Toys Come Home: Being the Early Experiences of an Intelligent Stingray, a Brave Buffalo, and a Brand-New Someone Called Plastic

Toys #3

by Emily Jenkins, Paul O. Zelinsky (Illustrator)

“A bit like the great movie  Toy Story  and a bit like the wonderful Kate DiCamillo book  The Miraculous Journey of Edward Tulane . This is a great family book.” — The Washington Post  on  Toys Go Out,  the companion to  Toys Come Home
 
Here is the final book in the highly acclaimed Toys trilogy, which includes the companion books  Toys Go Out and  Toy Dance Party  and chronicles the unforgettable adventures of three brave and loving toys.
 
Fans of the series, as well as newcomers, will happily discover how Lumphy, StingRay, and Plastic came to live with the Girl. In six linked adventures, readers will also learn how the one-eared Sheep became one-eared, watch a cranky toy meet an unfortunate end, and best of all, learn why it’s okay for someone you truly love to puke on you. This is perhaps the most charming of three inimitably charming books destined to become classics.

A  Wall Street Journal  Best Children’s Book of the Year
A Bank Street College of Education Best Children’s Book of the Year
A Junior Library Guild Selection
 
"A timeless story of adventure and friendship to treasure aloud or independently. Wholly satisfying, this may well leave readers expecting to see the Velveteen Rabbit peeking in the bedroom window and smiling approvingly." — Booklist,  Starred

“The best talking toy stories since  Winnie-the-Pooh. ” — Kirkus Reviews

"A book destined to be read to children at bedtime for decades (nay, centuries?) to come. It is rare that prequels exceed the books they are meant to simply introduce, but this is one of the few." —Betsy Bird,  A Fuse #8 Production

Genres: Fantasy, Childrens, Fiction, Chapter Books, Picture Books, Juvenile, Humor

144 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 2011

About the author

Emily Jenkins is the author of many books for children, including the recent picture books Tiger and Badger, illustrated by Marie-Louise Gay, and Princessland, illustrated by Yoko Tanaka. Her chapter books include the Toys series, illustrated by Paul O. Zelinsky; she is co-author of the Upside-down Magic series. Emily Jenkins lives in New York City.

Reviews

[Ray]

stingray is so me. little autistic and alotta ocd. love her as a cute kids book character. this book has some interesting touchings of death and existentialism. though the parts with throw up were gross to me and i didn't enjoy that part.

[Betsy · Rating 5 out of 5]

I'm feeling tetchy. Let's set out some rules when it comes to prequels of children's books then. Number One: You are allowed to write a prequel if you wrote the original book in the first place. Um . . . . okay, that's all I can think of off the top of my head. But it's a good rule in general, don't you think? Follow that rule and you won't have to deal with seeing Anne before she came to Green Gables or speculate as to how Captain Hook got to be so mean. Not that every author should consider writing a prequel, mind. I'm sure Harry Potter fans would love to see what capers his parents got up to in school, but then we'd probably have to deal with a How Edward Cullen Became a Vampire novel, and that's a road I'd rather not tread. All this is to say that if you have to write a prequel to a popular children's book, it needs to make a certain amount of sense. Fortunately for all of us Toys Come Home makes oodles of caboodles of strudels of noodles of sense. Over the years children have asked Ms. Jenkins how Sheep lost her ear. Now that and a host of other questions (including some remarkably huge ones) are answered at long last.

How do special toys become beloved? Not in the ways you might imagine. StingRay, the stuffed sting ray, arrived too late to be a birthday present at The Girl's party. Faced with not being The Girl's favorite present she put up with the insufferable Bobby Dot (a walrus who wasn't very nice) until after helping rescue the Sheep and facing her fear of towels, she managed to become worthy of snuggling and cuddling on the high bed. Lumphy, the toughy little buffalo, was plucked from a bin full of teddies, proving his valor soon thereafter with a particularly energetic kitten. And Plastic's sheer energy and curiosity about the world leads the others to ask the ultimate question. Literally. In this way, we get to see how the characters of Toys Go Out and Toy Dance Party came to be who they are.

