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By Nicki Richesin, The Children’s Book Review
Published: December 5, 2011

Yona Zeldis McDonough

Yona Zeldis McDonough is the talented author of many books for readers of all ages: fiction and non-fiction for adults and award-winning children’s books. She has most recently written the highly anticipated second book in her Doll Shop series, The Cats in the Doll Shop. Although a prolific writer, Yona still makes time for school visits and readings. She lives in Brooklyn with her family.

Nicki Richesin: It’s a great pleasure to interview you. You have proved a prolific writer of both fiction and nonfiction for adults, in addition to your award-winning children’s books. My daughter adored The Doll Shop Downstairs and The Cats in the Doll Shop. Could you explain how you first discovered Beatrice Alexander, or Madame Alexander as she’s known, and how her story inspired you to write about the resourceful Breittlemann family?

Yona Zeldis McDonough: I remember Madame Alexander dolls from my own childhood. I longed for them though I never had one back then.  As an adult, I started collecting dolls and bought a few of Mme. Alexander’s creations for my collection. When I was reading about her early life, I found out that her father owned and operated America’s first doll hospital.  It was on the Lower East Side and the family lived in an apartment above the shop.  Beatrice (she was Bertha in those days) and her sisters were allowed to play in the doll hospital sometimes and when I learned that, I just knew: here was a perfect setting for a children’s story.

Many of your books are set in Brooklyn, where you live with your family. Why has this area of New York proved such a “fertile ground” as you put it in your work?

YZM: I love Brooklyn. It’s so vast and filled with its own history, character and even mysteries. It is both a part of New York, and yet retains a separate identity.  I grew up in Brooklyn and so it holds many associations for me

I am on the lookout for Christmas over here and I ran across this!! My Salon Doll is a newer doll out on the market, much like the American Girl counterpart, BUT you can actually wash, style, and dry her hair!! Oh yes, my girls are thinking this is SOMETHING!! Watch this short video to see how the hair is assembled on the dolls.

When I first became interested in children’s literature I decided that it would be a good idea to teach myself about all the old greats of the picture book world.  A good idea, but self-teaching is inherently limited.  As such, I’ve missed a lot of folks. For example, until now “Saul Bass” meant nothing to me.  Yet after reading the Ward Jenkins post on the Rizzoli reprint of Henri’s Walk to Paris, that is one book I would love to get my sticky digits on.  Just gorgeous stuff.

I’ve noticed a couple of folks around the country working to make literary loving hip in the mind of the average consumer with varying degrees of success.  One project that has interested me, though, is this Litpunch idea the Twin Cities are engaged in.  Basically you get a card, you attend fun free literary events, and if you get your card punched twelve times you get a $15 gift card to a bookstore.  I do wish the libraries were involved in some manner but it’s a great notion.  Imagine if they did the same thing with children’s literature!  I await that happening someday.

• This is impressive!  Want a fabulous list of in-print books set on every continent of the world?  And would you like such a list to also include activities and recipes and the like?  Then I think it’s time to take a trip to Read Around the World.  It’ll do your old heart good.  Promise.

• Speaking of recipes, you know that fabulous book Press Here by Herve Tullet?  Well, would you fancy trying a mess of Press Here cookies?  Children’s Books for Grown-Ups has got the goods.  It’s part of a regular “Bookish Bites” series.  I’m seriously looking forward to how Natasha will tackle that upcoming Moomin birthday cake.  There but for the grace of parental challenges go I . . .

• Once in a while at Hark, A Vagrant, Ms. Kate Beaton will reinterpret various Edward Gorey covers.  Here’s one she may have missed.  It appeared recently on the 50 Watt blog and features a Gorey spider.  Have you ever seen a Gorey spider?  Did you know that you were missing out?  That your life contained a gigantic Gorey-spider shaped void?

Well now you know.

• Is texting “an ideal sp
  6 Comments on Fusenews: Hotsy Totsy, Ducky, Spiffy, Etc., last added: 9/12/2011
  Display Comments
  Storied Cities said, on 9/10/2011 2:39:00 AM
  

  Surprisingly, I DO know of a Scottish picture book author! Natalie Russell!

  Elizabeth Fama said, on 9/10/2011 6:44:00 AM
  

  That Edward Gorey spider reminds me of the Medieval bestiary drawings, where the artist had never seen the living creature before! “Uh, it has 8 legs. It’s sort of furry up close. Yeah, it’s sort of like a crab, I guess.”

  DanMc said, on 9/10/2011 8:21:00 AM
  

  I can understand not knowing he did a kids’ book (certainly came as a shock to me) but how could you be married to Matt and not know Saul Bass?

  http://notcoming.com/saulbass/index2.php

  Elizabeth Bird said, on 9/10/2011 9:55:00 PM
  

  This is a pretty good case of my blithely blogging something without consulting the resident husband. Good call, Dan. Matt definitely knows who he is.

