Raggedy Ann and Andy and the Camel with the Wrinkled Knees - Softcover

Johnny Gruelle (1880-1938) was an extremely talented cartoonist, illustrator, and storyteller. He had already written and illustrated a book of original fairy tales before creating the first two Raggedy books, Raggedy Ann Stories and Raggedy Andy Stories. Raggedy Ann, heroine of the first, was the favorite doll of his daughter, Marcella, who died after a long illness at the age of thirteen. She was the inspiration that Johnny drew from to eventually create over forty Raggedy Ann and Andy books, all capturing his unique vision of childhood. Many of the stories, illustrations, and adventures in the Raggedy Ann storybooks were based on Marcella's childhood ad ventures. Raggedy Ann and Andy and the Camel with the Wrinkled Knees was one of Johnny's early adventure storybooks and has become one of his most popular.

Grade 2-4-First published in 1924, the full-length story is still in print, but this version features large- and small-scale pop-ups. Textually, many of the talkier, precious passages have been excised, but the notably episodic plot is left intact. When the French doll Babette is snatched, Raggedy Ann and Andy give up thinking "nice, kindly thoughts," and take off in pursuit. Having gathered up a worn toy camel and other helpers, taken a side trip into "Loonie Land," and effected several rescues, the button-eyed band battle a pirate crew that turns out to be a group of girls in disguise, who had stolen Babette because they just wanted a nice doll. The illustrations are taken or adapted from the originals; on each of the six spreads, a large central tableau springs up, flanked by narrow, folded-over leaves of text with smaller 3-D effects. With no strings, slides, or pull tabs, the format lends itself to static display-but despite a superficial resemblance to Robert Sabuda's pop-up reinterpretations of classic tales, it's still a period piece, more a gift item for collectors than a necessary addition to library collections.-John Peters, New York Public Library
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