The Bulletin of the Center for Children's Books

The Bulletin Dozen is a monthly theme-based list of titles available only on-line. Since we're awfully fond of bakers here at the Bulletin, we thought we'd adopt their philosophy of generosity and throw in an extra one or two when we have them to offer--so don't expect an even dozen. Please feel free to copy, download, or link to these lists. We ask only that you cite the source. See the archive for lists from previous months. Toy Stories, Too: A Dozen Books about Special Toys --selected by Jeannette Hulick, Reviewer and Editorial Assistant Turn on the T.V. or open the newspaper in December and you will be besieged with toy advertisements. Despite all the hyperactive hype for whatever is the latest craze (think Cabbage Patch Kids, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, and Tickle-Me-Elmo), you can't go wrong with a good old-fashioned stuffed bear, or a rag doll, or a brand new Spaldeen rubber ball. Kids develop lifelong attachments to toys like these, and books that touch on the kid-toy relationship touch a chord with children and adults alike. Indeed, special toys are a time-honored tradition in children's literature--who among us hasn't enjoyed an "expotition" with Pooh and Christopher Robin, for example, or cried for the Velveteen Rabbit when he is separated from his boy? While growing up, my stuffed toys and dolls were my most cherished possessions and I was passionately attached to books that reflected my love for my toys. David and Dog (published in England as Dogger), Arthur's Honey Bear, and Corduroy were all bedtime staples in my family, while The Christmas Dolls was a story I contentedly read and reread many times on my own. Missing stuffed animals who are found and "misfit" toys finding proper homes are deeply satisfying themes for many children, and several of the titles below offer just that kind of satisfaction. Readers who want a toy story that's less "cuddly" may find Lord of the Nutcracker Men, From Head to Toe, Last Licks, or The Mennyms more to their liking. Whatever your reading taste, grab your teddy bear and one of these titles and you'll have the perfect combination for a cold December night! --Jeannette Hulick, Reviewer and Editorial Assistant

• Best, Cari. Last Licks: A Spaldeen Story. Kroupa/DK Ink, 1999. 5-8 yrs
  Playing ball is what Annie does and a brand-new Sky-High Super Pinkie is her ball of choice--if only she can keep it out of the hands of the building's Super who claims all balls that hit his windows. (BCCB 5/99)
• Blake, Quentin. Clown. Holt, 1996. 5-8 yrs
  In this wordless book, a stuffed clown is tossed out in the trash along with a bundle of other toys but (after discovering a pair of high-tops just his size) he dashes off for help, encountering a number of obstacles (including stupid grown-ups and a snarling dog) along the way. Finally, he finds two children who help rescue his comrades, and the clown brings light into the impoverished children's lives as well. (BCCB 6/96)
• Feiffer, Jules. I Lost My Bear. Morrow, 1998. 4-8 yrs
  The little girl narrator of this tale has lost her favorite stuffed animal and searches in vain (with little help from her family) for "Bearsy," but she is distracted during her search by the discovery of several other missing playthings. She remembers the missing bear at bedtime and is about to break down again when her mother finds him hidden underneath the bedclothes. Feiffer's cartoon-paneled illustrations perfectly convey both the humor and the melodrama of the situation. (BCCB 6/98)

• Freeman, Don. Corduroy.
  Stuffed bear Corduroy goes exploring in his department store home as he tries to hunt down the button that is missing from his overalls. Thankfully, little girl Lisa loves him just as he is and takes him home with her in this classic toy story. (BCCB 7/68)

• Hoban, Lillian. Arthur's Honey Bear.
  It's spring cleaning time and little chimpanzee Arthur decides to sell some of his old toys, including his Honey Bear, at a tag sale, but finds that parting with Honey Bear is harder than he thought. Luckily, he and little sister Violet come up with a perfect solution in this exemplary easy reader. (BCCB 9/74)

