The Winter of the Dollhouse, by Laura Amy Shlitz

The Winter of the Dollhouse, by Laura Amy Schlitz (Candlewick, September 2025) is a beautiful, moving book that I loved!

It's the story of a girl, Tiph, who is in a snarled place in her life--friendless at her new school, overwhelmed by the demands place on her as big sister to her two baby halfsiblings, and with no particular sense of her own potential.  On a cold November day, she rescues a dog that has gotten loose from the old woman walking it, and then realizes the old woman needs her help too.  This starts a friendship that will change both her life and the old woman's.  It sets Tiph on a journey toward self-knowledge and contentment with the help of the old woman, who shares her love for doll houses and miniatures, and who is just as lonely as she is. But also there's help from a doll who's never been played with, who Tiph fell in love with through the glass of a shop window. 

The doll, Gretal, comes to life when no one is watching, and her point of view alternates with Tiph's.   She too is journeying--making her first friend with another doll, and then becoming Tiph's.  The fact that Tiph stole her from the shop doesn't matter to her, but it matters a lot to Tiph, who can't believe she has done such a wicked thing.  

The old woman has an empty dollhouse that her father, lost behind the Iron Curtain, made for her.  It arrived in America, where she and her mother escaped to, too late for her to care about it, but Tiph's entry into her life has made her want to bring it to life.  She has the means and the will to make it lovely, for Tiph, who she loves, and in doing so, finds that it holds a secret from her father that heals a wound in her spirit.

It was hard going for me in the middle when Tiph's snarled-ness is at its worst, but the lovely, moving, hug of an ending made it all worthwhile.  The family dynamics of Tiph's blended family, her impulsive shop lifting and recovery from that, which involved hard thinking and hard actions, and the way she makes her first friend at school, add grounded real-world content that balances the magical whimsy of the living dolls beautifully. Excellent doll house content as well. I would have loved it tons when I was making things for my own dollhouse, but also loved it tons as a grown-up!

Quick additional shoutout to the old lady's cat and dog, who are great characters in their own rights, who converse with the dolls and add comic relief! The cat, though, would of course hate being considered comic relief.