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Young Mary Ellen is heartbroken when her family's farmhouse burns to the ground, taking all five of her dolls with it. So when her mother announces that they are going to make her a new doll, she is overjoyed. But little does she know that Betty Doll will travel with her as her closest confidant through her whole life, watching as first Mary Ellen grows up, then her children, and her grandchi... More

Young Mary Ellen is heartbroken when her family's farmhouse burns to the ground, taking all five of her dolls with it. So when her mother announces that they are going to make her a new doll, she is overjoyed. But little does she know that Betty Doll will travel with her as her closest confidant through her whole life, watching as first Mary Ellen grows up, then her children, and her grandchildren. Along the way, Betty is privy to family events big and small: a devastating blizzard, tea parties, weddings, floods, illness, births, deaths, and war. When a much older Mary Ellen discovers she has cancer, she writes a letter to her grown daughter, Tricia, telling her the story of Betty Doll, and passing on her own abiding love for Tricia.

Tricia, or Patricia Polacco, has shared the words of the letter in this touching tribute to her mother, with black and white (with splashes of color) sketches that reflect the time span from the early 1900s to the present. Polacco often plumbs the depths of her family history for picture book ideas. She is the author of Chicken Sunday, The Butterfly, and many other warm tales. (Ages 5 to 9) --Emilie Coulter

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