The Littlest Matryoshka

In a small shop in a snowy village in Russia, Nikolai the doll maker was carving his last matryoshka. From one piece of soft wood he shaped six nesting dolls, each one fitting inside the other. They all opened in the middle and were hollow inside, except for the littlest. She was the size of a bumblebee and she was made of the heart of the sweet-smelling wood.

When the littlest matryoshka falls from the toy shop shelf, she worries she'll never see her sisters again. A little girl buys the remaining dolls at half price and takes them home. But the smallest doll won't give up, so she sets off on a perilous journey. She's carried off in a truck, swept along a stream, and caught in a waterfall. Will she find her way home?

An Author's Note at the end of the book shares the history of Russian nesting dolls.