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American Girl books
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I haven’t yet listened to SCM’s Books & Things Seminar–on my To Do List (along with a billion other things:-) I was wondering what people thought of these books. I thought that maybe some of the older historical dolls might seem ok–Kaya, (Indian time period versus the 70’s seemed potential safer), but we read a chapter & it just didn’t “feel” good. Part of me doesn’t want to like the books because I struggle with AG in general because of the cost of their things & the catalogs & feeling like it just teaches them to want more & more stuff. Anyway, there are so many wonderful books out there I hate to waste time on twaddle, but my daughter of course wants to read them. Any advice? I may need to read one through alone to decide but I was curious on others opinions before I invest the time. My almost 7 y/o wants a doll for Christmas, haven’t decided on that yet, but she wants to read the books now. I appreicate any advice!
I think there was a thread on here a few months about about the AG books, and the general concensus was that the older books were better than the newer ones.
I may be the lone ranger regarding AG, but my 7 year old daughter enjoys them. I think they encourage girls to have confidence and teach other character qualities as well. My mother gave my daughter an AG doll that she found at a yard sale for $1. I am not kidding! That is what started her love for AG. She does study the catalogs in depth! Very often she creates her own version of what she sees in the catalog from materials she finds around the house. She is very creative, so that is a plus to me. She knows she is free to save her money for any of the things she wants but Mom is not spending her money on it. She also checks out the AG magazine from the library. One day I found her at the table during free time writing a letter to the magazine!! I helped her with some spellings but she composed a very well-written letter and enclosed some original art work. Personally, I have found that American Girl brings out the best in my daughter, but others may have a different experience.
Your idea to read one through alone to decide is wise! Only you can decide what is best for YOUR daughter.
My DD loves AG. The books are decent. A bit twaddle-ish by CM standards, but no where near as bad as some like Junie B Jones, Henry Zippler, and any of the TV character based books one of my daughter’s friends loves. They do teach good moral lessons (though not always from a Christian worldview). if she’s into them for the history aspect, there is a little feature about 5 pages or so in the back of every one. For example, in Molly’s Christmas book, it explained why and how celebrations were different in wartime. Another great series for historical fiction is Dear America–My nephew loved them when he was just a little older than your DD.
Here is an interesting, Christian based review of the AG books which I found helpful in deciding if they were appropriate for my dd or not. (FWIW, I decided that they are OK in moderation, but I would try to intersperse other things in there as well so it’s not ALL she’s reading. And as this article brings up, be aware of things you may want to discuss.)
http://www.redeemedreader.com/2012/05/american-girls-meet-rebecca/
HTH
Jen
As far as the dolls go, we got the “Knock-off version” at Target and my daughter is thrilled w/ it. It isn’t tied to the stories in any way, but she looks like an AG doll. She takes her w/ her almost everywhere and treats her as part of the family. ; )
My daughter owned an AG doll for 3 years and read most all of the historical books. We did not allow the newer books for personal reasons. However, this summer my husband became increasingly uncomfortable with the direction he feels AG is headed and also with the money that it costs to have AG things. Honestly, it’s a bit ridiculous! An AG outfit costs as much as a pair of jeans for me. So, after much discussion and total agreement on her part, she gathered up all of her AG doll things and sold them. She used the money to buy 2 of these dolls:
http://hearts4heartsgirls.com/
They are sold at Target and part of the proceeds go to WorldVision. My daughter has the girl from Ethiopia, India and Mexico. They are similar in size to some of the 18 in. dolls though a tad bit smaller. But they are much better in quality and beauty than even the AG dolls. Their hair is soft and can be easier styled than my daughter’s AG doll. And their little faces are so feminine and beautiful. Each doll comes with a little booklet that tells how she is helping less fortunate or needy in her own country. My daugher is in LOVE with these dolls and it has actually increased her conviction to want to serve more and do more in our community.
I guess your original question was more about the books though. I found that my daughter breezed through these books too easily. They did not challenge her at all. She did take some things historically from them, though, that gave her a little insight when we studied certain things in American History. But, I just felt that there were some things that I didn’t “feel” quite right about in some of the books. Couldn’t put my finger on it, I just did. Ya know?