I have never, in all my live long days, seen an author recall the trauma that comes when a child throws up on their favorite toy better than Ms. Jenkins. It's sort of a two-part trauma. The first part is the sudden disgusting nature of your once beloved companion and the second is what happens when they go through the wash. Jenkins doesn't dwell too heavily on the death of toys (just the nature of existence itself, but more on that later) but it's there and it's real. Toys get destroyed. That's the long and short of it. It's hard to feel too sad about it when you've just read an insufferably stuck up walrus saying, "Puke! Puke! I'm covered in puke!" because as lines go, that one's hilarious. In the midst of all that, though, the book is clear that no one lasts forever and that feeling good about something going wrong can be a bad thing. Does that make the person feeling good bad, though? Big ideas for a little book.

I mean, really, what are we to think of an early chapter book, a book destined to be read to children at bedtime for decades (nay, centuries?) to come, that dwells on the nature of existence itself? Most grown-ups don't expect much from their books for kids. Generally speaking if the book gets their kid to conk out before 8:30 it's a winner. For them, the chapter called "The Arrival of Plastic and Also the Reason We Are Here" is going to be a bit of a surprise. We learn how The Girl got Plastic and then we watch as Plastic asks, matter-of-factly "... why are we here? . . . Why are we here in the Girl's room? In this town, on this planet?" Well there's a stumper. It's not exactly asking "Is there a God?" but for an eight-year-old reader this question might be enough to rewire their circuitry a tad. Lumphy, for his part, sinks into a kind of existential dread brought on by the fact that StingRay can't come up with any kind of an answer. "It is scary that StingRay doesn't know, and scary that there might not be an answer at all." He effectively becomes a kind of Eeyore, if Eeyore had enough wherewithal to question his place in the universe. From this pit of potential dank and gloom (one, I should note, that kids of this age are fairly impervious too but would find it funny to hear about) the solution to this problem, one that has plagued mankind for centuries, is answered in three pages. It also manages to create an ending so cozy that for all that I enjoyed this book I would be disappointed if there were another in the series. It's just that perfect a capper.

Adding to all this are Paul O. Zelinsky's illustrations. Mr. Zelinsky could well be called an artistic chameleon. One minute he conjures up painting worthy of the Pre-Raphaelites, the next he's getting down and dirty with Jack Prelutsky's poetry. In the Toys Go Out series, Mr. Zelinsky channels the spirit of Garth Williams and other great illustrators whose pens grace our classics. Thinking about it, in a way this book combines his various styles. When showing the sleeping face of the child I was reminded of his Rapunzel and Rumpelstiltskin. When later I saw the stuffed walrus Bobby Dot covered in chunky, sticky, gooey vomit I thought of his work on Awful Ogre's Awful Day. Thank goodness the man's flexible, that's all I can say.

When I was a kid the only books I could own that speculated over the inner lives of my toys were The Velveteen Rabbit, The Mouse and His Child, Hitty: Her First Hundred Years, and others of that ilk. None of them really spoke to me. None of them conjured up the sheer comfort of an Emily Jenkins offering. It is rare that prequels exceed the books they are meant to simply introduce, but this is one of the few. Each story in this collection dares to talk about big ideas in little settings in a way that kids can understand. To accomplish this is a near impossible feat. I am awed. This is a book that dares to discuss the undiscussable so read this to the child with eyes so glazed by repeated viewing of the Toy Story movies that they can think of nothing else. Even they will be entranced. Quiet. Comfortable. A rarity.

For ages 5-10.

[Kaethe · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a prequel to the other Toys books, giving us the origin stories for Stingray, Lumphy, and Plastic and the simple goals and problems of the toys reflect the constrained concerns of young children.

I love them. Cute, and importantly, amusing stories, that continue to delight me long after my own kids have stopped pretending their stuffed animals were real. Stories parents could repeatedly read to their children without wanting to kill anyone. Highly recommended.

Library copy.

[Kerrikoala · Rating 3 out of 5]

Liked this one better than Toy Dance Party, but maybe not as much as Toys Go Out. Too much puke/vomit.

