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Katy's mother was having one of those days. So was Katy." The opening lines of The Grandmother Doll suggest that it is going to be one of those "understanding - mother - helps - pre - schooler - through - bad - patch" books of bibliotherapy. But, pleasant surprise, here Katy's mother remains fed up with Katy's chicken pox - inspired bad temper; distraction is provided instead by a truculent family doll who turns up and demands things of Katy. The dolls wants a TV, an oven, a bed. Katy gathers boxes and crayons and does her best. In a simple and subtle recreation of how imaginative play unfolds, the make - believe becomes real as Katy and the doll play together. The oven actually heats up and the doll bakes cookies. Bartels really captures the relationship between a child and a doll, with its delicate balance of free will and determinism. And the story ends beautifully. Katy's mother comes into her daughter's room, smells the cookies, and sees the doll tucked in for the night. "'At it again?' Katy's mother whispered softly." Three simple words of dialogue, and we are convinced of the continuity of love between the generations.