Babushka’s Doll

by Patricia Polacco

“Babushka’s Doll” by Patricia Polacco. Published by Simon & Schuster. A story of Natasha who keeps her grandmother very busy with her incessant nows and finds out how tiring it can be when she gets a taste of it herself.

Natasha isn’t really a bad girl. But she has one big problem. She wants things to be done right away as per her whims and fancies. “Now” is her favourite word in all probability :) Old Babushka has her chores and taking care of Natasha keeps her busy all the time. Natasha wants to play on the swing at first. She can’t wait for Babushka to finish washing the clothes.

After lunch, Natasha notices a doll on the shelf. Babushka tells her that the doll belonged to her and she had played with it only once when she was a little girl like Natasha. She asks Natasha to play with hen doll while she is gone for grocery shopping. Natasha is in for an unexpected surprise.

What happened next? What does Natasha discover about the doll? Why did Babushka play with it only once? Will Natasha play with the doll a second time? Has Babushka intentionally given the doll to Natasha? Read the delightful story to know about the plight of Natasha.

I had gifted this to my eight year old on his sixth birthday. Ever since he read it, he hasn’t forgotten the message. He still remembers the story and doesn’t prefer to read it again ;) Whenever he behaves like Natasha, I just have to remind him about the doll to see that naughty smile on his face.

We have read and enjoyed some of the other books by Patricia Polacco such as “The Bee Tree” and “Thunder Cake”. It is hard to believe that she struggled with reading throughout her school years due to dyslexia. She however expressed herself through her art. Her grandmother appears as Babushka in several of her books. She started writing and illustrating children’s books only when she was 41 years old. She won several awards for quite a few of her books. This book was published in 1990 and received “Recognition of Excellence” from Commonwealth Club of California.

Recommended Age

The book is apt for children aged 5 and above.

Reasons to Read

A MUST READ for all children of today’s instant gratification world. Children will realise that they need to wait and not pester anyone to satisfy their wants instantly :)