[ Originally written in June 2008. ]

Emily Jenkins.  Toys Go Out: Being the Adventures of a Knowledgeable Stingray, a Toughy Little Buffalo, and Someone Called Plastic.  Illustrated by Paul Zelinsky.  Schwartz & Wade, 2006.  128 pages.  Age 7 to 10.

It’s hard to say refuse a book with a fifteen-word subtitle, especially if tailing a three-word, barely-a-sentence title.  There is no need to introduce the characters here, as the subtitle meets that need.  The tone of Toys Go Out is light and the reading is easy, but the subject matter is meatier than mere amusement.  The characters’ perceptions of their world are funny, and somewhat tainted by StingRay’s “knowledge.”  For example, when Plastic meets a dog on the beach, she confuses it for a shark (a “possible shark” is what she calls it).

As we get to know each of the characters, they get to know themselves.  This is mostly done in humorous ways (e.g., Plastic tries to understand what she is by consulting a dictionary) but the longing and self-doubt of their identity crises is realized.  StingRay becomes downright dark at one point.  Although she is “dry clean only,” she decides to test whether she can float in the bathtub.  She cannot float, and as the water climbs higher above her, she suffers a loss of faith in herself.  She says, “I’m a sinker, and a stinker, too, and if I rot and drown and dissolve in this tub, it is probably better than I deserve.”  Whoa.

The content is otherwise benign, but there is a cadence to the text that I never quite got a hold on.  It happens when StingRay conveys her worldly knowledge; the sentences

would be separated
into multiple lines which seemed like it
may have been either
poetic
or a list of some sort,

but neither “poetry” nor “lists” quite explain what was happening in those lines.  The good news is, it isn’t bothersome—the line breaks themselves or not knowing the reason behind them; you keep busy enjoying the ride.  And the chapters work as standalone stories, so you can take the book in whatever doses you like.

Quotable

Better than false memories:

“Plastic tries to remember a fur-losing incident, but it must have slipped her mind.” (p. 25)

Logically sound:

“Food isn’t dirty, or you wouldn’t eat it.  I have some nice clean food on me.  I don’t see that it’s a problem that needs washing.” (p. 37)

other reviews:
emilyreads | MotherReader | 7-Imp