November Book Review: The Doll People

This month for our Mommy and Me Book Club, Chloe and I read The Doll People by Ann M. Martin and Laura Godwin.  I know that one shouldn't, but I totally judged this book by its cover.  Its beautiful, beautiful cover. 

The Doll People is the story of Annabelle Doll, the eight year old daughter of Mom Doll and Dad Doll who has been living in the same dollhouse for the last hundred years.  Nothing ever changes, until one day a new family, the Funcrafts, move into the human's house.  There's a mystery involving the disappearance of Annabelle's Auntie Sarah 45 years earlier and lots of adventures involving the attic and the human family's cat, The Captain.  All of it is beautifully illustrated by Brain Selznick.  This is the first book in a series of books about the Doll family.

For our book club discussion, I decided to take Chloe and her favorite doll out to lunch at the American Girl Bistro on a windy Saturday afternoon.  Neither of us had been to an American Girl store before, so we weren't aware that there would be a two and a half hour wait for us to eat their tiny overpriced food. 

We decided to have lunch next door at Cheeseburger Cheeseburger and get some dessert at the bistro.  I'm guessing those diner folks get a lot of business from the American Girl store, considering they immediately brought out a high chair for Chloe's doll, Moonie.

Moonie is a My Friend Mandy doll that I got when I was a little girl.  I don't even remember her real name, but Chloe named her "Moonie" a long time ago.  One of the things I loved about The Doll People was that the dollhouse had been handed down from mother to daughter over the years.  It gave me a warm, fuzzy feeling when I told Chloe to go get her favorite doll and she brought out my favorite doll.

After lunch, we headed back to the doll store and looked at all the doll clothes that cost more than anything I own.  Chloe got her picture taken with her favorite doll, Saige.  I scored major mommy points for knowing who that doll was.  (Thank you, girls I babysat who made me sit through that Saige movie starring Jane Seymour and the third hottest guy from Dawson's Creek.)

Here's the hair salon where you can pay to have a professional do your doll's hair.  Did you know that was a career choice?  Why did I even go to college? 

Eventually the maître d called our name and we sat down at the bistro bar.  They were very kind to Moonie, which was nice because she was clearly not from around there.  The waitress brought her some lemonade, no charge. 

Chloe and I had fun talking about the book and how much we loved it.  There's a great theme throughout the story about when to play it safe and when to be brave.  There was also a great lesson about making new friends and not judging people before you get to know them.  I asked Chloe if she thinks her toys come to life when she's sleeping.  She said, "I didn't used to until I read that book and saw all those movies about it."

I ordered the chocolate mousse in a flowerpot with cookies on the side.  Best chocolate chip cookies I've ever eaten in my life.

We had such a fun afternoon together and now I know where to go to buy $60 pajamas for Moonie.  Chloe and I would definitely recommend this book, the cookies at The American Girl Bistro, and the cheeseburgers at Cheeseburger Cheeseburger.