This is the cover of the hot-off-the-press, new book by Madonna Dries Christensen, August 2009.
The author has this to say about the book: Dolls Remembered
As touchstones to the past, dolls validate childhood, a span of years that often seem like fragmented moments in time. With their life-like faces, blemished complexions, and snarled hair, childhood dolls hold sway with a magical power that rarely wanes, and often grows.
From this charming anthology, featuring more than 60 reminiscences, readers will learn that dolls can make––or break––friendships. Dolls are enjoyed alone or with a friend; they fuel creativity and imagination. Dolls teach sharing, nurturing, and loyalty; they assuage loneliness and hurt feelings; they calm fears and keep secrets. Dolls teach values and lessons––to adults as well as children. Dolls share adventures with their owners, and without them. When one girl outgrew her favorite doll but kept it on her bed, her friends repeatedly “dollnapped” it. For years, the doll showed up at unlikely events.
Separately, two girls brought a treasured doll with them to America, when they fled Nazi Europe with their family. Another girl lost her doll to that war. One girl disowned the doll she received for Christmas, while the same type doll was yearned for by others. More than one doll met an untimely fate. A childhood doll softened a poignant reunion between two sisters after a rift had kept them apart for several years. One woman became reunited with a childhood doll through a serendipitous circumstance.
It’s not surprising that a doll representing the world’s sweetheart, Shirley Temple, was highly desired by several girls. Even people who have no knowledge of dolls can identify a Shirley Temple by her dimpled cheeks and perfect blonde ringlets. Oddly, no one offered memories about Barbie Millicent Roberts, the buxom blonde who turned 50 this year and is still as nubile as Lolita. Priced at three dollars in 1959, the doll world had not seen anything like the fashionable Barbie.
In the vignettes revealed here, not all dolls are pretty––except in the eyes of the beholder. Not all dolls were wanted; some were disappointing; not all became favorites, but each is memorable.
Story Contributor
When Madonna approached me about writing a story about a memorable doll from my own childhood, I immediately had just the doll in mind. She encouraged me to share the story on my own website (and in the new book). You can find the story here, along with a photo: “Miranda” This is a non-fictional story by Patricia L. Cummings.
This book would make a lovely Christmas copy. The retail price on amazon is $16.95, and keep in mind that free shipping is offered if your order exceeds $25.00. So now is the perfect time to order one copy for yourself and another for a friend or loved one. All royalties go to Down Syndrome Association of Northern Virginia.
I know that you will enjoy this book! Congratulations to Madonna Dries Christensen who was prompted by love to write this book. When book writing tasks are finished, it is only the beginning of a journey, and what a glorious feeling that is, not unlikely giving birth to a baby!
Patricia Cummings
Quilter’s Muse Publications
Tags: doll story by Patricia Cummings, Dolls Remembered, Madonna Dries Christensen, Miranda