  Rams said, on 9/11/2011 4:43:00 AM
  

  Now we know why the itsy-bitsy spider was looking for a water spout.

  jules said, on 9/12/2011 10:36:00 PM
  

  Wow. Thanks for filling the gigantic Gorey-spider shaped void in my life. Creepy cover.

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We loved making dolls for Haiti so much,
we simply had to do something for Japan.



Hurray for Dolly Donations, the blog
that connected us with the right people!

The kids helped me make three dolls
for displaced children in Japan:


repurposed pants and silk vest turned into Fuzzy Pink girl,










quilting scraps became Princess Leia Buns and Blue Bunnie.

(Thank you, Sharon for the beautiful scraps!)



We tied love notes to each doll


and said our farewells at the Post Office.

My hope is that three children
find comfort in the midst of hardship,
and that my three children understand
that they are not too small to give,
however small our gifts.

Last week I wrote about the picture books we’ve been reading as a way into enjoying the music of Swan Lake by Tchaikovsky. As in the past I found the easiest way to get the girls to become familiar with the music was to play them clips from YouTube. The advantage of using these clips, apart from them being free, is that they tend to be short (5-10 minutes, which is great for ensuring kids don’t get bored), and that there is something interesting to look at whilst the music wafts over you.

Here are some of our favourite clips:

This clip shows Odile and the prince dancing at the ball, performed by the Kirov Ballet.

This clip shows the Pas de Quatre, peformed by the Bolshoi Ballet. My girls particularly like this and tried immediately to copy what they had seen!

Once M and J had seen the Bolshoi’s Pas de Quatre, I showed them Matthew Bourne’s Pas de Quatre. They were amazed to see men dancing ballet!

This was perhaps my favourite clip (I watched it 5 or 6 times with the girls and each time it brought tears to my eyes!). It shows the spectacular finale to Swan Lake by the American Ballet Theater.

This clip, from the Great Chinese State Circus, isn’t one for ballet purists, but my girls just adored it – they were amazed by the acrobatics.

Having listened to lots of shorter clips of music it was then easier to put

This is doll's food: the sandwiches are broken up chips, the salad is cabbage with the threadlike tops from a bulb of fennel, and the cake is a slice of banana with toothpaste squirted on for frosting. The four-year old brother thought of that one; his sister was I think a little distressed when he straightened out the doll's candy canes for candles.

Maybe you can see it better here:



The refreshments were in preparation for the ball - Fiona (one of the children I babysit) had plotted it all out before I arrived. It was not going to be much fun for Cissette (blond below) since her daughter Alice (lying on floor above) was going to eat all the food and do other naughty things. Before the ball, Alice was well-behaved, because she wanted a new dress. We made Cissette's outfit first: Fiona designed it and I spent most of the afternoon sewing it while the dolls talked:

Fiona loved it and I have to admit, I was rather proud of it, too. It even has two buttons on the back.

There is something about these afternoons that's inspiring. Fiona and Ethan are both really creative, and just hearing what they say and getting in touch with that side of myself is really fun. And I think (do you agree?) that having ANY kind of fun is inspiring. It puts you in a playful state of mind, and when I've really had fun, I'm willing to work/write. When ALL I do is work/write, I don't want to do it. But sometimes the inspiration is more specific: when I told them an incident from my new novel, Fiona smiled and said,
"That sounds like something Alice would do."

Please Touch Museum collects toys. Best sellers, iconic, and loaded with lots of play value. A lot of toys offer open-ended play experiences so that you can come back over and over and they still remain fun. Toys and games your grandparents played with can be toys and games that your child plays with today: alphabet blocks, teddy bears, Monopoly and more. And then there’s some toys that come down the pike and EVERYONE simply has to have one! They are called fads and kids love ‘em!

The latest craze to hit the scene is a simple little silicone bracelet…known as Silly Bandz, Silly Bracelets, Zanybandz, Crazy Bands and even Rubba Bandz. They are colorful silicone bands molded into a variety of shapes with a variety of colors and designs. They come in themed packs, such as animals, dinosaurs, princesses, baseball, rock band and rainforest, just to name a few. They look like simple bracelets when you wear them, but pop back into their shapes when taken off.

