FRC Recommendations 3
Here are three versions of the classic toy adventure story that can be read aloud to younger children while still appreciated by older sibs.
In the beginning of Kate DiCamillo’s The Miraculous Journey of Edward Tulane, it is hard to like Abilene’s beloved toy rabbit, smug and self-important Edward Tulane. But then Edward is taken from her, his clothes are stripped and he’s tossed into the ocean. And then Edward becomes more than just a toy, traveling the depths of the ocean to the net of a fisherman, from the bedside of an ailing child to the bustling streets of Memphis.
Toys Go Out is the first book of a series by Emily Jenkins featuring an unlikely trio of friends: Lumphy, a stuffed buffalo toy, StingRay, a soft blue sea creature toy, and Plastic, who is round, red, and, well, plastic. In six stories they do what you would expect a trio of toy friends to do: look words up in the dictionary, explore the basement, and argue about the meaning of life. A great transition from bedtime stories to chapter books.
In Ann Martin’s The Doll People, Annabelle Doll has been 8-years-old for over 100 years. Nothing much has changed in the dollhouse except Auntie Sarah disappeared. When Annabelle discovers her aunt’s diary, she is driven to find out what happened….outside the dollhouse. Which leads to the discovery of the “Real Pink Plastic” Funcraft family in the next room. The clash between the prim and proper old fashioned Doll family and the loud and reckless Funcraft family is where things get silly.
