The Littlest Matryoshka

Contributors

By Corinne Bliss

Illustrated by Kathryn Brown

Formats and Prices

On Sale
Sep 1, 1999
Page Count
32 pages
ISBN-13
9780786801534

Price

$18.99

Price

$24.99 CAD

Format

Hardcover

Format:

Hardcover $18.99 $24.99 CAD

Follow one brave doll’s journey home after she’s separated from her nesting doll sisters, in this cozy, classic story beloved for over 25 years.
 
In a small shop in a snowy village in Russia, Nikolai the doll maker was carving his last matryoshka. From one piece of soft wood he shaped six nesting dolls, each one fitting inside the other. They all opened in the middle and were hollow inside, except for the littlest. She was the size of a bumblebee and she was made of the heart of the sweet-smelling wood.
 
When the littlest matryoshka falls from the toy shop shelf, she worries she’ll never see her sisters again. A little girl buys the remaining dolls at half price and takes them home. But the smallest doll won’t give up, so she sets off on a perilous journey. She’s carried off in a truck, swept along a stream, and caught in a waterfall. Will she find her way home?
 
An Author’s Note at the end of the book shares the history of Russian nesting dolls.

  • “The adventure has definite appeal.”
    School Library Journal
  • “Like Nina, who was ‘made of the heart of the sweet-smelling wood,’ this picture book was crafted of emotional heart wood, and children will respond to its essential goodness.”
    Booklist
  • “With illustrations quaint enough for Christmas cards, an author's note that explains the history of nesting dolls, and a story reminiscent of The Tin Soldier, Bliss's (Matthew's Meadow) picture book will especially please collectors of Russian matryoshkas."
    Publishers Weekly
  • “An author's note on the history of matryoshkas is a welcome touch.”
    Kirkus Reviews

Corinne Bliss

About the Author

Corinne Demas is the award-winning author of 38 books including the picture book Saying Goodbye to Lulu, as well as two collections of short stories, six novels, a memoir, a collection of poetry, two plays, and numerous books for children. She is a professor emeritus of English at Mount Holyoke College and a fiction editor of the Massachusetts Review, and invites you to visit her online at corinnedemas.com.

Born in southern Idaho, Kathryn Brown grew up along the Snake River Canyon with her brother and three sisters. Together they took care of the animals in their family’s corral—horses, burros, sheep, pigs, two pure white mules, and a dog named Coke. It was from this corral that she began drawing long eared critters adorned with fine apparel —the inspiration for Muledred, her first picture book. Kathryn lives near the Connecticut River in Massachusetts and invites you to visit her online at kathrynbrownart.com.

Learn more about this author