[Rae Bell · Rating 5 out of 5]

I am 21 years old, which means that it is generally agreed upon that I am too old to be called a child and not quite old enough to become a grown up. So not exactly the target audience for this book. However I recently have been feeling a little sad and have been revisiting books from my childhood to cheer me up. Though I never actually read this one before, I did read Toys Go Out when it was first published, and I remembered it randomly (it was actually because I found myself humming Lumphy's song while doing laundry - how I remembered it after 10 years is beyond me) and decided it's never too late to finish the series.

I have also recently been grappling with an unusual issue. A boy who was not very nice to me in high school was killed. I have had very complicated feelings about this, and have felt very bad about not feeling worse about it.

I did not expect this children's' book that I picked up on a whim to deal DIRECTLY with this issue. It was a very odd experience to read a stuffed stingray go through my exact moral dilemma.

Which is to say that this book goes to some very dark places. It was almost unnervingly prescient for me. I can imagine that it would be dark even for people for whom it is not as immediately relevant. I do not know how young kids would handle it. Possibly better than adults, possibly much worse.

Overall though I thought this was a very good book and I enjoyed reading it, even as a definitely-not-child-but-not-quite-adult.

[Sarah · Rating 5 out of 5]

Our first read aloud chapter book and we loved it!!

[Evelyn Skidmore · Rating 5 out of 5]

it is wonderful and very delightful. I love books with different point of views and especially this one!

[Tiffany Spencer]

Toys Come Home
Stingray is delivered late and misses the girl’s birthday party. She wakes to scissors opening her package. She’s had dreams of being in a toy box with family. She knows she’s in a kitchen and smiles at the girl. The mommy apologizes that the present came late but it’s just as special that she arrived on her real birthday. The mom tries to name her all these cutesy names like “Sugar Puff” but the girl says she likes Stingray. The girl takes her to her room and leaves her on the shelf.

A stuffed walrus introduces himself as Bobby Dot and gets her to say her first words “How do you do?”. He introduces her also to the word “Splendiferous”. Bobby Dot says he was a present and sleeps with the girl on the high bed. He tells her he doesn’t think she’s a birthday present because she wasn’t at the party. She tells him she’s the actual day of birth present and she’s the present the kid wanted the most. She acts like this is something everyone should know. He tells her the house rules. He tells her about the bathroom and the linen towels and watching TV when the adults are sleep. He points out the rocking horse and says he doesn’t talk much. Then he addresses the toy mice and introduces Stingray. He tells her about the adults and about the story they read at night.

That night, she can’t get comfortable on the shelf. She thinks about going to meet the towels but fears they won’t be friendly. So she asks the mice can she sleep with them. She tries to make herself smaller but it doesn’t work. So, she decides to just sleep back on her shelf. The next day, she’s introduced to the Sheep. She seems friendly and invites her to play a game of checkers, but Sleep falls asleep. That night she tries to sleep next to Rocking Horse but he doesn’t like this and tosses her. So, she tries to sleep on the High bed with Sheep and Bobby Dot. Bobby Dot isn’t friendly so Stingray decides to run away. She hears a noise and ends up in the basement. A spider starts to crawl on her and she gets it off. She can’t find her way out so she just stays there. Dad finds her and takes her up to the girl. The girl is relieved because she thought she lost her and tells her don’t go in the basement anymore. When the girl hugs her she knows she’s finally found .. family,

The girl has a friend come by one day and because they don’t have a ball they start throwing Sheep up and down. This terrifies Sheep and enrages Stingray. They throw her so hard she ends up in a thorn bush. Stingray and Sheep are left outside. Stingray reassures Sheep someone will come out to find them. But as night goes by and no one comes out, Stingray says they’ll come in the morning. Stingray vows to get Sheep out (even though Sheep has never done anything but go to sleep on her). Sheep sees a legwarmer and suggest Stingray use it as a sling shot. The rescue is successful but Sheep loses an ear. Sheep is happy tho because she gets sprung into the grass and she gets to eat it. So, it’s the best day of her life.

