Toy Tales

The trials and tribulations of four beloved toys

Toys, like children, sometimes get hurt, and Helen Cooper lets readers know how they feel when it happens in this charming book of four stories. Tim's favorite playthings are a teddy bear, a stuffed frog, a duck on wheels, and a piggy bank, and each of them has a trauma to endure. Bear inadvertently ends up in the washing machine. Frog loses all his stuffing one night. Duck has a bit of a crash, as does Pig, who's knocked off his shelf. But each toy recovers from his injury and is no less loved by Tim, even if, in some cases, they look a little worse for wear. This generous picture book, cozily illustrated by Helen Cooper, maintains a rhythmic storytelling pace through all eighty pages, and will be meaningful to any child who's ever broken a toy (is there one who hasn't?).