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Would you let DD have an American Girl Rebecca doll?
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small bean




 
 
    
 

Post Fri, Feb 14 2020, 9:51 am
amother [ Blue ] wrote:
My DDs are much older. We had the books and the mini-doll (from Costco).
I am MO and live in a world where not everyone is frum and not everyone does things the way we do. We read the books and used it as a platform for conversation about how not everyone is frum or privileged to grow up in a frum home and gets to go to Yeshiva & have a strong Jewish education. We used it as a platform to speak about my grandfather who came to the US in 1938, and had to find a new job every Monday and quit every Friday in order to not be Mechalal Shabbos, that it was very hard and a Misirat Nefesh, but in our family we know how important Shabbos and Kashrut and Hashem is. That keeping the Torah is the #1 priority.

Books are what you make of them. They can be kept from children. They can be read and learn from as they are, or they can be used as springboards to have the discussions you want.


The issue is not the books. I let my kids read the books and we had similar discussions.

The concept that is upsetting. Is organization picks a doll. They can pick any of them but they choose rebecca because shes jewish. Thats just wrong. Rebecca is not a better doll because she's jewish. The idea of the american girl doll is that you are supposed to pick a doll that you connect to. Read her books and get her accessories because you connect to her stories. This is why they have changed and they now have a girl of the year. Who lives in 2019 and goes through the same struggles girls today go through. It was to increase bottom line, because today many kids don't connect to history, unfortunately.

So if you are choosing randomly, choose a doll that any child will connect to. I don't think most frum kids who read the series is like im choosing rebecca. My daughters favorites were addy and Carolina. Their stories are of amazing strength and children can connect to that.

They don't buy addy because not all kids will want a black doll but but Carolina, she's gorgeous and we can all connect to her perseverance. Her feeling that she needs to be responsible. Her caring for her mother etc.

I've read all the books and the ones the auctions buy are the dumbest either samantha or rebecca.
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tigerwife




 
 
    
 

Post Fri, Feb 14 2020, 10:08 am
My favorite was always Felicity. Too bad I never got her, I see the doll is worth quite a lot now!

I see what Small Bean’s point is. Rebecca is the the “Frum Choice” doll, just because her storyline is Jewish, because the hashkafa is all wrong. There is a lot to learn from all of the characters! I also remember Addy’s books being very popular, especially the first one when she escapes (if my memory serves me well enough.) I remember loving Kit’s stories as well. I never understood why Samantha was always the most popular choice. And sigh, I don’t even know who Caroline is, had to google that!
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small bean




 
 
    
 

Post Fri, Feb 14 2020, 10:12 am
tigerwife wrote:
My favorite was always Felicity. Too bad I never got her, I see the doll is worth quite a lot now!

I see what Small Bean’s point is. Rebecca is the the “Frum Choice” doll, just because her storyline is Jewish, because the hashkafa is all wrong. There is a lot to learn from all of the characters! I also remember Addy’s books being very popular, especially the first one when she escapes (if my memory serves me well enough.) I remember loving Kit’s stories as well. I never understood why Samantha was always the most popular choice. And sigh, I don’t even know who Caroline is, had to google that!


Samantha probably cuz she's rich.

I like felicity also.
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amother
Forestgreen


 

Post Fri, Feb 14 2020, 10:23 am
I think they choose Rebbeca because she appears more Jewish as in dressing and access.

I got my kids the one where you choose hair color, eyes, etc. Not connected to any character at all. It was a motivational prize they earned by working real hard.
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amother
Mustard


 

Post Fri, Feb 14 2020, 12:16 pm
My children sleep in rooms that were painted yesteryear. Walk on old worn parquet. Have plastic drawers to finish up their furniture.
There is just about enough food in the house.
But I spend on their cravings.
It is therapy for them.
If a kid needed racing cars again and again I did it weekly for weeks and weeks and weeks.
If a kid needed ice skating again and again ,I did it again and again till she called it quits.
If a kid needed malls/shopping again and again I do it again and again.
If a kid needs a American girl doll, I buy it.
These are kids who use last years briefcase, handmedowns, and never tasted a weekend away for shabbos or country (too expensive) but their childhood dreams are there for a reason. It is therapy.

