MASHA AND HER FRIENDS
by Suzy Ultman ; illustrated by Suzy Ultman
Five flat dolls nesting matryoshka-style in a shaped plywood holder present opportunities to count and play.
More durable if, being separate pieces, also more fugitive than in their previous appearance (as “sisters” rather than “friends”) in the board book Masha and Her Sisters (2017), the five White, kerchiefed figures are decorated with folk art–style painted cues to interests. These are unchanged from the original book: Olya the chef appears with cookware, for instance, and Galya the budding naturalist with diverse flora and fauna. That’s on the fronts of the figures; turning each over reveals an animal companion (also kerchief-clad) rendered in the same heavily stylized way along with a numeral 1 to 5 and a legend such as “Olya & Rabbit cook with 3 carrots,” or, with a compass rose, “Galya & Owl explore in 4 directions.” The back of the holder is slotted so that the dolls can be stood up and rearranged at will. Parents of teething toddlers may want to exercise caution, because though the outer wrapper includes a claim in tiny type that the toy conforms to various international safety standards, there are no plain-language reassurances to allay fears about splinters or toxic chemicals in the paint. Still, preschoolers not quite ready for a thinner-walled 3-D set of nesters can treat these as roughly as they wish while mixing, matching, and spinning out scenarios.Sturdy stand-ins for the more traditional—and more fragile—folk toys.
(Novelty. 2-4)