in a doll house in the bedroom of a girl whose mother and grandmother also played with them. A family, with parents, children, a nanny, they are wooden, traditional models, and well looked after. But Annabelle, much like Arrietty in the Borrowers, has yearnings to explore more than the doll house, as well as the urge to find out what happened to her aunt, who disappeared decades before and whom nobody ever speaks of. It is the appearance of her aunt's diary and the arrival of a new family of plastic dolls for a younger human in the house that changes Arrietty's everyday world and opens up her existence to wider possibilities. Selznick gives us his superlative black-and-white drawings, showing the dolls in their houses as realistic wooden/plastic toys one moment and strangely-shaped moving and thinking beings the next. They enrich the story and give the characters life. The story is wonderful for readers - the life of a doll and how they see the human world, the rules of keeping the secret from people, the mystery of what has happened to Auntie Sarah, the introduction of new and different dolls. Having two very different families of dolls was intriguing, though the possible differences and how the families related to each other seemed skirted over a little, it could have featured more. Martin creates a very relatable world from a doll's point of view, Selznick ably assisting with his illustrations. Annabelle is a very appealing Arrietty-like heroine, with touches of a Toy Story Woody in there too. This is one I only heard of recently, it was included on my son's '100 Book Bucket List', so I expect he'll be asking to try it soon too. Most enjoyable, and one for youngsters aged 7-11.

I've been reading a lot of children's book lately, and this was a delightful read and very imaginative for the inner child in all of us, and those who love dolls, but as another reviewer has already said; why restrict this to only children, and only little girls? I suspect this would appeal to any child who still has their imagination intact which has not been spoiled by the modern world and its computer gadgets. The fact the story is built around dolls and a dolls house may well appeal more to little girls, but I would have thought the night-time escapades of the little dolls would most certainly capture the interest of boys too! The quality of the book is quite delightful too with a raised sort of embossed surface to it - along with an attached quality dust-like cover that's part of the book itself even on the paperback. This reads perfectly as a stand alone book/story, but it is the first in a trilogy which I usually find cheapens books and stories, and that I never usually buy into, but I've found myself ordering the second instalment with just a little chastisement from my inner adult counterpart! :-) Utterly delightful!

My granddaughter loved this book and so did my daughter. Pleased with the service.