The aMerican girl doll is therapy for my preteen. She bought the newest doll. Forgot the name.
I would let her have Rebecca and explain the book to her. Chasidish here.
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amother
OP


 

Post Fri, Feb 14 2020, 2:03 pm
amother [ Forestgreen ] wrote:


I got my kids the one where you choose hair color, eyes, etc. Not connected to any character at all. It was a motivational prize they earned by working real hard.

I'm not opposed to that, but I'm kind of upset that they took that over from My Twinn.
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Amelia Bedelia




 
 
    
 

Post Fri, Feb 14 2020, 2:23 pm
tigerwife wrote:
My favorite was always Felicity. Too bad I never got her, I see the doll is worth quite a lot now!

I see what Small Bean’s point is. Rebecca is the the “Frum Choice” doll, just because her storyline is Jewish, because the hashkafa is all wrong. There is a lot to learn from all of the characters! I also remember Addy’s books being very popular, especially the first one when she escapes (if my memory serves me well enough.) I remember loving Kit’s stories as well. I never understood why Samantha was always the most popular choice. And sigh, I don’t even know who Caroline is, had to google that!

As a kid, I liked Samantha and Molly best, probably because I could relate to their stories most because they "lived" closest to our time period. I found the Addy and Felicity stories boring. (Kit came out after I outgrew them.)

Yes, I'd buy Rebecca and agree the kids don't need to read the book.
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amother
OP


 

Post Sat, Feb 15 2020, 8:28 pm
Kind of off topic, but I feel that American Girl has cheapened their brand. It started when Pleasant Company was taken over by Mattel, but it's gotten worse since their most recent rebranding.
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amother
Fuchsia


 

Post Sat, Feb 15 2020, 8:34 pm
Apparently their company is doing very poorly now. Sounds like they may be headed for bankruptcy in a year or two. Due to greed and moving away from the original intent of the company's founder (this is since she sold it).
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amother
Lemon


 

Post Sat, Feb 15 2020, 11:17 pm
tigerwife wrote:
My favorite was always Felicity. Too bad I never got her, I see the doll is worth quite a lot now!

I see what Small Bean’s point is. Rebecca is the the “Frum Choice” doll, just because her storyline is Jewish, because the hashkafa is all wrong. There is a lot to learn from all of the characters! I also remember Addy’s books being very popular, especially the first one when she escapes (if my memory serves me well enough.) I remember loving Kit’s stories as well. I never understood why Samantha was always the most popular choice. And sigh, I don’t even know who Caroline is, had to google that!


I still have my old Felicity!
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amother
Wine


 

Post Tue, Feb 18 2020, 11:03 pm
amother [ Fuchsia ] wrote:
Apparently their company is doing very poorly now. Sounds like they may be headed for bankruptcy in a year or two. Due to greed and moving away from the original intent of the company's founder (this is since she sold it).


What was the founders intent and what got cheaper now
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seeker




 
 
    
 

Post Wed, Feb 19 2020, 1:16 am
Definitely the quality and even more so the classiness went way down. As a result, if the company goes down it will be because they are more like "just another doll" rather than a whole immersive world.

My DD received Rebecca as a gift. She is also an avid reader and enjoys all the American Girl books (hint: stick with the "BeForever" I.e. the original book series. The new books based on "doll of the year" still have wholesome values but are no longer as frum-safe. The kids seem older. There's boy drama and popular culture.) However, when she plays with the doll it has zero relationship to the book's storyline, even though she calls the doll Rebecca and plays with it often, with elaborate characters and storylines and everything. We've discussed how the Rebecca book stories relate to the challenges of Jewish immigrants in NY at the time, but not in a pointed way, just the way we'd discuss any book.
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FranticFrummie




 
 
    
 

Post Wed, Feb 19 2020, 7:20 am
I got DD the Rebecca doll, and we were very excited about it.

I read the books before she could, and I was horrified. They went straight into the trash. I couldn't even stand the thought of passing them on to anyone else, those books should not see the light of day, by anyone.

I think the ethical question here, is should you give American Girl money when they write these kinds of books about Jewish people.

There are so many more affordable dolls in the same size and style. Gali Girls is a Jewish company and they make tznius clothing for all the dolls. They deserve your money.
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amother
Turquoise


 

Post Wed, Feb 19 2020, 7:39 am
No I would not.

Thank you for bringing attention to all these issues; especially the book. Could see myself getting the Rebecca doll thinking Jewish and all only to have the kids for sure at some point want to read the book or get interested etc which I did not know about til this thread! Reminds me that everything has to be looked into!

so NOT happening
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