Anyway, just my $.02. 🙂
Thank you all for your answers, Britney, what you said felt in tune with how I feel. We live in Alaska & she rarely asks for one unless we are visiting family in PA, where we are from originally. One of my cousin’s girls (who just left for college) have 11 AG dolls between them(!!!!???) and endless Rubbermaid totes full of clothes. It makes me SO uncomfortable, not to mention explaining that without having anything hurtful repeated–I am not judging their choice but it is far from what we are aiming for in our home. ANyway, she wanted an AG last year for Christmas & I just didn’t feel good about it so I did not get one. My sister bought her Dell, a Hearts 4 Hearts doll. We are both happy with her, but she still wants an AG when she is around them–like so many times I want something when I am around it. I am trying to put a little more thought into it this year. I want to decide how I stand & I know I can discuss it with her & she will be OK even if she doesn’t like it. But if I decide against it I want to be sure I have good reasons. Thanks again to all who answered, I still plan to read the website mentioned…
I don’t mind my girls reading on their own time the AG books. I like the way the history is tied to each doll and it’s such a better choice than a lot of other modern books out there.
If you want an additional option, here is one that I’m thinking would be a great change of pace (it is biblical history).
I’m so glad to see the info about the Heart To Heart dolls! Those are beautiful!! My daughter’s birthday is coming up, and I think I know what I’m getting her now! 🙂 Love it, and the fact that it supports WV! Thanks for sharing! 🙂
3fallingleaves: My daughter did get some things said to her from “friends” like “I can’t believe you sold your AG doll!”, “I would never do that.” So, I do think for my daughter it was more of seeing other girls have AG stuff. We live what I would consider a simple lifestyle so we are trying to instill those values in our kids. My daughter is super old fashioned in the things she likes. She swears she was born in the wrong century. She wished she was Laura Ingalls’ sister! :)But living in this culture it seems like we have to work so hard to teach our kids about being yourself no matter what others think. These were the same girls that sort of laughed at her because she was SUPER excited about the new VeggieTales movie “Penniless Princess” which is based on The Little Princess. They thought it was babyish and it hurt her but she is learning from it. I want her to love who God made her to be and see herself as special in His eyes. My daughter is 9 almost 10 and this last year has been so tough in the parenting department and I know it’s about to get tougher. Raising girls in our society is incredibly difficult!
KateMomof1: You will NOT be disappointed with the Hearts4Hearts Dolls. My daughter LOVES them. She is cuurently saving for the cultural outfit for Naji(?) which is a sari and tea set.
Once again, thanks to SO much great advice–so nice to be able to tap into such a wealth of Godly opinions!! For one thing I told a friend today that I was meant to live during Laura Ingall’s time–I like your daughter already Britney! 🙂 I talked some with my daughter & she now switched to wanting another Hearts4Hearts doll, but I admit I quite like the Freedom girls doll. It is a bit pricier than the Hearts4Hearts, but I like the book, what it is supporting, and that’s it. There’s no catalog suggesting & feeding the culture of want more, more, more that we live in…I want her to enjoy being a little girl, but not to lose sight of our purpose, to Shine for Jesus. So thanks so much for mentioning the Freedom Girls, it looks to be a company that is doing a great thing and maybe even one step further than Hearts4Hearts (although I don’t think the proceeds are benefiting any charitable cause, but their mission is one helping to provide children with a further knowledge of God, can’t find fault in that) I think both dolls are ones that I hope more people hear about and consider as an alternative to AG dolls. Even if you go with the AG dolls, at least exploring these alternatives brings up a chance to discuss some truths that girls may not even realize…Ruth, the Freedom Girl doll, seems like such an easy substitute b/c she can wear all the same clothes…she gives a girl the perfect chance to share Jesus with friends in why she has that doll instead..OK I don’t think I’ve completed any thought, time for bed, so excited to have alternatives–thanks again!!!
3fallingleaves, Thank you for starting this thread. I have learned so much!
Britney, Thank you for sharing the hearts 4 hearts website! My daughter is very excited about saving up her earnings for one those dolls.
I thought I would just pop in and tell you our experience with AG. My 10 yr. old daughter wanted one really bad. I told her that I was not going to buy it, but if she wanted one she could save for it. Well, she saved and saved and did all kinds of work and bought her doll. She now saves and works for her accessories. It has been a really great lesson in hard work and determination. We did not remind her or coax her to keep saving, it was all her and her sheer determination. She thought about entering the contest for Caroline, the new doll. She then came to me and said she didn’t want to enter because it felt so good to earn her other doll she wants to earn this one. We are trying to raise our children to be entrepreneurial, so this made us very happy. The dolls are amazingly well made if you ask me. They are also highly sought after collectables. I don’t fault the company for doing a great job of marketing.
She has read some of the books. I do not use the chapter books for school (she reads them on her own time). However, I do use the “Welcome to _ World” and the craft books for school. They’re beautiful and my girls love them.
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