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.
In a Russian village, Nikolai the matryoshka maker carves and paints six sister dolls, small to large, that will nest inside each other. Anna, the biggest, looks after her sisters during the long trip to an American toy shop. When Nina, the littlest doll, falls onto the floor and is kicked out the door, she begins an adventure that takes her through the snow, onto a dump truck, and into a stream. Plucked from the water by a heron and gathered and then discarded by a squirrel, she is discovered by a little girl who, miraculously, reunites her with her sisters. Similar in structure to Andersen's "The Steadfast Tin Soldier," this story also uses his device of giving the dolls perception and feelings without endowing them with undoll-like abilities, such as walking or talking. Unlike Andersen's story, this quiet adventure tale has no villain, though the hand of fate is apparent for ill as well as good. When the dolls are separated, the feeling of loss is intense. Children will share the character's satisfaction when the set of dolls is made whole again. The delicate sense of an orderly universe that shines through the writing is reflected in the appealing paintings. The illustrator of Mem Fox's Tough Boris (1994), Brown creates a series of double-page spreads and smaller illustrations that combine good composition, clear delineation of forms, and appealing hues. Like Nina, who was "made of the heart of the sweet-smelling wood," this picture book was crafted of emotional heart wood, and children will respond to its essential goodness. Carolyn Phelan
From Kirkus Reviews
PLB 0-7868-2125-6 As is true for Pam Conrad's Tub People, the events in a matryoshka doll's life depend on external manipulations and circumstances; in this case, it makes the story of a perilous journey fall somewhat flat. A set of the nesting dolls is carved in a Russian village and then sent to a toy shop in America. The outer doll, Anna, has been instructed by the maker to watch over her siblings``Keep your sisters safe inside you''but there is nothing she can do when the smallest doll, Nina, is accidentally brushed off the counter and unceremoniously kicked out the door. It is an odyssey in which she has absolutely no active part, nor does she have reactions, for all she possesses is a blank matryoshka face. In the meantime, a young girl who has bought the rest of the set on sale charmingly tucks a little wad of cotton into the next-to-smallest doll so she won't feel empty. Brown's atmospheric but docile watercolors often view the matryoshka dolls from a distance, furthering the sense that the story is about events surrounding the dolls, instead of the dolls themselves. An author's note on the history of matryoshkas is a welcome touch. (Picture book. 4-8) -- Copyright ©1999, Kirkus Associates, LP. All rights reserved.
