Katy’s got the flu and is achy, hot, and angry. But when her mother sends her to her room for a time-out, Katy finds she’s not the only one out of sorts. Her Grandmother Doll suddenly pipes up that not only can’t she watch TV, she doesn’t even have a TV to watch! Katy might be briefly surprised to discover that her doll can talk but she sets her mind to the real problem at hand, deciding to make her Grandmother Doll a TV set out of arts and crafts supplies from her junk box. As the day goes on, Katy makes her Grandmother Doll an oven to bake cookies in and a bed with a pink and blue blanket. Katy goes to sleep dreaming about the wonderful things she and her Grandmother Doll might do together the next day.

Alice Bartels’s second picture book (her first, The Beast, illustrated by Gilles Tibo, was published nearly a decade ago) is wonderfully whimsical and imaginative. She sets just the right tone as a very disgruntled Katy meets her match in her delightfully kvetchy Grandmother Doll. What is especially effective and moving is how Bartels celebrates each of Katy’s creative arts and craft efforts and then infuses them with a extra touch of magic – Grandmother Doll, for example, changes the crayon channels on the TV to watch those scary monster movies that are usually forbidden to young kids. Dusan Petricic’s brightly coloured cartoon-like illustrations capture the story’s playful magic, spilling out over the pages in a way that perfectly mirrors the clutter of a child’s imagination.