Kirsten (1854)
Kirsten Larson is one of the three original dolls that were introduced together when the American Girl company first began, along with Samantha and Molly. She has bright blue eyes that open and close, blonde hair, and a happy smile. Kirsten has a soft cloth body with posable vinyl limbs and a head that can turn from side to side. Earlier editions of the doll have white cloth bodies, but later ones are flesh-colored. She wears a blue calico dress, red-and-white striped apron, white lace-trimmed pantalettes, brown boots, and blue hair ribbons. Her accessory set has a "spoon bag" with a wooden spoon to put inside it, a red gingham sunbonnet, an embroidered handkerchief, and a necklace with an amber heart.
Kirsten's Special Things
Kirsten has many lovely outfits, accessories, and furniture designed just for her, patterned after authentic items from the 1800s. Several of her other outfits are her pink birthday dress with a flower wreath, a knit woolen sweater and hat with Scandinavian designs on them, and her red calico school dress with a plaid shawl. She even has a special outfit for the holidays: a flowing white gown with a red sash. She wears it to celebrate Saint Lucia's Day, the darkest day of the year, which is very near Christmas.
Kirsten's accessories include items like her doll, Sari, which she brought from Sweden, her friendship quilt that her new friends in America made for her birthday, and a beautiful greenery wreath with red ribbons and candles that she wears on her head with the Saint Lucia gown. Kirsten also has her own pets: a silvery gray cat named Missy and her kitten. Several of her furniture items are painted in matching colors, such as her bed, washstand and storage trunk. All of these items are painted a smoky blue with a floral design, and the trunk is large enough to keep both Kirsten and her bed in!
Read About Kirsten's New Life
You can read all about Kirsten and how she comes to America in her own six-book series, as well as several short-story length books and even a special mystery book! She survives a long, hard boat trip from Sweden so she and her family can travel to Minnesota and live with her cousins on a farm there. While she struggles to fit in with her new surroundings and learn English, she wishes to preserve special traditions from her old country as well. Kirsten also learns new ways of helping her family in their new life in America. Each book has a "Looking Back" section at the end, with interesting historical information about life on the frontier during pioneer days.
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