Giselle PotterRezensionen

The brown-haired narrator loves her homemade dollhouse and its inhabitants, but when her friend Sophie comes over, she worries that Sophie won't like it; Sophie's own dollhouse is "all perfect...everything matches." However, Sophie appreciates the creativity that the narrator's inventive dollhouse allows, and she feels proud of it once more.

This illustrated children's book is adapted from Hegi's novel, [Stones from the River], and features its protagonist, Trudi, a dwarf trying to come to terms with her otherness. In the novel this takes place in German society, during the rise of Nazi rule and the trauma of WWII. The much abbreviated children's version eliminates all mention of Trudi's family and neighbors, war and politics, and focuses on her personal struggle to be herself in a world seemingly created for bigger people. When she finally meets another "little person", a circus performer named Pia, she learns to accept her "strangeness" as normal, and imagines they both have come from a magical island where everyone is small and beauty is all around. Presumably the point of this book is to let children see differences as gifts, rather than as obstacles. I don't think it works very well. The illustrations look as though they were done by a child with some artistic ability who hasn't learned about perspective yet. Since the story is all about perspective, this seems like a flaw, and the art lacks the primitive charm that could have saved it. It is listed as being for readers from 5 to 9 years of age. I think dwarfism may be too specific a difference to have wide appeal for that age range, and the lesson is too much the point of the story. I'm not going to share this one with my 5-to-9ers. I just don't think they'd care much for it. The presentation doesn't do justice to my memory of the novel, either, although it has been close to 20 years since I read it.

Everyone probably wishes sometime in their life that they could be someone else. This book is full of wishes. Two sisters who wish to be like the other, because the other seems to have it better. But they realize that everyone wishes at some time that they were something different. And that if they were both alike, they would be themselves. I like the message of this book, but I don’t care for the rest of it. I think the art style is a little old fashioned and I hate the … between the words and characters. Just overall, this book was not a success for this reader.

Patty, Mickey, and Liza Sue all live in a big box. The box contains everything they need, but they are not allowed to explore the world outside. I enjoyed reading this book. As a parent, this book has made me question my own response to my child's behavior.I can recall at times becoming annoyed when my children would always want to touch things. This book gives a good description of how children feel when they are not allowed to be themselves.½

Beautiful drawings about kids traveling around for a year with their parents.

A little sister begs her big sister to tell her what to dream about. The older sister is reluctant but warms to her topic, coming up with idea after idea until they both drop off to sleep.

I like this quirky book about an extremely eccentric family that takes a year out of their life to tour Italy as a four-person theatre troupe of animated puppets. I don't know whether it's rendered more believable or more peculiar by knowing that it's true events from the author's childhood. My very literal grandson complained about the book: the pictures don't always represent the two girls in their proper sizes and the Italian is so rudimentary. "It's like it was written by a child!" Since that effect was the author's intention, it's safe to say that the book is a success. His sister absolutely loved the book. I found it utterly delightful. I love books about puppets, puppetry and theatre and this one is unique. By majority vote, it's a keeper.

I love this book because it reminds me of a meme where two guys were stuck in a box and tried to get out by drawing a door. The characters in the story have their own unique things that are contributed inside the box like a picture of a sky or a pair of Nike Shoes. The message given in the story is that you can imagine anything one person wants.

This is a good book for teaching children to embrace their differences and know that is is okay to be different and you dont have to confine to what society believes is the norm.½

This book keeps you guessing and trying to figure out what is going on. Page by page you think you are getting closer to what is really going on in the big box and yet page by page your thoughts change. The roller coaster of influences that change your mind are subtle and if you don't think about them you could just read the book and never notice but then at that point your not really reading now are you.You might become frustrated and decided to wait for the end of the book so you can find the true significance of all these parts of the book that have changed your opinion at every new page.But the author will not have any of that instead the book end with out telling you about the significance of these factors so that way you are forced to think about it for your self.½

I loved the message of this book! It shows that not all people are the same. Some may be different, but thats okay! We need to appreciate everyone!

I really liked this book! By the time the author was done describing and talking about the first character, Patty, I knew the general theme was going to be putting people or students in this metaphorical “box” that society has created. These three children were put into this box for various reasons but all of them being generally because they (the children) acted out of the “social norm”, even though I believe what they were doing or what was seen as “acting out” in the book is just typical elementary school behavior, like paper airplanes or playing ball. This book opened my eyes and I will be showing it to my mom who is a social worker because I know she will be able to use it in some of her classes. I agree with the books message, that everyone is different and we as humans must allow everyone to be their true selves.

This is an amazing book and allows students to really think and engage with the reading. A child reading this could make so many inferences while reading, but by the end can see the bigger picture of the book. This book allows children and even adults see that no one child is the same. It allows children to see that they hold the key to their life, and their life is what they make of it. This book is even an eye-opener for adults like me. It allows you to see in a different perspective that you can't categorize children the same because they are all unique in their own ways. I highly recommended this book.

