Little Kim's Doll

Sylvia Pantaleo is an assistant professor of education specializing in
children’s literature at Queen’s University and the co-author of
Learning with Literature in the Canadian Elementary Classroom.

Kim, who lives in Moscow, very much wants a doll. Any doll will do, but
a beautiful porcelain doll would be very special. Her parents, who are
communists, believe that little girls who play with dolls will not learn
to be brave and strong. But Kim perseveres and through her own
resourcefulness turns a spoon and a new toy rifle into a doll. Kim’s
strength of conviction and inventiveness demonstrate her courage and
strength and persuade her mother to buy her the porcelain doll.

The hues of the illustrations set an appropriate sombre tone to the
book. The story conveys an explicit ideology of a people in a particular
historical context. However, the story lacks historical information that
would assist readers in understanding the parents’ reasons for giving
their 4-year-old daughter a toy gun and wanting her to be brave and
strong. Not recommended.