THE ALL-I’LL-EVER-WANT CHRISTMAS DOLL

McKissack and Pinkney join forces for their third collaborative effort in this story of three sisters who have to share one doll for Christmas during the Depression.

The middle sister, Nella, writes to Santa to ask for a Baby Betty doll, even though she knows there isn’t much chance of receiving her due to her family’s modest circumstances. On Christmas morning, the girls each receive a little bag of treats, but there is only one doll for all of them, leading to bickering and arguments. The wise parents tell their daughters to sort it out for themselves, and they do: Nella claims the doll as her own, and the other sisters ignore her and continue to play together. Nella finds that her sisters are more fun to play with than a silent doll, so she decides to share Baby Betty. The longer story is full of humorous dialogue and scenes of realistic family life showing the close bonds within the family.

Pinkney’s watercolor illustrations are masterful, as always, capturing the emotions on the girls’ faces and filling in details of the family’s Depression-era world.