Three months pass. Stingray wishes for someone to talk to. Fall comes. The girl gets sick and throws up on Bobby Dot. Stingray discovers towels are just squares and they don’t have teeth. Bobby Dot is disgusted the girl puked on him. Stringray thinks it would be an honor. Boby Dot and the patchwork quilt get taken to the basement. The quilt comes back, but Bobby doesn’t. All the toys wonder where he is. Stingray goes down the hall to ask the towels. She aks the bath toys but she’s told they don’t talk by a yellow towel. It tells her that he went in the dryer (and explains what it is). He said there was some bumping and then Bobby Dot came out in htreatds . Then they threw him in the trash. Tuck Tuck asks were they friends (the towel). She says no but she was the girls friends. The others are calm about it. But the girl grieves for him for days. Stingray is now placed on the bed. She feels bad for him but she thinks better him than me. She wonders does this make her a bad person. She knows she should think good thoughts about him, but then again she never really liked him so she has all these mixed feelings. The girl’s birthday comes again and they parents get her a similar walrus. She tries to get use to it but it’s just not the same. She ends up trowing it agaithe room and tells it it’s not the same. “Your” not my walrus. o the room and telling it its not her walrus. The girl decides to take the Walrus and Stingray to the store. Stingray doesn’t want to go because she/ The girl goes to exchange the walrus. She tries to talk to the other toys but they don’t say anything and all look sleep. The girl finally decides on a chocolate Buffalo and it’s given the name Lumpy. Lumpy gets a little anxiety about being in the bag and being in the car. He starts to look sick. When he gets home he still looks sick. Stingray offers that if he he gets sick he can puke on her. Then she thinks about what happened to Bobby Dot in the basement and wants to take it back. She also wants Lumpy to be her friend. Luckily Lumpy remembers he can’t puke because he doesn’t eat (or didn’t eat) anything.

Stingray teaches Lumpy board games and he gets introduced to things in the bathroom. He’s particularly interested in wanting to blow snot bubbles. He’s curious about the spray bottle. One day the girl gives them bagel chips. The man this day brings something upstairs (a cat and the others are astounded because he moves. His name is Pumpinkheadface. He runs under the bed. The other animals thinks he’s stuffed and tell him not to run when the people are around. All the cat can say is Gump Gump Gump. The kitty toys with the bagel chip and then eats it. I think that’s when they realize she’s a human cat and not a stuffed cat.

Late one night, Pumpkinheadface starts to toss the mice. The mice run and the cat chatches it and catches it. Lumpy decides to take action. He finds a shoe and hurls it at him. She deserts the mouse and starts to attack Lumpy. The mice escapes into the hallway. The cat jumps on the dresser. He tells the mouse he’ll lure it downstairs and then it can hide. Lumpy leads it into the kitch and opens the refrigerator and makes a tuna casserole fall to the floor. This distraction does the trick. But now what? The cat will be back. The towel suggests the plastic, purple, spray, bottle. When the cat comes back, Lumpy lets him have it and Pumpkinheadface gets it dead in the face. He sprays her again and again until she’s soaked. After that, lumpy stands guard before the door until it’s time for the cat to go home.

Stingray and Lumpy are playing Hungry (Hungry0 hippos. It’s the girl's bday again. Her party will be at a bowling ally. Stingray and lumpy want to go to the party and the girl picks them up and puts them in her bag. Lumpy wants to know what bowling is and Stingray doesn’t know but says it’s when people drink ginger ale from bowls instead of cups lol They also wear bowls on their heads like hats and cuts their hair in the shape of bowls. Then they take chopsticks and drum them on each others heads and wash their feet in bowls. loL this sounds WAAAAY more interesting than what bowling actually is. Lumpy is confused when he sees the found things and doesn’t see the point. The cake is brought out and then the girl opens her presents. On the way home, something bounces and wiggles in the girls gift bag. Stingray tells it don’t feel bad he missed the party, but the round thing says this IS a party.

