The Paper Dolls is written by children's author Julia Donaldson and illustrated by Rebecca Cobb.
The Paper Dolls is largely, a rhyming story as is Julia Donaldson's style. It tells the tale of a little girl whose mother helps her make a set of paper dolls and those dolls go on adventures dreamed up through the imagination of the little girl. It may look like a toy dinosaur on a bed cover but in fact it is a towering, terrifying t-rex in the vast open rainforest. It may look like a pair of fluffy slippers but in fact it is... well, that kind of thing anyway!
I like the gentle rhyme and find it easy to read to Lara in a way that lets me add my own emphasis on the exciting or dramatic parts. The names of the paper dolls are repeated frequently and Lara already knows them all and says them along with me. I think the book is beautifully illustrated in a scruffy, hand-drawn style that really goes well with the content of the story. The Paper Dolls would probably (although not exclusively) be most appropriate read to a little girl and I would be happy to have read this to Lara from about 1 year upwards and I'm sure she will read it herself when she can.
At the end of the book we see the little girl all grown up and making paper dolls for her own daughter. It goes full circle. When I first read The Paper Dolls to Lara, this last bit bought a lump to my throat. I actually had to stop reading and compose myself. It isn't a scary, upsetting or particularly sad. It just really hit a note with me - it felt very close to home. Maybe one day Lara will be sat on a beanbag next to her daughter reading The Paper Dolls?
The Paper Dolls is largely, a rhyming story as is Julia Donaldson's style. It tells the tale of a little girl whose mother helps her make a set of paper dolls and those dolls go on adventures dreamed up through the imagination of the little girl. It may look like a toy dinosaur on a bed cover but in fact it is a towering, terrifying t-rex in the vast open rainforest. It may look like a pair of fluffy slippers but in fact it is... well, that kind of thing anyway!
I like the gentle rhyme and find it easy to read to Lara in a way that lets me add my own emphasis on the exciting or dramatic parts. The names of the paper dolls are repeated frequently and Lara already knows them all and says them along with me. I think the book is beautifully illustrated in a scruffy, hand-drawn style that really goes well with the content of the story. The Paper Dolls would probably (although not exclusively) be most appropriate read to a little girl and I would be happy to have read this to Lara from about 1 year upwards and I'm sure she will read it herself when she can.
At the end of the book we see the little girl all grown up and making paper dolls for her own daughter. It goes full circle. When I first read The Paper Dolls to Lara, this last bit bought a lump to my throat. I actually had to stop reading and compose myself. It isn't a scary, upsetting or particularly sad. It just really hit a note with me - it felt very close to home. Maybe one day Lara will be sat on a beanbag next to her daughter reading The Paper Dolls?
