Book review by Nishta Krishnan

Toy Dance Party by Emily Jenkins


The main characters are bossy, know-it-all, Stingray; a courageous and daring buffalo Lumphy; and a round, independent, scarlet ball named Plastic. As these old toys get rejected by their six-year-old owner, the little girl is growing up. She now takes an interest in the soundless Barbies who the toys intensely envy. As they go to the movies, think deeply, have exhilarating adventures, and try to get the Girl's attention back, the silent Barbies seem to take it all away. Why won’t the girl play with talking toys?

Here is a scene where the Girl has a sleepover with some of her friends and Barbies are brought along...

Honey and Shay dress the Barbies,
and undress the Barbies,
and brush their hair,
and put their hair in ponytails,
and dress the Barbies,
and undress the Barbies,
and wonder why one of them have teeth marks
on its leg,
and why the other one has teeth marks on its hand,
and then forget about that
and dress the Barbies,
and undress the Barbies,
and brush their hair,
and dress the Barbies again.
For a very long time.


Even though I haven’t read Toys Go Out, I loved the book Toy Dance Party. In each of the short, fun stories, the same characters would do crazy stunts like jumping into the snow, getting themselves in sticky jam and getting sucked into the vacuum. If you haven’t read Toy Dance Party, you should. My next read would be Toys Go Out.