The All-I'll-Ever-Want Christmas Doll

The Bibliography
McKissack, Patricia C. 2007. The All-I'll-Ever-Want Christmas Doll. Ill. by Jerry Pinkney. New York: Schwartz and Wade Books. ISBN 9780375837593

The Plot
During the Great Depression, Nella wants a doll for Christmas and writes a letter to Santy Claus asking for one. When she and her two sisters get the doll, they have to share it, but Nella doesn't want to, because it's her all-I'll-ever-want-for-Christmas present, not her sisters'. Nella learns that she has more fun with her sisters than she has alone with the doll, and also learns to share.

The Analysis
The watercolor and pencil illustrations of The All-I'll-Ever-Want Christmas Doll created by Jerry Pinkney give the reader a glimpse into the lives of Nella and her family during the Depression. The clothes and hairstyles and the papering of the walls shows how these girls lived in the Great Depression. The illustrator is very talented and gives each character their own shade and depth of color; they're all black, but not all the same color, just like real people of color, just like real people. They only real textual markers in this book that make me think this is a book about people of color is the use of the name Santy Claus instead of Santa Claus. Even then, if the book wasn't illustrated, I probably would have thought this story was just about a poor family during the depression, not necessarily a black or a white or a yellow or a red family.

The Review
Beverly Combs (Library Media Connection, November/December 2007)
Patricia McKissack's storytelling expertise and Jerry Pinkney's rich illustrations have come together again to produce a memorable book. Three little girls, growing up in the Depression, dream of Christmas. Nella is desperate to get the Baby Betty doll and despite her family's discouragement, she writes a letter to Santa. On Christmas morning, there is indeed one doll, and Nella feels that she is the true owner of this wonderful gift. As Nella begins playing with her doll alone, her sisters go off to play elsewhere. Nella plays with her precious doll, but realizes that the doll doesn't sing with her, doesn't clap, and doesn't giggle. At her mother's suggestion, Nella includes her sisters in a Baby Betty tea party. This is a wonderful story about dreams and sharing those dreams. The illustrations are warm and detailed and make the characters come alive for the reader. The text is simple, but descriptive. The characters are African American and provide a window into a time and place with which young readers may be unfamiliar. This would be a nice book to share before Christmas as students write those letters to Santa or after as they share their toys at show-and-tell time.

The Connection
This book could be shared in conjunction with other books about dolls and Christmas, like The Dolls' Christmas by Tasha Tudor and The Christmas Dolls by Candice Ransom, or other books about sharing like Emily's Sharing and Caring Book by Cindy Post Senning and, again tying it to Christmas, Sharing Christmas by Kate Westerlund.