The faces of childhood - joyful, earnest, innocent, candid, and full of hope - as seen through the eyes and pen of beloved writer and illustrator, Joan Walsh Anglund, are unforgettable, touching reminders of our own best memories. This year, Madame Alexander® is pleased to introduce three lovely new characters by Joan Walsh Anglund that perfectly capture the heart and soul of childhood. The new Friend, Love, and Joy dolls are beautifully expressive and have the familiar wide, round eyes and plump, rosy cheeks for which Anglund is so well known. Each of these charmers come complete with a special keepsake book, "A Friend is for Loving," written and illustrated by Ms. Anglund exclusively for Madame Alexander®.

Good friends are special, irreplaceable, and Madame Alexander's Friend doll reminds us of this and of a time when we were all first learning how to be friends. Ten inches tall and true to Joan Walsh Anglund's charming illustration, the Friend doll just looks like someone you could giggle and share secrets with. She wears a spring green dress patterned with lattice-work and a white apron featuring a lace heart pocket, edged with eyelet heart trim and embroidered with 'Friend.' Her white pantaloons are embellished with the same trim and she wears white ribbon-tied shoes on her feet. In a natural straw hat trimmed with cheerful daisies tied securely onto her burnished red hair with a sunny yellow satin ribbon, it is easy to see that she lives up to the declaration found in "A Friend is for Loving," that "…A Friend is a warm hug."

For children, love is a simple, uncomplicated thing, and the new 10-inch Love doll embodies that sentiment. Love wears a long-sleeved, rose-pink dress with an eyelet ruffle at the cuffs, and tied round her waist is a white apron adorned with twin pink rosebuds beside the single word, "Love,' just as it appears in Ms. Anglund's wonderful illustration. Resting on her dark, glossy hair is a matching pink bonnet tied beneath her chin with a mint-green satin ribbon. In pale pink, ribbon-tied maryjanes that match the faint roses in her cheeks, children really with fall in love with this little beauty.

To experience joy as a child is to be suffused with a sheer, blissful happiness, often because of something as simple as a double scoop ice cream cone, the Summer's first dive into a lake, or rolling in the grass with a puppy. Madame Alexander's 10-inch Joy doll personifies that very emotion dressed in a cheery sky-blue dress with puffed long sleeves tapering down to an eyelet ruffle which also forms the collar. The bodice is tied at the waist by a blue satin ribbon, and a broader satin ribbon is festooned around the full, flared skirt, cinched in places by pink ribbon rosettes, while a blue-and-white striped ruffle flutters at the hem. Her white cotton petticoat and pantaloons are trimmed with eyelet hearts and on her feet are white, ribbon-tied maryjanes. Her blonde bob is held back by a matching blue satin ribbon and rosette, the better to see her happy face.

The Alexander Doll Company, a New York-based company with a factory in Harlem, is now celebrating its 78th Anniversary, continuing the tradition, elegance and innovation of Madame Alexander® dolls with a full line of fine quality, handcrafted collectible dolls, baby dolls and play dolls. The company has created a series of "firsts" that have shaped the doll industry and has always been a pioneer of style and quality in this community. The Alexander Doll Company is the only remaining major manufacturer of handcrafted dolls in America.

For More Information Contact: Sally Fischer Public Relations, 212/246-2977