Finding Walter

by Ann Turner

Emily is excited about staying with their grandmother this summer, but Rose is angry about having to spend so much time with her sister. It seems the only thing they have in common is the adventure that awaits them in Gran's attic. Fantasy becomes reality for Emily and Rose when they begin to restore an old dollhouse. The dolls come to life and begin to speak telepathically to the girls. Awake for the first time in 20 years, they are sad to find that their baby, Walter, is missing. Can they trust two little girls to find a tiny china doll that has been missing for so long? Cooperation is the driving force in this magical tale. As the girls work to reunite and mend the Victorian doll family, they find their sibling rivalry mending as well. Listeners will be mesmerized by narrator Barbara Caruso's ability to shift so effortlessly between the doll and human worlds.

Genres: Juvenile

Audible Audio

First published January 1, 1997

About the author

Ann Turner, also known and published as Ann Warren Turner, is a children's author and a poet.
Ann Turner wrote her first story when she was eight years old. It was about a dragon and a dwarf named Puckity. She still uses that story when she talks to students about writing, to show them that they too have stories worth telling.
Turner has always loved to write, but at first she was afraid she couldn't make a living doing it. So she trained to be a teacher instead. After a year of teaching, however, she decided she would rather write books than talk about them in school.
Turner's first children's book was about vultures and was illustrated by her mother. She has written more than 40 books since then, most of them historical picture books. She likes to think of a character in a specific time and place in American history and then tell a story about that character so that readers today can know what it was like to live long ago.
Ann Turner says that stories choose her, rather than the other way around: "I often feel as if I am walking along quietly, minding my own business, when a story creeps up behind me and taps me on the shoulder. 'Tell me, show me, write me!' it whispers in my ear. And if I don't tell that story, it wakes me up in the morning, shakes me out of my favorite afternoon nap, and insists upon being told."

(from: http://www.eduplace.com/kids/tnc/mtai...)

Reviews

[Evelyn · Rating 5 out of 5]

A very sweet story about some children who make friends with a family of talking dolls. They have lost their youngest child, Walter, and hope to find him again one day. Overall a very cute story that everyone should read!!

[Sarah · Rating 4 out of 5]

Saw the cover for this while looking over the new books on the library website and got hit with such a wave of nostalgia. Listened to the audio book when I was a kid and loved it and it still holds up. Just a sweet good story that makes me happy. Also randomly pro dog adoption. Better than Toy Story for toys alive feelings.

[Kessie · Rating 2 out of 5]

I read a good amount of this book, but it just couldn't seem to hold my attention. It was interesting, but not intriguing enough to keep reading it. It would be a great book to read to a little girl, but not to read as an adult.

[LeAnne · Rating 2 out of 5]

The idea was good, but I found it over-written. Too long for the age level. Really corny at times. The image of completing the doll family bringing happiness to the human family is good, but it should not have been so blatantly verbalized.

[CLM · Rating 4 out of 5]

A charming doll story for an 8 year old reader.

[Maya · Rating 2 out of 5]

A little scary!