In Larissa Theule’s retelling she has chosen to modernize Soupsey’s story and sends her on a scientific expedition full of fantastic possibilities. Kafka wrote in his final Soupsey letter that the the doll had gotten married and started a family. I also enjoyed learning that the author reinvented the ending from what Dora said Kafka had written. Larissa Theule talks about inventing the letters and the scenario, this done in much the same way as Kafka himself invented the story of the little girl’s traveling doll. But that the girl remains unidentified and that the letters were never found. There is a very interesting Author’s Note in the back of the book where Theule tells us that the story was documented by Franz Kafka’s partner, Dora, who witnessed the event. The first being to discuss the liberties that she took in writing this tale, which are similar to the premise that Kafka himself took when devising the doll’s stories. I’m intrigued by the way the author has used details about this legend to add to her own interpretation. Although this doll story has been known for a long time, Larissa Theule has come up with a clever and engaging way to incorporate it into a picture book. In the spread above, you see that we are shown each letter that is written to the little girl from her doll (the type is in blue which matches the color of the little girl’s dress).
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