MY DOLLY

Radunsky has illustrated several other Woody Guthrie tunes (Howdi Do, 2000, etc.) with his familiar gouache and collage figures: a yellow dog, a multi-striped cat, and a little girl with a teacup chapeau. Guthrie’s bouncy, insinuating lyrics are a bit flat on the page—although sheet music is provided on the inside of the book jacket—but the song would probably sing itself for a read-aloud. That’s going to be necessary, since libraries won’t be able to get to the pinned-down jacket: “I put my dolly’s stockings on, / I put my dolly’s shoes on, / She acts just like a clown-o, and she looks like this. / Oh well, she looks like this, O.” Whatever one might think of the transformation of classic Guthrie child-oriented folk music into a picture book, there is an undeniable charm to the candy garden colors and the inventive shapes that form the children, pets, and toys. Two obviously well-loved dolls belonging to the illustrator appear as themselves in collage photographs; one might have a little more trouble appreciating the occasional scribble of his children and their friends. (Picture book. 3-7)