Elizabeti's Doll

Starred review from August 31, 1998
In an impressive debut, Stuve-Bodeen warms the heart and hearth with this sweetly evoked tale inspired by her experiences in the Peace Corps. Set in a Tanzanian village, the story tells of Elizabeti, who watches her mother care for her new baby brother and longs for a little one of her own to cuddle. She has no doll, so instead she looks around for a suitable "baby" and soon finds a rock that's shaped just right. Carefully mimicking her mother, she bathes, feeds (her doll is "too polite to burp") and changes "Eva," and when doing chores ties Eva to her back "with a bright cloth called a kanga," just as her mother does. Downcast when Eva is misplaced (her sister accidentally uses the rock for the cooking fire), Elizabeti finds her special doll in time to sing her to sleep. Stuve-Bodeen's well-balanced prose strikes just the right tranquil, gently humorous tone. She lovingly delineates the mother-daughter relationship, and offers a rare, intimate view of another culture while sounding a universal chord. Hale (Juan Bobo and the Pig), meanwhile, deftly captures the story's mood in softly shaded mixed-media illustrations, juxtaposing brightly printed motifs in African fabrics against an earthy, sundrenched palette. The artist is equally adept at conveying close-up portraits with a full emotional range as she is a village scene of Elizabeti carrying a water jug atop her head. A little slice of perfection. Ages 4-up.

Starred review from September 1, 1998
K-Gr 2-Elizabeti doesn't have a doll and yet she wants to take care of a baby all her own, just like Mama takes care of the new baby. So she finds a rock, kisses it, and names it Eva. Like her friend Rahaili, readers may at first laugh at such an idea, but they will soon be won over. The text is original, clever, and consistent in its respectful treatment of Elizabeti's notion. As the rock is compared to the real infant, it actually takes on a personality so that when it's lost, having been mistakenly used for the fire pit, it's clear that no other rock can take its place. Once found, Eva is quickly cleaned off, hugged, and soothed with a lullaby. This story takes place in Tanzania, and lifestyle differences, such as how a baby is carried in a kanga cloth and the way that food is cooked in a separate hut, are an integral and unobtrusive part of the text. The mixed-media illustrations are intimate and remain focused on the girl and her family while also giving a sense of place. Bright cloths and patterned dresses add a touch of color to the splattered backgrounds painted in dry desert tones. This book is a splendid celebration of life and the power of a child's imagination.-Martha Topol, Traverse Area District Library, Traverse City, MI

October 1, 1998
Ages 4^-6. All over the world, children follow their parents and want to do what they do. In this gentle story, a little girl named Elizabeti in Tanzania wants to do what her mother does. Elizabeti has a new baby brother, Obedi, and as she watches her mother, she wants a baby to care for. She doesn't have a doll, but she does find a smooth rock, which she kisses and names Eva. She washes Eva when her mother bathes Obedi, feeds and burps her (Eva is too polite to burp), and wraps her in a kanga, a brightly patterned cloth that holds Eva on Elizabeti's back while she does her chores. When Eva disappears, Elizabeti is as anguished as any child over a beloved toy, and she rejoices when she finds Eva back again. The illustrations make excellent use of fabric and paper collage to form the clothing, kanga, and head wraps of the figures; and the soft, rounded edges of figures and landscape reflect the nurture and reassurance of the text. A very nice debut for Stuve-Bodeen, and another triumph for the illustrator of Felix Pitre's "Juan Bobo and the Pig" (1993). ((Reviewed October 1, 1998))(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 1998, American Library Association.)

January 1, 1999
Elizabeti, a contemporary Tanzanian girl, adopts an oval-shaped rock as a doll and names it Eva. The story tells about Eva's temporary disappearance, but the heart of the story is Elizabeti's acceptance of Eva not just as a real doll, but as a real person. The straightforward telling is smooth and clean, and the illustrations, echoing Eva's shape and color, are often oval vignettes with softly speckled backgrounds.

(Copyright 1999 by The Horn Book, Incorporated, Boston. All rights reserved.)