Babushka's Doll by Patricia Polacco

My California kids are here this week, which means that four-year-old Xander and I have been reading a lot of stories. When he asked me if I had a book about a Babushka, I was taken by surprise.

"How do you know what a Babushka is?" I asked.

"Justin Time told me about Babushka's," he said.

Luckily, I had purchased Babushka's Doll by Partricia Polacco the previous week, so I was able to say, "Yes, I have a book about a Babushka." This book was published in 1990, and any parent who has ever spent the day with a whiny, demanding child, will appreciate this book. Of course this book is all the more fun if you read the Grandmother (Babushka) with a Russian accent and the doll with a demanding voice.

After Natasha spends the day whining and demanding that her Babushka do everything for her, Babushka leaves her with the doll telling her that she only ever played with the doll one time. Natasha is delighted to have time with the doll. After Grandmother leaves, the doll comes to life and is demanding and pushy, quickly wearing Natasha to a frazzle. Of course Natasha decides that she never wants to play with Babushka's doll again.

As soon as we turned the last page, Xander wanted me to read it again. This is a fun story with cute pictures. Xander enjoyed looking at the facial expressions to see what the characters were feeling.

Read to a child today even if that child is you. 

Link to our NICU book registry if you'd like to donate books to babies in the newborn intensive care unit.