I would call this realistic fiction because the reader can look at the big brown box in a realistic way or metaphorical but the plot itself is something that many children deal with when growing up. I thought it was interesting that Morrison's son Slade was the creator of this book when he was nine years old. I think that is an age when a lot of children are first starting to 'stretch' and explore their boundaries. Toni Morrison added the verse to the writing to complete the repetitive theme. By the end of the book I was wishing that the two Morrisons had found different ways of expressing the children losing their freedom rather than repeating the same verse but there was enough alternative information for every child that it still worked. I really loved how detailed the illustrations are. They give so much detail to the book without it needing to be overly wordy and they really let you dive into these children's worlds and personalities. Each one is a fully developed and characteristic person. Definitely odd but a great conversation starter on children's behavior and how to know where limits are and when to be humbled by an adults desires and when even as a child to speak up and plead your case. There is a difference between talking back and actually defending yourself and a lot of children's opinions get over looked or written off by adults who 'know better'.

Genre: Fiction

Summary: In this book, two young friends are playing dolls and they have very different dollhouses. One friend has a traditional dollhouse and plays dolls in a very traditional way. The other friend has a homemade dollhouse with creative rules. In the end, the young friend with the traditional dollhouse decides that her friends dollhouse is more fun. This helps her friend feel less insecure and they play with her doll together.

Uses in the Classroom: This book highlights the differences between people and the insecurities that can pop up because of that. It would be a great way to start teaching children about social and economic differences. I used it to broaden the imagination of my four year old niece. We read the book and then made our own dollhouse. It was a great way to show her that reading can be fun and then we can apply what we learn.

A child made dollhouse proves to be the most fun

Three different children are locked away in a big box by their parents "for their own good" because of their inability to adhere to society and their parents' rules.

This book addresses the way that children can be shut down and punished for not fitting the mold that society want them to and whether or not it is right to restrict someone's freedom simps because they do not do things the way you believe they should. I remember getting this book from my mother when I was four and feeling a freedom from reading it, I thought it was also cool that it was written by one of the people I was named after and she wrote it the year I was born because perhaps she knew that I needed it to help navigate the world.

This Is My Dollhouse follows two girls friendship and insecurities. One of the girls has a store bought dollhouse with rigid rules and the other has an open-ended dollhouse that she made herself. Throughout their interaction, the girls decide that the open-ended dollhouse is more creative than the other one. This allows the girl to feel proud of who she is and what she has created. IO think what is great about this book for kids it shares two very different social and economic realities, and it challenged students to be open and curious about activities that are different than what they are used to. Genre - Picture Book.

Gisella didn't attend school for an entire year, instead her family traveled around Italy and performed. They were known as The Mystic Paper Beasts. Giselle writes in her journal about her entire journey, like when she had to go on for her little sister during a performance and couldn't see, and even when her family is save by nuns. The book describes describes foreign food and languages. It's a great book for kids to expose them to different cultures.

A perfect book for sharing one-on-one with any child who has (or needs!) a great imagination. Add this one to your list of books extolling the virtues of the ever-versatile cardboard box.

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Little people can feel different, this book is great for all children

When a young girl travels with her family to Italy to perform theater, she misses an entire year of school. However, she learns and experiences so much while she and her family are traveling, that it's as if she had never left.
This book encourages an adventurous lifestyle while also introducing the Italian culture. Through traveling, you are able to see the world from a different perspective and learn about a wide variety of cultures. The young girl in the book wrote about all the things she experienced and even learned to speak Italian.
The book is based on a true story, which I found to be interesting. The author, herself, wrote that her family performed and were called "The Mystic Paper Beasts." She had also traveled to Italy and kept a journal about her adventures. Upon reading this, it made the story more realistic and enjoyable.

siblings talk about 'what if' ..

A book off the UU minister's bookshelf--I found it depressing, disturbing, and leaving me with a lot to think about. I suppose Morrison's box represents the proverbial round holes into which we expect/teach our kids to conform as we sand & file away the corners of the children's personalities with rules, regulations, and expectations. I am still wondering about the references to the visits by the parents who bestow upon the pent up children expensive gifts and representations of the outside world instead of actually letting them out of their boxes.....

ohhhhh......just writing that made it all come together for me. I just changed my rating from 3 to 5. I just needed to sort out my thoughts! This poetry is worth reading, but I recommend it to adults, as what my 9-year-old son took away from it was, "If I am bad, I may get all of my privileges taken away, and perhaps if I'm really bad, I'll end up in a box!" He certainly wasn't able to grasp the social commentary aspect, yet.

Beautiful, fantastical illustrations in this celebration of the limitless possibilities of imagination.