Pictures by Brian Selznick

I hate to leave Brian Selznick out of the title for this one, but that’s just how I’ve always handled illustrators in order to keep a limit to my title lengths. Truth be told, though, he’s the reason I ever found this book (and its sequel) or ever thought to read it aloud to my kids. I’m glad I did.

The thought behind this story is simple and common: whenever humans aren’t watching, toys come alive. We’ve seen it before, of course, in The Indian in the Cupboard series or in films like Pixar’s Toy Story series or Night at the Museum. I even wrote a version of it myself when I was 13, “The CD Adventure.” The authors of this book add a little twist to the logic that backs this theory up, though, and I have to give them props for it.

Not every toys come alive in this imaginative world: only dolls, and only dolls who have chosen to take the Doll Oath. In fact, every doll has the opportunity to take the oath, if some other doll is there to explain it to them, and they can then either choose to remain alive and aware or they can choose to enter Permanent Doll State (PDS, something which is this book’s version of death, I suppose). Any doll who takes the Doll Oath promises to keep her life secret from humans. If they’re ever caught moving or talking, they enter Doll State for a full 24 hours and cannot move or talk, even though they remain somewhat aware. Any doll that commits some egregious act of talking to a human or intentionally moving in front of them enters PDS, and risks ending the lives of all dolls everywhere.

This subtext is explained off and on throughout the book, but I think it’s a pretty unique way of explaining the world that lends a sense of realism to what’s otherwise a pretty fantastic storyline. It also plays regularly into the plot.

This story follows 8-year-old Annabelle and her china-doll family who have lived in their doll house inside the Palmer’s home for more than 100 years. When the youngest sister in the family gets a new plastic Funcrafts dollhouse and family for her birthday, the Dolls and the Funcrafts begin a relationship that sort of rocks both their worlds. Annabelle takes especially to Tiffany Funcraft, and these two friends form a sort of Nancy Drew club to solve mysteries together.

The biggest mystery of all is the disappearance of Annabelle’s Auntie Sarah, who left the house one night 45 years earlier and hadn’t been seen since. Annabelle long ago discovered Auntie Sarah’s journal recounting her adventures and the spiders she’s met along the way, and this, plus the courage offered by a brand-new friend, send her off on an adventure of exploring the house and looking for her lost Auntie Sarah.

I read this book aloud to the kids, so I was the one who got the benefit of seeing the pictures in action, but both of my kids enjoyed looking at the illustrations both before and after we read. Selznick’s artwork is so pleasant to explore and it really adds a lot to this book. Previously I had read and really enjoyed both The Invention of Hugo Cabaret and Wonderstruck, and I can now add this to my list of great Brian Selznick books.

The only thing I have against this book is its seemingly small window for a target audience. I’m thinking that window is about ages 7-12 (and then it obviously opens up again for adults of any age). The doll/dollhouse theme and the simplicity of their friendship is for a younger audience, yet the full-blown 256-page novel size means the kids need to be bit older (either to read the book for themselves to or have the book read to them). It’s a delicate balance, and thankfully we came to it when my kids were 9 and 11. But the window is definitely closing for my 11yo son, so I’m not sure how much he’d have enjoyed it had we come it next year. It’s a great book, just bear that in mind.

©2022 E.T.