Finding Walter - Hardcover

Turner, Ann

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 015200212X ISBN 13: 9780152002121

Publisher: Harcourt Childrens Books, 1997

Synopsis

After languishing for years in a dusty attic, a dollhouse family is delighted when two little girls begin to play with them, until they realize that one of the dolls, the youngest son, Walter, is missing.

About this title

About the Author

Ann Turner is the author of many novels, picture books, and poetry collections for children. Her novel A Hunter Comes Home was an ALA Notable Children's Book, and her first picture book, Dakota Dugout, received the same honor. Among her other books are Abe Lincoln Remembers, illustrated by Wendell Minor, a Notable Children's Trade Book in the Field of Social Studies; When Mr. Jefferson Came to Philadelphia; Rosemary's Witch, a School Library Journal Best Book; Through Moon and Stars and Night Skies, a Reading Rainbow Book; and two poetry books, A Lion's Hunger and Learning to Swim, which were both ALA Best Books for Young Adults. She lives in Williamsburg, Massachusetts, with her husband and two children.

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Reviews

Grade 4-6. Turner's offering is a confusing hodgepodge of themes. Sweet little Emily and horrible older sister Rose are cleaning out their aunt's doll house. Naturally, the dolls have rich inner lives, and they manage to communicate with Emily almost immediately. Rose is a tougher nut to crack, but then she is suffering from the trauma of her family's move to Gran's, out in the country. Rose does horrible things to the dolls until they break through her tough facade. Walter is the youngest doll, who is missing somewhere in the great wilderness of the backyard. The search for him involves the dolls' manipulating the family into getting a dog, surviving a fire, and telepathy. The boy doll, like Oz's Tin Man, even gets a heart. Turner's use of language makes for some vivid reading. However, it's not enough to compensate for the breakneck pace of the plot or shallow human characterizations. With the added tensions of some family problems, the fears associated with starting a new school, and the sisters' rocky relationship, there is just too much going on. In addition, the fantasy of the dolls fails because Turner is inconsistent with the rules. By giving the dolls the powers to connive and exert free will, she kills the need to willingly suspend disbelief. Recommend Betty Ren Wright's The Dollhouse Murders (Holiday, 1983), William Sleator's Among the Dolls (Dutton, 1975; o.p.), and Jean S. O'Connell The Dollhouse Caper (Crowell, 1976; o.p.), and forget about finding Walter.?Patricia A. Dollisch, DeKalb County Public Library, Decatur, GA
Copyright 1997 Reed Business Information, Inc.

For readers who ever felt that dolls had thoughts and feelings comes a funny, touching fantasy from Turner (Mississippi Mud, p. 728, etc.). Two sisters, Emily and Rose, clean up an old dollhouse they find in their grandmother's attic. The dolls have been lying dormant, abused by mice, moths, and dust, and are relieved to have someone play with them again. But as they reemerge into life, the doll family finds that the youngest member of their clan, Walter, is nowhere to be found. By sending the girls mental images, the dolls communicate their plight and the warring sisters work together to help the dolls become a complete family again, and mend their own relationship, too. Emily and Rose's alliance unfurls nicely in the background without upstaging the real starsthe dolls. Readers will embrace the characters and warm to the old-fashioned manners and attitudes the dolls demonstrate. Turner's style is gentle and timeless, masterfully shifting between the ``real'' world and the doll world. Not only a humorous, thoughtful adventure, the story is a smart allegory that, like Sylvia Cassedy's Behind the Attic Wall (1983), has the makings of a classic. (Fiction. 8-12) -- Copyright ©1997, Kirkus Associates, LP. All rights reserved.

Edition details

• Publisher: Harcourt Childrens Books
• Publication date: 1997
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 015200212X
• ISBN 13: 9780152002121
• Binding: Hardcover
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 176