Shanda McCloskey

A tech-savvy young girl named Charlotte is given a traditional cloth doll by her mother in this debut picture-book from author/illustrator Shanda McCloskey. At first she isn't quite sure what to do with a plaything that isn't a gadget. Her attempts at make-believe games don't seem to work. Then she discovers that the doll can say "ma-ma," which means that it must have a power supply. Suddenly, the doll has possibilities - it can be remade, in a more technological mode. But will the girl's dog be as happy with the results as she will...?

Although there were definitely things about DOLL-E 1.0 that I appreciated - namely, the fun artwork, and the depiction of a technology-loving young girl with a knack for invention and a can-do attitude - I finished it feeling somewhat ambivalent about the message it is sending, regarding the desirability of always being "plugged in" to our technological devices. I suspect that McCloskey was going for a "these new-fangled toys are just like the ones that went before" feeling, when it comes to the child's demonstration of imagination and ingenuity in using them. Unfortunately, I think that this is undermined by the fact that Charlotte doesn't really succeed in playing with the doll, until it is made more technological, suggesting that she is incapable of play, unless gadgetry is involved. I'm not interested in any kind of false "technology vs. creativity" dichotomy, since I do believe that creativity is required for technological advances, but I would have liked to have seen something a little more balanced here, something that suggests that while our gadgets are lots of fun (both to play with, and to create), they aren't the only source of entertainment, and aren't necessary to have fun. Given my reservations about the message it is sending, I don't really recommend this one, although I do feel (as mentioned above) that it has some good qualities.… (meer)