• Hughes, Shirley. David and Dog. Prentice-Hall, 1978. 2-5 yrs
  Big sister Bella sleeps with seven teddies but little brother David is devoted to just one stuffed toy--Dog. When Dog mistakenly ends up getting sold at a rummage sale, Bella gives up an enormous new teddy (won as a raffle prize) in order to get David's beloved Dog back: "[David] hugged Dog and he hugged Bella round the waist. 'Thank you, Bella,' he said." Hughes's warm and detailed illustrations are as first-rate as ever, with a charming cast of differentiated individuals. (BCCB 1/79)

• Kuklin, Susan. From Head to Toe: How a Doll Is Made. Hyperion, 1994. Gr. 2-4
  Kuklin's stunning color photographs and lively text provide a behind-the-scenes look at the making of elegantly dressed doll, "Autumn," from the designing stage, to eyeball insertion, to the finishing touches on her costume. (BCCB 5/94)

• Lawrence, Iain. Lord of the Nutcracker Men. Delacorte, 2001. Gr. 6-9
  World War I divides Johnny's family, as his mother goes off to work at the arsenal, his father heads out to the front in France, and Johnny is sent to stay with his maiden aunt in rural England. Johnny's toymaker father sends him soldiers he's carved while waiting at the front and as the war progresses Johnny becomes convinced that the battles he enacts with the toy soldiers are affecting the war itself. (BCCB 10/01)

• Masurel, Claire. Too Big! Chronicle, 1999. 3-5 yrs
  Carnival prize "Big Tex" (who looks rather like a turquoise-and-white striped Dino Flinstone) is too big for the living room and too big to take to the grocery store but when owner Charlie has to go to the doctor, Big Tex is the only stuffed animal brave enough to go along. (BCCB 7/99)

• O'Malley, Kevin. Leo Cockroach. . . Toy Tester. Walker, 1999. 6-9 yrs
  Unbeknownst to her, Mildred Splatt (president and CEO of Waddatoy Toys) receives all her best toy tips from Leo, a cockroach who lives in her office and who spends his nights testing the company's toys. Tired of Mildred's attempts to dispatch him to that "big roach motel in the sky," Leo goes to work for the competition with near disastrous results but he eventually returns home to set things straight with Splatt. O'Malley's "bug's-eye-view" illustrations are as humorous as his text. (BCCB 6/99)

• Waugh, Sylvia. The Mennyms. Greenwillow, 1994. Gr. 5-8
  Alright, a family of living human-size rag dolls might sound sappy, or like something from a horror flick (Chuckie Returns…with His Entire Family!), but the rag-doll Mennyms are actually neither sentimental nor horrifying. They're simply content to go about their daily business of pretending to be human, carefully ensuring that no actual humans realize their doll status--until a letter arrives that threatens to reveal them to the outside world. (BCCB 5/94)

• Whybrow, Ian. Sammy and the Dinosaurs. Orchard, 1999. 3-6 yrs
  His sister Meg may call them "junk" but Sammy knows his plastic dinosaurs are special--they are his dinosaurs and he knows them all by name, enabling him to identify them at the train station when they turn up in the lost-and-found after having been accidentally left on the train. (BCCB 9/99)

• York, Carol Beach. The Christmas Dolls.
  Two "misfit" dolls (one is an ordinary rag doll and the other is bald and has her head on backwards) are rejected as Christmas gifts for the girls at the Good Day Orphanage until little orphan Tatty (who can understand what the dolls say) rescues them. Orphans, abandoned toys, Christmas surprises, and a happy ending--what's not to like? (BCCB 10/67)

• Zolotow, Charlotte. William's Doll. Harper, 1972. 4-8 yrs
  William likes the train set and basketball that his father gives him, but what he really wants (despite his father's protestations and taunts from the boy next door) is a doll. His grandmother provides the longed-for doll, recognizing that William's desire is a reasonable one for any child, girl or boy, in this anti-sexist Zolotow classic. (BCCB 7/72)

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