The Littlest Matryoshka

This is a very simple story which details the creation of a set of Matroyshka dolls in a quaint Russian village by a wood carver. Just before they begin their journey to, the doll maker says: "you are six sisters" "keep your sisters safe inside you and may you find a happy home...and so the biggest

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doll does, all the way to a new shop in America. The sister are: Nina, Nadia, Vanda, Varka, Olda, Anna (from littlest to biggest). The dolls are lined up in the store for display, unfortunately one day Nina is knocked from the shelf and is swept out of the store into the snow. From there, the remaining dolls are sold at discount to a young girl and we follow the progress of Nina as she is plowed away by a truck, found and discarded by a squirrel, falls into a river, is carried away by a bird and finally tumbles down a rain pipe...conveniently at the home of her sisters new owner where they are all happily reunited.

It's a cute story, if a little contrived. It would make a fine read aloud for younger children (birth to about 3 years), I don't think kids much older than 5 will really find this story all that engaging. Fans of Matryoshka dolls will adore the illustrations here as they are rich, vibrant and very well done! Overall, I give four stars, is a sweet little story that is fine for young children and collectors of these dolls and their images will also appreciate the sweetness of the story, as it matches the sweetness of the dolls.

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Review: This book is an excellent example of fantasy because it combines the world as we know it and fantasy. Nina, the smallest of a group of Russian nesting dolls, is separated from her sisters and swept along on a dangerous journey that eventually brings her back home.
Level: Primary, Intermediate

Age Appropriateness: Primary
Genre: Fantasy
Review: This is a good example of fantasy, because the Matryoshka dolls had feelings and thoughts; even though they were toys.
Comments: - Study about the culture of Russia
- Study about the history of Matryoshka dolls
- Ask students, How do they think the

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littlest doll will get back to her sisters?
Media: Watercolors

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This picture book tells the story of six sisters who happen to be matryoshka dolls. They fit into each other and are told by their maker to look out of each other, but the littlest matryoshka gets lost, and we follow her journey as she finally finds her sisters again.

This book is about a set of Matryoshka that are sisters. They are traveling to america to be sold in a shop. when ariving at the shop the littlest one end up out the shopps door and carried far away from her sisters. the book describes her journey finding her sisters. In the mean time the sisters

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end up getting bought by a little girl. In the end the little girl finds the missing sister and everyone is reunited.
Fantasy
Use: to teach culture, to teach picture to text.
Media: colored pencil

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Sweet enough, but the most interesting bit imo was the author's note, that reveals that nesting dolls were first made in the 1800s in China, and are now made in India, Japan, China, Poland, and other countries. besides Russia.

After quite an adventure, the smallest of six nesting dolls finds her way back to her sisters.