A CHILD OF THEIR OWN

A delightfully old-fashioned story about the Darlings, a family of hand-painted porcelain dolls purchased by a Tall American Lady and shipped from a London toy shop to New York. Their new owner seems kind—indeed, she installs the family in a magnificent dollhouse; the dolls' great fear is that she is a Serious Collector who will display them but never allow them to be loved and played with by a child, dooming them to becoming lifeless knickknacks. A subplot concerns a pair of mass-produced dolls who, even though they are ``common,'' yearn to be adopted by the Darlings. All ends happily after various adventures (including the near-demise of one doll, shattered when he falls from the dollhouse roof) with the revelation that the Lady is the author herself, while the dolls are a gift for her niece and nephew. Written in a quaint, leisurely style with occasional asides to the reader (including clever tips about furnishing a dollhouse) and warm, reassuring things to say about families and what dolls (i.e., children) need to feel safe and loved. Should come packaged with every dollhouse. (Fiction. 8-12)