The Izzy Doll is a small knitted/crocheted doll that Canadian peacekeepers have been giving out to kids in war-torn countries, or just poor kids in countries where they are posted. It started with Mark Isfeld, who died in Croatia in 1994 while serving a peacekeeping mission there. He was trying to clear landmines at the time. Previous to his death, though, he told his mom back in Canada how much he wanted to give these kids something to call their own. She started making these little dolls and shipping them to her son to hand out. This has since grown into a much much larger project, where people all over the country (and some in the US) help knit/crochet these little dolls to bring smiles to those kids’ faces.

The book is also a biography of Mark, and both his parents, and it also looks at peacekeeping and peacekeepers, as well as landmines and the attempt to rid the world of them, as they are so dangerous long after conflicts end. There is also some memoir added in as Phyllis travels and talks to various people she focuses on in the book (the Isfelds and others).

I had never heard of the Izzy Doll before Phyllis, the author of the book (and an acquaintance of mine!) gifted a copy of the book to me. As sad as it was for the soldier whose idea it was to have died not long after he started handing them out (and both his parents died within months of each other in 2007), it is absolutely an uplifting book. The book is also peppered with photos of the Isfelds and more. ( )