The mom wants to call it “Penny’ but the girl names it “Plastic’ and the name sticks. The girl likes to throw her up in the air. Plastic takes an interest in the books on the shelf. She’s inquisitive. She wants to know why is blue the best color and why are we here. WHOA! SHE GOT DEEP ON THEM1 lumpy starts to think about that (that0 night. Why are they here, In the girl's room? In this city. On this Planant. Plastic has more questions. He wants to know what a robot is and again why they’re there. Lumpy gets aggravated and tells him to stop asking that but Plastic won’t stop asking it. One night, Stingray can’t find lumpy. So, she goes looking for him. She finds him watching the TV downstairs. She fusses at him but he says he needs the light. Stingray says she’ll bring him a flashlight and finds one. He says he has dread. He says that doesn’t help. They suggest he go back upstairs and get to bed but he says he can’t stop wondering. So they tell him he can go in the linen closet where there’s light. The towels don’t like this. They’re trying to sleep. They all start to sing a song. Then another. Stingray says she’s figured it out. They are there because they are there for each other and they all agree. The dread leaves lumpy. Now he can sleep and they all fall asleep in the linen closet.

Rating: This got a little dark for a kid's book. The washing machine tore Bobby Dot to SHREADS! I can see why they all tend to fear the basement. This was cute tho. Tho just a little freaky to think about yo.ur stuffed animals coming to life when you aren’t there or your sleep. but its a really good book to read to kids. I also like the illustrations of Stingray, Plastic, and Lumpy

[Sam · Rating 4 out of 5]

Toys Come Home by Emily Jenkins, published 2011
Genre: Fiction
Format: Hardback Print
Plot: This books introduces the reader to the toy Stingray and chronicles her adventures as she plays with the other toys. She learns the dangers of a child being sick, learns how to help frinds who get stuck in bushes, finds out how to stop a kitten from attacking, and learns how to make new friends when other toys come into the room to live. The book also deals with some existential questions when Stingray and some other toys try to determine why they are where they are, but they also try to determine why blue is the best color, so it all balances out.
Considerations: A toy does die in the book and there are some other scattered moments of peril that could be upsetting to young children.
Review: SLJ, Sept. 2013.
Selection Source: Christina Jones and the Children's Core Collection.
Recommended Age: Ages 8 - 11.

[Jenny · Rating 4 out of 5]

Chronologically, this book comes first and tells how Stingray, Lumphy and Plastic come to belong to the girl. But I think the series can be enjoyed in any order...and Emily Jenkins suggests reading it in the order it was written. The stingray sometimes wears on me just the tiniest bit...but maybe I am/was a bit like Stingray, wanting to show off my knowledge. But overall, they are such believable and fun characters. If I taught 1st grade or probably even 2nd grade, I would definitely read these aloud to my students.

[Rosie · Rating 2 out of 5]

I absolutely loved Toys Go Out and was really looking forwad to Toys Come Home. I started out really liking it, but thought it fell a little flat aout half way through. Some small children might think it is a little disturbing how one of the toys gets destroyed in the dryer. The book also raises some big questions like "why are we here" that I don't know will resonate with small children. It's a nice book, but not the special book I was hoping for. It didn't make me feel as warm and cuddly as the original.

[Zoe · Rating 5 out of 5]

I can't say enough good things about these books - the kids love them, I love them. There are many words and phrases from these books that have made their way into our daily life. When something needs to be washed we say it needs to "go visit Frank" and when Aoife is being a little too imperious with her brothers we say she is a "bossyboots" just like stingray. And we love to quote Plastic "Beach! Beach! Beach!"

[Melody · Rating 4 out of 5]

Alternate title: Toys With Existential Angst. I do like this one lots better than the second one, but it's not as brilliant as the first. Learning about where all the toys came from was a lot of fun. I should have guessed that Sheep was an heirloom. I thought Lumphy was a little whiny here, but maybe it was his inexperience that made him so. Which is to say, why yes, I do believe I'm invested in these characters.

