When you have a five year old Asian American little girl who believes in Santa, finding the right Christmas present isn’t always the simplest task. There’s the easy part of the list of course, the presents she’s already asked Santa for, like a set of Disney Princess dolls, a Build-a-Bear bed and armoire, and a remote controlled car for Strawberry Shortcake.
As I mentioned in an previous posting about a new movie on Mulan, the difficult part is finding toys that will help reinforce her cultural identity and make her proud of her Asian heritage. It doesn’t help that she idolizes blond hair and wishes she had some herself.
So her first Disney Princess doll was of course Mulan, but after that it’s been rather difficult to find anything that’s age appropriate and a good role model of Asian culture. That’s why I was happy to come across this article on Suite101.com, offering suggestions for Chinese and Asian dolls for this Christmas season.
See the list after the jump.
First up is an offering from American Girl, Ivy Ling, pictured here. Unfortunately Ivy will set you back a hefty $95 and probably more appropriate for the 8 year olds and up set. If you’re still interested, here’s the history behind Ivy from her companion books:
Ivy Ling’s books are set in San Francisco in the 1970s, and she has groovy clothes. Her main book is Good Luck, Ivy, but she is featured in the Julie books, too. In Good Luck, Ivy, Ivy feels lost, as the middle child in a busy household. Her mom has gone back to school and her dad works two jobs. Ivy tries to follow traditional Chinese rules of “family first”, but a family reunion falls on the same day as her big gymnastics recital, so she will have to decide what is most important in her life.
If you’ve got a younger little girl or a more reasonable budget, there’s the Calin Yang doll by Corolle, which has won the Oppenheim Toy Portfolio Platinum Award, and the Dolly Licorice doll, also by Corolle, both in the $30 range. Corolle is a French manufacturer, but finding these dolls was relatively easy with a google search.
The final suggestion moves back up the dollar scale to where we were with the American Girl doll, Ivy Ling. Karito Kid’s Wan Ling from China doll comes from an Australian manufacturer. The manufacturer’s description of Wan Ling:
Eleven-year old Wan Ling has just moved from her family’s home in rural Chengdu to bustling Shanghai, China, where her father will be caring for endangered pandas at the city zoo. Her determination and inquisitive nature sometimes get her into—and out of—trouble.
As you can tell, it’s still a relatively short list, and I’m sure my daughter will still pine for dolls with blond hair, but at least I can sprinkle her collection with dolls that reflect who she is. And maybe one day, she’ll remember those as the ones that helped to make her a proud Asian American. If you’ve got other suggestions for Asian dolls, please share them here.
