The Very Little Princess

The Very Little Princess
By Marion Dane Bauer
Random House, 2010. 122 pp. Juvenile intermediate fiction.

This is a short, simple story about a young girl named Zoey, her mother, grandmother, and most importantly, a princess. The princess in question is an extra-special one--she's also a tiny doll. Zoey meets the princess when she visits her grandmother for the first time and discovers a beautiful dollhouse in her mother's old room. After one of Zoey's tears splashes onto the little doll, she suddenly comes to life, and a relationship springs up between girl and doll, but not the one you might expect!

This story is much more than being about a doll that comes to life. It's about familial relationships and how they can be complicated and confusing, especially for children. This story is also about love and how it can bind people together, despite difficulties or differences. A beautiful story, this is one to be sure to read.

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