[Amy · Rating 3 out of 5]

We liked hearing the story of how the toys came to live with the girl. Bea loved the kitten that said Mngew and the humor of the book. Neither one of us liked the continued use of puking and nausea as a plot device. Ugh. Really, who likes to read about that. Puking on a favorite stuffed animal and then having it ruined in the wash? That is pretty darn traumatic stuff. It bothered my sensitive girl a lot.

[Dain · Rating 4 out of 5]

My favorite toys start their adventure in this prequel! The only reason I didn't give it 5 stars is because I thought there were a few times the author may have forgotten she was writing for children ("axe murderers" ?? omg) that I personally found slightly distracted from the otherwise sweetness & innocence that I love about this series. Otherwise, it was a joy to not only read about where our old friends Stingray, Lumphy & Plastic came from, but also why they came. Loved! <3

[Marianna · Rating 5 out of 5]

Emily Jenkins does an amazing job of reaching children where they are. The toys do the talking, but you just know that little kids have some of the same thoughts and ideas that Lumphy and StingRay have.

[Kellie · Rating 4 out of 5]

I liked this one. It was fun to see how Lumphy, Plastic, and StingRay came to be with the little girl. I was sad about Bobby Dot, though. :(

[Alison · Rating 4 out of 5]

My kids and I have loved this entire series. Highly recommended for read-alouds. I especially enjoy the onomatopoeia the author uses to create different sounds the toys experience.

[Cosette · Rating 5 out of 5]

Beautiful

[Ann · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is the first chapter book that I read aloud to my four-year old at bedtime. It was perfect for the occasion. It involved characters that a child could relate to - namely toys. The writing was simple but funny with some things implied. The implications sparked some interesting conversations. The plot was interesting but not so exciting as to keep a tired kid awake and definitely not too upsetting.

I didn't find anything questionable about the characters actions. Overall, this was a perfect first chapter book for a young listener. I hesitate to give it a 4 stars, it was more like 4.5 but probably just because I am so excited that my son loves reading as much as I do and reading aloud is one of the few ways to experience books in a social way. Now that he is interested in chapter books, our options have expanded dramatically.

I've read a ton of children's chapter books in the last couple years in preparation for this and have found a surprisingly few number of books that are appropriate for a young listener. There are some great classic children's chapter books that I can enjoy as an adult while still abhorring various aspects of the novels that are offensive to modern readers - sexism, bigotry, stereotypes of all kinds, and general mean parenting / submit-to-all-authority themes that just aren't appropriate any more. When he is older he'll be able to read them and we can discuss the context but at 4 it's still a little difficult to fully explain this without some of it accidentally seeping through. But basically, this novel was nice because it was really completely appropriate for a 4 year old.

[Jane Maple · Rating 3 out of 5]

The prequel to the first two books about how all the toys first arrived. First a walrus named Bobby Dot rules girls room. Stingray, the first toy of our band of three in the bedroom meets Bobby Dot and a toy sheep, who when outside is happy to eat grass, but is thrown by a child into a bush and when stingray saves him, ends up loosing an ear. Bobby Dot is put in the dryer but nothing comes out but "fluff and scraps of plush". The girl gets Buffalo as a replacement after Bobby Dot is destroyed and finally Plastic comes to the room. There is also a kitten, Pumpkinfacehead, who chases the toy mice.

Overall, I found the idea of a Bobby Dot the toy getting destroyed in the dryer to be a bit gruesome, wasn't there a better way to get rid of that character. How about if the girl had just got tired of it and it was given away? It is just if you are going to make inanimate objects real, then destroying them is death isn't it?

[Scott · Rating 4 out of 5]

Sweet book, the prequel to Emily Jenkins' other Toys books (Toys Go Out, Toy Dance Party) and works fine as a stand-alone (though ideally it should be read after the other two). The toy characters have charmingly flawed personalities. It's a good choice for a read-aloud to young children, but be forewarned that one toy meets its demise in a way that some kids may find disturbing or even traumatizing. Features some surprising philosphical depth (discussions about mortality and the meaning of life--both in the sense of "what does it mean to be alive?" and in the sense of "what is the purpose of life?"), and perhaps is best enjoyed by kids (and parents!) who are ready to have these kinds of discussions.