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By: John, on 5/24/2010
Blog: DRAWN! (Login to Add to MyJacketFlap)
JacketFlap tags:  blog, Flickr, dolls, Crafts, plush, jon burgerman, John Allison, Use Tags - Not Categories, Felt Mistress, Jon Knox, Jonathan Edwards, Louise Evans, Add a tag

Felt Mistress AKA Louise Evans (previously featured on Drawn!) is a UK-based stitcher, prolific tea drinker and creator of some of the best darn dolls these adoring eyes have ever gazed upon. Utilizing skills learned as a couture dress maker and milliner, Lousie works with her partner, illustrator Jonathan Edwards, on a wild and wooly array of wonderful one-off creatures. Other notable collaborations include her work with three very talented Jon’s; Jon Burgerman, Jon Knox and John Allison.

Current projects include shows such as Brain Drain with Jon Burgerman, Heliumcowboy (link might not be safe for work), Plush You! LA, a few upcoming custom shows and some super duper top secret solo projects to which she claims she’s sworn to secrecy (for the time being). To keep up with the latest from Felt Mistress (and to see if she coughs up any of those highly guarded secrets!), you can happily follow along with her blog or flickr stream. I know I will!

---

Posted by Stephan Britt on Drawn! The Illustration and Cartooning Blog | Permalink | No comments
Tags: blog, Crafts, dolls, Felt Mistress, Flickr, John Allison, jon burgerman, Jon Knox, Jonathan Edwards, Louise Evans, plush

4 Comments on The Triumphant Return of Felt Mistress, last added: 5/24/2010

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alex said, on 5/24/2010 3:46:00 AM

Yeah! Go Luise! Awesome creatures

Kristin Forbes-Mullane said, on 5/24/2010 4:47:00 AM

hahaha! those are amazing! What imaginative work..

Mike said, on 5/24/2010 9:58:00 AM

Love those characters, they're ace. Very trendy designs. Reminds me a little of Boris Hoppek and the creations he did that were used in the Vauxhall ads.

2 ply said, on 5/24/2010 1:42:00 PM

God, these are absolutely brilliant.

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By: shelf-employed, on 4/14/2010
Blog: Shelf-employed (Login to Add to MyJacketFlap)
JacketFlap tags:  book review, fantasy, dolls, girls, loss, mothers, grandparents, J, Add a tag

Bauer, Marion Dane. 2010. The Very Little Princess. New York: Random House.

"All books are judged by their covers until they are read."
from The Incorrigible Children of Ashton Place: The Mysterious Howling, by Maryrose Wood.


I try to read across a broad spectrum of children's literature, to help me in my job as a children's librarian.  I take Reader's Advisory seriously and try hard to match each child with the perfect book. Towards that end, I picked up The Very Little Princess, thinking that I have been neglecting, (for lack of a better term) "girly-girl" books. The delightful pink cover with Elizabeth Sayles' fanciful artwork attracted my attention and sealed the deal.

I could not have been more wrong, however, in classifying this short tale as a lighthearted story for girls. (spoiler alert)

One fine June morning, Zoey is surprised by her mother's off-hand remark that they will be leaving soon for her grandmother's house.

Of course, visiting your grandmother probably is natural for you.  But it wasn't for Zoey.  The truth is she had never met her grandmother.  Until that moment, she hadn't even known she had a grandmother!

Zoey dutifully packs a cardboard suitcase (she is by nature a dutiful girl) and goes off to her grandmother's rural home where she is again surprised to find that her mother and grandmother do not appear to be on good terms.  In fact, they argue heatedly, prompting Zoey to go exploring, and thereupon to find a most beautiful three and one-quarter inch tall doll.  She is further surprised when the tiny doll sits upright and sneezes!

What child has not dreamed of a doll that comes to life?  But this is not the doll of dreams.  Princess Regina, (as she likes to be called), is a self-centered, bossy doll, a doll that treats Zoey as a servant.  But Zoey, being by nature a dutiful girl, is not particularly bothered by Regina's selfish, narcissistic behavior.  In fact, she comes to love the diminutive princess, and in her fashion, the princess loves Zoey, too.  As the book jacket declares in similar terms, this is an expertly crafted story of family, friendship, love and loss.  It is.  It also, however,  the story of a loss so profound that the dust jacket's cheery countenance might leave a young reader bereft, as she reads that Zoey's mother leaves her, with nothing more than a cheerful, "Be good," with a woman that a day ago, she never even knew existed.  Zoey is left with her grandmother because her mother needs to be alone. Does this really happen?  I'm sure that it does.  Should it happen in a short, cheerful, small-sized book that is suggested for ages 6-9?  I'm not sure.  In the final chapter, the reader finds that the grandmother turns out to be a kind, wise, and loving woman, but the loss is still great. Place this book in the hands of a child who is capable of understanding and appreciating the story.

Read it as a well-told story, a unique story, even an enchanting story; but don't judge this book by its cover.

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