My First Raggedy Ann: Raggedy Ann and Rags

One day when Marcella goes in search of her favorite doll, Raggedy Ann, she finds a tiny puppy dog asleep in the rag doll's lap. She names the little dog "Rags" and takes him home to live with her. Raggedy Ann and the other dolls of the nursery are thrilled to have Rags around, but it isn't until one night when Marcella leaves the dolls outside on the beach that Rags has his first Raggedy Ann adventure. Under the moonlit sky Raggedy Ann and a doll named Squeakie take a ride out on the water and float too far away. It's up to Rags to save the day, but puppies can only do so much. Luckily, Cleety the Clown sails his steamboat out and tugs Raggedy Ann and Squeakie back to shore -- but not without a little help from Rags.

In this wonderfully wet seaside adventure, adapted from Johnny Gruelle's classic tale, readers will once again delight in the humor and good nature of everyone's favorite rag doll and her nursery friends. Jan Palmer's energetic paintings capture the exuberance of this delightful nighttime story.

Johnny Gruelle (1880-1938) was a talented cartoonist, illustrator, and storyteller. He began writing stories about Raggedy Ann in the early part of the century as a way to entertain his ailing daughter, Marcella. Over the years he wrote and illustrated more than forty books about the popular rag doll and her brother, Raggedy Andy.