The Paper Dolls by Julia Donaldson and Rebecca Cobb

We've been really enjoying The Paper Dolls by Julia Donaldson and Rebecca Cobb. It's the story of a little girl whose mother makes her a string of paper dolls and they name them 'Ticky and Tacky and Jackie the Backie and Jim with two noses and Jo with the bow' and take them on all sorts of adventures until they are untimely cut short by a little boy with a pair of scissors!

It's a simple story but touches on some very big themes, including remembering people who have died, and growing up to become a parent and the passing on of traditions. After the little boy cuts the paper dolls into pieces the text tells us that they 'flew into the little girl's memory' and in the little girl's memory we find all sorts of things including 'a kind granny'.

The text is slightly different to Julia Donaldson's usual fare and I really like it, it's rhythmic but not rhyming and I know from experience how hard it is to get that to work. I guess if anyone is going to do it well it would have to be Julia Donaldson!

I really like the artwork by Rebecca Cobb as well. I like the sketchy feel of it and the colour palette she uses. She also manages to show the movement of the paper dolls, which I think is a feat in itself!

I'd almost forgotten that you could make paper dolls, they're so easy to do, anyone can make them, even me! We've made quite a few sets and seeing Rosie play with them is fascinating, it's easy to see why this picture book came into being, it's the imaginative world of a little girl come to life.