September 2, 2025 by Candlewick
E ARC provided by Edelweiss Plus
Tiph Stokes lives with her father, stepmother Holly, and two very young stepsiblings. Rain is an infant, but Phillip is three, and Tiph is often in charge of his care, taking him on stroller rides when their parents start to fight. They often look in to Mr. DiLucca's dollhouse shop, but are forbidden to go in because Phillip once stole a small but expensive cuckoo clock. When they are out one day, they come across an elderly woman in distress. Her dog, Loki, has run off, so Tiph retrieves him. The woman, Szilvia Rózsahegyi, has recently had surgery and is poorly. Tiph helps her home (even though she's not supposed to talk to strangers or go into their homes), and is offered a job walking Loki and cleaning the litter box while Szilvia recuperates. Her parents balk at first, the acquiesce. The two share a love of dollhouses, and Szilvia has one her father had shipped from Hungary. They start to restore it, and make a trip to Mr. DiLucca's shop for supplies. Tiph is allowed in as long as she causes no further trouble. In alternating chapters, we also hear about Gretel, a four inch tall vintage doll who has been for sale for a long time. Tiph wants the doll for herself, but she is very expensive, as is the Red Riding Hood doll on display with her. When she and Szilvia buy a number of furnishings for the house, they find out that Gretel costs $350. Tiph is shocked, but steals the doll. She's very nervous about this, of course, but couldn't help herself when Szilvia bought the Red Riding Hood doll. When she gets a call to come home because Phillip has had a small accident and she needs to watch Rain, TIph hides the doll and the clock at Szilvia's. Flosshilde, the cat, strikes up a conversation with Gretel, and settles her behind books on the bookcase to keep her safe from Loki. Trouble emerges when Gretel and Red meet up, and Red is not where Szilvia expects her to be. Tiph is suspect, but a nanny doll, Nanny Hestia, helps the dolls make a plan for Red to be found when Tiph can't possibly be blamed for taking her. It doesn't help that Szilvia is sick; thanks to Tiph's action, her niece Barbara takes her back to the doctor to be checked. Eventually, Tiph feels guilty for stealing the doll, and attempts to pay Mr. DiLucca. The two have a good conversation, but he informs her that the debt is no longer owing to him. Tiph doesn't want to talk to Szilvia about the theft, and plans to just leave the money around her house for her to find. Meanwhile, Gretel and Red work to get a doll that Szilvia played with as a child out of a locked puzzle box in the house, where she has been for a long time, with letters from Szilvia's father. Tiph gets involved with a school production of The Wizard of Oz, and when Holly wants her to skip the performance to visit Holly's sister Heather (who just had twins) in California, there are a lot of hurt feelings. Szilvia actually listens to Tiph and helps her through her difficulties, including navigating the fact that she stole a doll. In the end, Tiph's family understands her a bit better, and Tiph has a fast friend in Szilvia.
Tiph Stokes lives with her father, stepmother Holly, and two very young stepsiblings. Rain is an infant, but Phillip is three, and Tiph is often in charge of his care, taking him on stroller rides when their parents start to fight. They often look in to Mr. DiLucca's dollhouse shop, but are forbidden to go in because Phillip once stole a small but expensive cuckoo clock. When they are out one day, they come across an elderly woman in distress. Her dog, Loki, has run off, so Tiph retrieves him. The woman, Szilvia Rózsahegyi, has recently had surgery and is poorly. Tiph helps her home (even though she's not supposed to talk to strangers or go into their homes), and is offered a job walking Loki and cleaning the litter box while Szilvia recuperates. Her parents balk at first, the acquiesce. The two share a love of dollhouses, and Szilvia has one her father had shipped from Hungary. They start to restore it, and make a trip to Mr. DiLucca's shop for supplies. Tiph is allowed in as long as she causes no further trouble. In alternating chapters, we also hear about Gretel, a four inch tall vintage doll who has been for sale for a long time. Tiph wants the doll for herself, but she is very expensive, as is the Red Riding Hood doll on display with her. When she and Szilvia buy a number of furnishings for the house, they find out that Gretel costs $350. Tiph is shocked, but steals the doll. She's very nervous about this, of course, but couldn't help herself when Szilvia bought the Red Riding Hood doll. When she gets a call to come home because Phillip has had a small accident and she needs to watch Rain, TIph hides the doll and the clock at Szilvia's. Flosshilde, the cat, strikes up a conversation with Gretel, and settles her behind books on the bookcase to keep her safe from Loki. Trouble emerges when Gretel and Red meet up, and Red is not where Szilvia expects her to be. Tiph is suspect, but a nanny doll, Nanny Hestia, helps the dolls make a plan for Red to be found when Tiph can't possibly be blamed for taking her. It doesn't help that Szilvia is sick; thanks to Tiph's action, her niece Barbara takes her back to the doctor to be checked. Eventually, Tiph feels guilty for stealing the doll, and attempts to pay Mr. DiLucca. The two have a good conversation, but he informs her that the debt is no longer owing to him. Tiph doesn't want to talk to Szilvia about the theft, and plans to just leave the money around her house for her to find. Meanwhile, Gretel and Red work to get a doll that Szilvia played with as a child out of a locked puzzle box in the house, where she has been for a long time, with letters from Szilvia's father. Tiph gets involved with a school production of The Wizard of Oz, and when Holly wants her to skip the performance to visit Holly's sister Heather (who just had twins) in California, there are a lot of hurt feelings. Szilvia actually listens to Tiph and helps her through her difficulties, including navigating the fact that she stole a doll. In the end, Tiph's family understands her a bit better, and Tiph has a fast friend in Szilvia.
Strengths: This is an extremely cozy book, even though Tiph has a number of anxious problems. Szilvia's presence, and the love of dollhouses that the two share, is even more comforting because of these problems. The details of the antique dolls, and of Szilvia's Hungarian doll house, are exquisite, and I could completely understand how Tiph was enthralled with Gretel. I especially enjoyed the serendipity of Tiph helping Szilvia home, then being allowed to walk her dog. Her parents are realistically reluctant at first, but see how important the job is to their daughter. The family dynamics are intriguing, and it's interesting to see how Tiph's understanding of Holly changes over the course of the book. There's a bit of mystery, some moral lessons about telling the truth, and even a little bit of electrical engineering. Fans of Lowery's Tree. Table. Book will enjoy this one, even if Szilvia is only 68 and has full command of her faculties.
Weaknesses: While the age on Amazon is listed as 9-12, I think it is a rare child over the age of 8 who is interested in dolls, and those readers might be intimidated by a 400 page book. I'm not sure what the target demographic was supposed to be for this title.
What I really think: This is a good choice for readers who enjoyed Rumer Godden's doll books, since it has the same classic feel, or Streatfield's Ballet Shoes, which is mentioned by Szilvia. My daughter was a huge fan of Martin's Doll People books, even though she didn't play with dolls; she also loved this author's A Drowned Maiden's Hair.
Schlitz is very talented and I look forward to reading this (although it sounds extremely complicated) but I think her challenge is that her books appeal more to librarians than to children. Of course, I would have loved this as a child but I knew only one or two readers like me, other than my sisters.
ReplyDeleteI am off to a Betsy-Tacy convention in October and you probably know our catch phrase, "I thought I was the only one!"
Just read Snoop when I couldn't sleep last night. Thanks for the recommendation! Korman rarely disappoints although this read younger than I expected.