A one-eyed rag doll keeps watch all night, so you don’t have to.
Button was a rag doll with one shiny eye and one stitched heart. When the lights went out, Button sat up tall and kept watch, because that is a doll’s most important job.
“Sleep now,” Button seemed to say. “I’m right here.” And when the sun came up, Button was still smiling — brave all night, just for you.
Button belongs to the long family of rag dolls — soft toys stitched from cloth, stuffed with rags, straw or wool, and made at home rather than in a factory. Because they cost nothing but scraps and time, they have been the doll of ordinary families for centuries, long before porcelain or plastic dolls existed.
The most famous rag doll in America is Raggedy Ann, created by writer and illustrator Johnny Gruelle in 1915 and introduced with a book of her own adventures. Like Button, she has a stitched smile and button eyes — a design so simple and warm that it has barely changed in over a hundred years.