I was first introduced to American Girl by my young daughter. I have to admit that at first I thought it was just another doll and I was reluctant to buy into the concept. However, over time I have become as much of a fan as she is!

There are eleven historical dolls, Girls of the Year and many choices of Just Like You dolls (you choose hair, eye and skin color closest to your own to get the closest match). The brand is marketed at the 4 to 12 age group. One of the secrets to the American Girl brand's success is that it is just as appealing to the mothers as it is to the girls

My daughter started with a Just Like You doll. I will always remember that the doll taught her to read - she had to 'earn' it by reading 100 books. It worked like no other motivation and improved her grade level in a month! In spite of saying at the start that one was enough, I realized that I wanted her to have more dolls! So she now has Emily and Kirstin - two of the historical characters.

American Girl appeals not just to the child, but to the mother too. I would have loved to have one of those dolls as a child. The quality is very high and the clothes and accessories are beautiful.

The dolls are cleverly linked into a series of books for each doll. The books are historically well researched and do not shy away from confronting some difficult truths. Sometimes a little too powerful for my liking, but usually the balance is right.

Linked in to all of this are other books tackling issues such as friendship,hair styling, money,pets, manners. You name it and American Girl pretty much has it covered.

All of our American Girl purchases had been online. We looked forward to receiving the catalog and have spent hours browsing though it together. So when we were able to visit the American Girl Store Los Angeles we were very excited. As soon as we walked in I have to admit that I felt like a child in a candy store! There were just so many things to see in the American Girl store.

I could tell that I was not alone in my excitement about the American Girl Store. It was full of mothers and daughters all excitedly looking at the displays and filling their baskets with goodies. You could hear the sounds of mothers encouraging children to buy more things that even the little girl wanted. I loved every minute of it. I think my daughter did too!