Now, this is a story about the doll family I liked, and the doll family I didn't. When you read it you are to remember something I am going to tell you. This is it: If you think dolls never do anything you don't see them do, you are very much mistaken. When people are not looking at them, they can do anything they choose. They can dance and sing and play on the piano and have all sorts of fun... but they can only move about and talk when people turn their backs and are not looking.

Fairies know this and often visit in all the dolls' houses where they are welcome. They will not associate, though, with dolls who are not nice. If one is conceited or ill-tempered, one will never know a fairy as long as one lives.

Join in the fun of the characters and see what really happens when they are left to their own devices…and wonder at the wisdom of the fairy queen and revel in helping all of them to escape discovery by the nurse or the little girl who so mistreats them and wants to send them to the garbage heap…they live again with another mistress in a wonderful new world.

Frances Hodgson Burnett (1849–1924) was an English-born author of romances and books for children. After moving to America in 1865 she established a popular reputation with the publication of That Lass o’ Lowries in 1877. She is best known for such stories as “Little Lord Fauntleroy”, “The Little Princess”, and “The Secret Garden.”