If you think paper dolls are too old-fashioned to hold kids' interest, think again—these aren't your average cardstock diversions. For one thing, they're educational: characters are either historical figures, or representative of average citizens in different eras and parts of the world. For another, each doll gets more wardrobe choices and accoutrements than even the pickiest child could find insufficient.
Children with even a shred of imagination will be able to while away hours with these 2-D people. "My kids don't have a shred of imagination," you may say. To which we'd respectfully reply that, by taking away whatever is draining their imaginative powers (everyone is born with imagination of some kind), you run a high chance of restoring what they've lost.
Paper dolls are a good respite both for kids and parents from the noise and chaos of TV- and computer-based entertainment. They make kids think (devising dialogue and situations), interact with each other, and just generally be kids instead of automatons only capable of responding to their environment. Also, the Dover paper dolls are supremely educational, and make a great supplement to history books and unit studies.
These are also educational in the sense that they give kids a taste of what it was like to grow up without electronics, motorized cars and train sets, or any of the plastic toys children have now. They harken back to a simpler time, a more carefree age when boredom was almost a non-existant concept, when children played happily with the simplest things and didn't complain they had nothing to do.
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Review by C. Hollis Crossman
C. Hollis Crossman used to be a child. Now he is a husband and father, teaches adult Sunday school in his Presbyterian congregation, and likes weird stuff. He might be a mythical creature, but he's definitely not a centaur. Read more of his reviews here.
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