Babushka's Doll by Patricia Polacco

Babushka's Doll is the story of a girl named Natasha who is spending the day with her Babushka, which is grandmother in Russian. Natasha is being a bit naughty and asking her grandmother to do feed her and push her around in a goat cart on their farm. Her grandmother has many things to do and keeps telling Natasha to be patient or do something herself. They do inside and Natasha see's a doll of her grandmothers. Her grandmother explains she has only played with it once. Her grandmother leaves for a bit and Natasha is left with the doll. All the sudden the doll comes to life and Natasha, though frighten at first, begins to play with the doll. After a while, the doll is commanding things of Natasha. It makes Natasha feed it, push it on the swing and in the cart, and iron its dress. Natasha is not happy with this because she is just a little girl and is finding the doll to be very rude. When her grandmother comes back so tells her what happened and explains that she never wants to play with the doll again. As grandmother puts the doll away, it winks at her and Natasha was never naughty again.

This story is a fun way for kids to learn to be a bit more respectful to their elders. At first when the doll comes alive, I think it is very exciting and will give Natasha some to play with, but then you see how naughty the doll is. It was a fun twist for Natasha to get a taste of her own medicine. Many children are like Natasha and become very selfish and demanding of their parents and grandparents. It is hard for them to know they are doing this, so this book is very clever and teaches Natasha a lesson. It is not fun to have someone boss you around and order you to do things for them. You have to be polite and then they will want to things for you.

I think this book would be a great addition to my classroom library. It has a nice message that children can understand and maybe relate it. It is for ages 4-8 years old. The pictures, also done by Patricia Polacco have a very old fashion feel to them which I like. It may not be as appealing to kids, but I really enjoyed this book and think that kids will find it fun and learn from it as well.