This  large item (12" tall not including the legs) is a patented moving cardboard doll. The legs are fastened to the front with grommets that allow them to be folded out of sight or extended to the sides so that the doll "sits." The back of the upper section folds out to support the doll in sitting position.
Apparently a  book of "Old English Nursery Rhymes" was enclosed inside the doll. It was one of a series of four such figures with fold-out legs and books, though the other figures have more obvious relations to the subject matter of the books (e.g. a clown and the circus).