[Ali Book&Seaglasshunter · Rating 4 out of 5]

In this book we learn the origins of StingRay, Lumphy, and Plastic-the beloved toys of the Girl and stars of the other books in this series. My kids were a little confused at the idea of reading something that happened before after reading the other stories-this may have been the first true prequel I’d read to them.

My son is a rather sensitive soul, so reading about the demise of Bobby Dot, the stuffed walrus was a bit traumatic for him (he is 5). It caught me a little off guard, if you have a sensitive child you might want to scan that part yourself first. But here we also have a wonderful prompt for discussion about how things don’t always last, the sadness at losing something you love, etc. Really there many chances for discussion in this book!

[Emily · Rating 2 out of 5]

2.5 stars. I still think the first book was the best. This one acts as a prequel - it’s funny, but not as good as the first book. If you’re ok with the content of books 1-2, then this one should be fine.

There is some exploration of empathy, courage, and emotions (feeling left out, forgotten, belittled).
_

Content:

Words like “stupid” and “meanie.”

Lying to seem knowledgeable / experienced.

Maneuvering for positions of importance.

A stuffy is sad and wants to run away.

In the scary basement, a stuffy is afraid there might be “ghosts” and “ax murderers.”

A chapter that involves puking and throw up.

The idea that a stuffy’s “life can be over” and processing the loss of one of the girl’s stuffies.

[Margaret Kloster · Rating 5 out of 5]

I loved this series. G listened to the first two books on audio and we read the third book together. The characters are so funny and endearing. It was fun to learn their origin stories. The third book, being a sort of prequel, was really fun to read with G as he realized what was coming, ‘I bet this is where Sheep loses his ear!’ Or made connections to allusions from the previous books, ‘oh, that’s how Lumphy ended up in the fridge!’. Several scenes had us both laughing out loud. All in all, a complete joy to read. I wish we had read all three together, but the audiobooks were well narrated and he basically has them memorized.

[Amy · Rating 2 out of 5]

Chronologically, this book comes first in the series. It’s not quite as much fun as the first published two. This book raises topics like grief and survivors guilt, but then doesn’t address them. A really good children’s book does (think of Charlotte’s Web for instance). I also don’t like the passages about fear of spiders and ghosts and axe murderers in the attic and basement, because sensitive children could easily hang on to those thoughts and become afraid in their own homes. I think children old enough to laugh at the toys’ fears will also be too old to read these books.

[Melissa · Rating 5 out of 5]

Told in short-story chapters, this is the conclusion of the series that begins with Toys Go Out. If I had to use one word to describe this book, it would be “delightful.” If I had to use another, I would be “philosophical.” Jenkins walks the line of childlike speech and wonderings, while revealing deeper meanings and exploring the most important things in life; love and loss, fear and dread, community and joy. This and the other books in the series are best read out loud with someone you love.

[Mary Kloster · Rating 2 out of 5]

These toy books are just ok. My grandson was interested in the concept of toys coming alive. That being said, I did not like some of the entries into the story. For example, why does “axe murderer” have to be in a book for this age group? And the toys are “alive” and you kill one off in the dryer? Really? Also, Sting Ray lies- and gets away with it? Finally, do not like some of the language of calling someone “stupid”.

[Alissa Tsaparikos · Rating 4 out of 5]

This short chapter book is the third installment of this series, but is written as a prequal to the first two. It is still a lot of fun but also deals with some heavy topics such as loss as well as existential questions. Though it is much more sober than the previous stories, I think that young children do deal with and understand these sorts of problems, and will still relate to the story and root for the characters.

[Whitney Hollis · Rating 5 out of 5]

We listened to this on audiobook and it was our absolute favorite of the series. It’s so charming and heartwarming and my boys loved learning how “Honey” obtained her beloved toys. Emily Jenkins is so clever in her story telling and the character growth was pretty brilliant. As an adult, I was fully invested in the stories of Stingray, Lumphy, & Plastic.

This is definitely a series we will return to! ♥️