Toys Go Out

Jenkins, E. (2006). Toys go
out. New York: Schwartz &
Wade Books. 

Toys Go Out
Being the Adventures of a Knowledgable Stingray, A Toughy Little Buffalo, and Someone Called Plastic
By Emily Jenkins
Illustrated by Paul O. Zelinsky
Published by Schwartz & Wade Books
New York
2006
117 pages

Lumphy the stuffed buffalo, StingRay the stuffed stingray, and Plastic (who isn't really sure what she is, later discovering she's a ball) belong to the Little Girl. We are first introduced to the three best friends Lumphy, StingRay, and Plastic as they are tousled around in the Little Girl's backpack on her way to school for show-and-tell. The book consists of six chapters, each of which is essentially it's own short story about the friendly trio. They make their way to show-and-tell, Plastic questions her identity, Lumphy gets covered in peanut butter and must face the washing machine, Plastic goes to the beach and get's stuck in a "possible shark's" throat, Lumphy and StingRay argue about going up on the high bed with the Little Girl, and the trio try to find the right birthday present for the Little Girl. Together, the trio take on some ridiculous adventures and warm the hearts of everyone who reads about them. 

Toys Go Out gives a quirky behind-the-scenes look at the lives of stuffed animals - who wouldn't love that? It is one of my favorite chapter books. It is the first in a trilogy, followed by Toy Dance Party and Toys Come Home. It is the perfect book to introduce chapter books to young readers and it is easy to follow and understand for read-alouds in any classroom. The text structure is poetic and Emily Jenkins teaches great lessons about imagination, adventure, identity, and friendship. The illustrations placed sporadically throughout the book bring Lumphy, StingRay, and Plastic to life and provide visuals for young readers who might not be ready to do all the visualizing on their own just yet. The toys are kind and respectful and learn some valuable lessons with each other that can be easily translated to real-life lessons for students. Purchase the book here.

For the classroom:

Teaching ideas by chapter and final projects

Reader's theater script - chapter one (This is one of my personal favorite activities! Consider writing your own scripts for the rest of the chapters. In older grades, split up the class into 6 groups. 

Each group writes and performs a skit for their assigned chapter.)

A guide to the trilogy

More resources from Emily Jenkins