theme day - toys

have you noticed how many books these days have toy tie-ins? I confess I have fallen victim to purchasing more than a few stuffed toys over the years that represent a character from a favorite children's book. all of the time these toys are purchased to give to kids as gifts. however, at least once, one of these stuffed characters has decided to remain living amongst the books and toys at my house.

I refer to the stuffed wild thing puppet from sendak's where the wild things are. once he came into my home, he didn't want to leave! I'm sure it's because he likes hanging out discussing the state of the world and books with kermit.

I love the mouse guard books and I'm quite proud of my self-restraint in terms of purchasing the adorable action figures which accompany the series. I know myself all too well and Iknow if I did buy them to give as gifts, they probably may never make it out of the house.

I do have a weakness for brave mice.

if you aren't familiar with david petersen's mouse guard books, do yourself a favor and check out his website.

the mouse guard books join a rich literary tradition of brave, interesting mice. of course everyone knows of e.b. white's 1945 classic stuart little. the love of stuart little has triggered all sorts of cultural phenomena - including a hit movie, with michael j. fox as the voice of stuart. I'm sure some of you are familiar with brian jacques wonderful redwall series. I don't know if there are any toy tie-in's to the redwall books, but given the fact that there is an animated canadian television series based on the books I expect there must be action figures or stuffed characters from the books.

perhaps my favorite group mice from children's literature are graham oakley's church mice. I wrote about my love of these books here. by the way, I'm still looking for the last book in the series, the church mice take a break. if any one knows how I can get a copy, please contact me! I would expect there might be a reward! I have never heard of any church mice toy tie-ins, and if anyone would know, I expect I would.