Review of The Stuffed Animal by John Donald O'Shea

This is a touching, beautiful story about a woman who rescues dolls and stuffed toys from yard sales and rubbish heaps so that she can repair them and keep them for their previous owners to find. The author explores the special bonds children have with their toys, bonds that often remain strong after the children have grown up. Good triumphs over evil, here the evil is the doll collector/witch Vendetta Cage who arrives at The Stuffed Animal, the shelter and hospital for the dolls and toys. The book is beautifully illustrated, and printed in an attractive font. It is perfect for grade schoolers, but also meaningful for adults nostalgic for their childhood toys. In this cynical age where dolls are deemed creepy and toys become currency for dealers, The Stuffed Animal reminds us, in the spirit of Baudelaire's "The Philosophy of Toys", of the important roles dolls and stuffed toys play in children's lives.