American Girl

Lindsey is really into her American Girl right now...she went through a period where her doll just sat there idle...but now she is really into dressing her, taking her places, and reading the books...so when we read that the author of the American Girl series, Valerie Tripp, was going to be at our local library last Monday, we jumped at the chance to go hear her speak. It was an absolute treat. Ms. Tripp is very unassuming and warm and completely engaged all the girls ranging in ages 6-12 with stories of how she got started, how she comes up with ideas, how she goes through the writing process, how she decides on names of the girls, where they live, etc. It was fascinating for me because I have always been interested in the writing process. Lindsey was mesmerized...I think one of the best stories she told was when her good friend Pleasant Rowland (founder of American Girl) came to Ms. Tripp with the idea of writing the books about strong girls in different historical periods and then creating dolls to go with them, and Mrs. Tripp pooh poohed the doll idea..."Who's going to buy the dolls?" she scoffed. Ha! Billions of dollars and dolls later, it is a good thing Ms. Rowland didn't listen to her...

All the girls that attended brought their own AG books in to have Ms. Tripp sign them, and she graciously stayed until every single girl (about 100) had an autograph and a chance to speak with her. It was a great treat for Lindsey and I, and Kyle got an extra Oreo cookie after dinner for not complaining once about the wait or for being bored listening about dolls and their books...