The All-I'll-Ever-Want Christmas Doll

Starred review from October 22, 2007
In expertly wrought watercolors, Pinkney focuses on how light hits certain objects—voluptuous oranges, a new patchwork quilt, a baby doll's yellow frock—which are some literal bright spots for a family holding onto the positive despite their Depression-era struggles. The newspapers that line the walls and three-to-a-bed sleeping conditions fade, ceding to the clan's Christmas observance. McKissack's story shines as well, homing in on the most straightforward language to convey realistic but difficult situations: “Christmas always came to our house, but Santy Claus only showed up once in a while.” Ages 4-8.

October 1, 2007
Gr 2-5-During the Great Depression, the all-black town of Boykin, AL, was identified as the poorest place in America. Santy hardly ever showed up, but this year middle-child Laura Nell Pearson writes him a letter asking for a Baby Betty doll that shes seen advertised in a newspaper. Her two sisters are scornful, but to their amazement, the doll appears on Christmas morning. Of course theres a fight, and Daddy and Mama tell the girls to work it out. Laura convinces her sisters that the doll belongs to her, but soon discovers that playing with an inanimate object isnt as much fun as it is to play with real live sisters, and in the end invites them to a tea party for Baby Betty. McKissacks knack for combining historical detail with true-to-life family drama and language is shown to good effect, showcased beautifully by Pinkneys evocative watercolors, which give a real flavor of the time period. An authors note at the beginning gives the history of the story. Learning to appreciate what you have and to share what you get are two lessons that never go out of style."Mara Alpert, Los Angeles Public Library"

Copyright 2007 School Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

Starred review from October 29, 2018
James Otis and his mother don’t have much. Daddy died last April—he didn’t even “have a suit to be buried in” —the family farm is gone, and the two of them now live in a “run-down shotgun house” that floods when it rains. But when their pastor asks the congregation to help a family who lost everything in a fire, Mama does her part, sewing an apron made from her cherished white tablecloth, and she expects James to find “a li’l bit of something” for the girl, Sarah. “What is given from the heart reaches the heart,” Mama says, echoing the pastor’s words. After much thought, James Otis creates a book for and about Sarah herself—a gift the girl presses to her heart. This final book by the late McKissack (Let’s Clap, Jump, Sing & Shout) showcases the legendary author’s signature lyricism in full force and receives a stunning, aesthetically ambitious interpretation by Harrison, a fine artist making her picture book debut. Flattened perspectives lend her characters quiet stature and communal strength, and elaborately textured colors exude translucence and light, almost as if these mixed-media images were created from stained glass. Ages 4–8. Author’s agent: Elizabeth Harding, Curtis Brown.

Starred review from September 15, 2007
Growing up during the Depression, Nella and her two sisters have little expectation of gifts on Christmas morning. But one year, after Nella writes to Santy Claus asking for a store-bought doll, their father surprises the girls with a Baby Betty doll for the three of them to share. They fight over their gift, but finally Nellas sisters agree that she can have it. After a day of playing with Baby Betty, who, unlike Nellas sisters, is compliant but has little to say, Nella misses her siblings and finds a way to make amends. As explained in the authors note, McKissack takes a bit of oral history and retells it as a first-person memoir that works well as a picture-book text. Pinkney creates a series of beautiful narrative tableaux, illustrating the characters feelings as well as their actions with clarity and grace. Parents looking for books on sharing will find this an appealing exploration of the subject, teachers seeking picture books set during the Depression will find many details that bring the period to life. A gentle lesson that plays into the spirit of the holiday.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2007, American Library Association.)