Ironically, I read this the day before Mother’s Day. Having a little person learn what the demands of a littler person are is an interesting read.

I don’t think I’d call this a nice book. But it is an interesting one. YMMV because you could consider this a shared imagination but could also consider this witchcraft or possession of a doll by a spirit or something like that.

This book was full of life and carried great examples to share with children. Natasha had wanted her grandmother to do different activities with her all day long, her grandmother was busy with chores and couldn’t play with Natasha. During lunch, Natasha wanted to play with her grandmothers’ doll. Her grandmother explicitly told Natasha she has only played with the doll once. Her grandmother allowed her to go ahead and play with the doll when she left for the store. To Natasha’s surprise, the doll came to life when it was taken down from the shelf. The doll wore Natasha mimicking all the things that Natasha asks her grandmother to do. This book can be used as a great teaching moment, putting the children in the shoes of the adult. I’d use this when talking to my students about responsibilities.

This story is about a doll that Babushka played with only once when she was a little girl, when her granddaughter gets to play with this doll it comes to life and she realized why her grandmother only played with her once. This book is full of magic and culture and children will love it! This book is a third grade reading level, and can be used to introduce Russian culture to students. After reading the story students can talk about the character traits and feelings in the story, as well as identify the main event and summarize what they have read. They can compare how Natasha feels and acts at the beginning of the story vs the end, as well as how Babushka feels and acts at the beginning vs the end of the story. ( )

Natasha isn't really a bad girl. It's just that she wants to play on the swing now, not after the wash has been hung up to dry. And she wants her soup now, not after the goats have been fed. Looking after Natasha keeps Babushka, Natasha's grandmother, very busy.
Then, after lunch, Natasha notices a doll sitting on Babushka's shelf...a doll Babushka tells Natasha she played with just once when she was a little girl. When Natasha plays with the doll while Babushka goes to the store for groceries, she discovers why once is enough with Babushka's doll...and finds out just how tiring it can be to take care of a child who wants everything now.

It about the little girl who being very noddy when she with her grandma and making her grandma do things for her. She stop being noddy when she play with her grandma doll because the doll come to life and do the same thing to her. I like it because it teach us lesson on how we should treat other like how we want other to treat us and I will use the book for that. It suit for grade third to seven.