You can read the history of Matryoshka dolls at Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.

They also called babushka dolls or babushka's doll.

Tradition says the first Russian nesting doll (matryoshka) was born in 1890 in the workshop "Children's Education" situated in Abramtsevo estate new Moscow. The owner of Abramtsevo was Sava Mamontov.

However, the concept of nested objects was familiar in Russia, having been applied to carved wooden apples and Easter eggs and the first Fabergé egg in 1885 which had a nesting of egg, yolk, hen, and crown.

From Russia, the dolls spread all over the world.

The Littlest Matryoshka by Corinne Demas Bliss, Tom Voss, with Kathryn Brown, illustrator. is a great book for kids 5-7 years old.

With illustrations quaint enough for Christmas cards, an author's note explains the history of nesting dolls. The book will please collectors of Russian matryoshkas as well as children.

Nina, the smallest of a group of Russian nesting dolls, is separated from her sisters and swept along on a dangerous journey that eventually brings her back home.

Another great book for kids is Magic Nesting Dolls by by Jacqueline K. Ogburn.

A wicked spell has changed the Tsarevitch, a handsome young prince, into ice.

Now only a poor peasant girl named Katya can save him, using ingenuity and her grandmother's magic nesting doll.

But the Grand Vizier, the cruel wizard who cast the spell, has no intention of letting Katya destroy his handiwork, and he will fight her every step of the way.

Is Katya strong enough to prevail and set the Tsarevitch free?