Toys Meet Snow

Starred review from July 6, 2015
The buffalo, stingray, and rubber ball from the chapter book trilogy that began with Toys Go Out make their first appearance in a picture book, and they couldn’t be more at home. As the toys watch snow fall from the house, ever-curious toy buffalo Lumphy asks why it snows. “Because the clouds are sad and happy at the same time,” says StingRay (“She is more poetic than factual,” Jenkins writes), while pragmatic Plastic, the red ball, explains that it is simply frozen rain: “I read about it in a book.” The toys’ personalities—inquisitive, romantic, matter-of-fact—seed the story with quiet humor as the toys venture outdoors (StingRay, who is “dry-clean only,” slides into a plastic baggie first). Zelinsky’s digitally created illustrations have a gauzy, painterly richness, and he divides several spreads into panels to show how the toys work together to open the front door (it takes “no small amount of effort...”) or build a snowman. Just as the snowfall casts a spell over all three friends, this wonderfully understated story enchants from the first page. Ages 3–7.

Starred review from July 1, 2015
Three toys make their way out into their first snow. Lumphy (the stuffed buffalo) has so many questions about all that white; StingRay (the, um, stingray) and Plastic (the ball) offer up answers both fantastic and factual, respectively. When Lumphy asks, "I mean, what is a snowflake?" StingRay responds immediately, "A snowflake is a tiny ballerina," while Plastic asserts, "No, it's just really tiny frozen water....I read that, too." Plastic reads a lot. The wonderfully idiosyncratic trio works brilliantly together, playing with equally exciting imaginary and realistic hypotheses about snow, their unique personalities and intellectual strengths jiving all the while. Subdued illustrations with cool colors and rounded shapes evoke the comforting softness of a threadbare, beloved toy. Amusing vertical and horizontal paneled sequences show these toys working together fervently: opening a door, building a snowman, discerning a snow-laden tree and a strawberry sunset. Children come away seeing the value, pleasure, and benefits of different outlooks and sensibilities. They also see that questions, elaborate, unusual answers, and unearthed facts can cohere into one swirling, whirling, dazzling snowstorm of discovery. Snow never left you feeling warmer inside. (Picture book. 2-6)

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Starred review from June 1, 2015

PreS-Gr 2-Converting their wildly successful "Toys" chapter books (Random) into picture book format, Jenkins and Zelinsky have crafted a story ideal for the younger set, ramping up the adorable factor, while retaining the whimsical spirit of the originals. With their owner, the Little Girl, away for winter vacation, plush animals StingRay and Lumphy the buffalo, along with their pal Plastic the bouncy red ball, suit up (Lumphy sports a mitten on his head, and "dry-clean only" StingRay outfits herself in a plastic bag) and head outside for their very first snow day. Naively knowledgeable StingRay confidently offers her own explanations for the world around them ("'[Snow is] a blanket of peace over the world'"), but Plastic gently corrects her ("'No, it's frozen water.... I read it in a book'"). The three friends take part in their own amusingly endearing versions of typical snow day activities-building a snowman and making snow angels-before watching the sunset and returning inside. By turns witty and tender, the digitally rendered, rich, painterly illustrations vividly conjure up a startlingly stunning winter wonderland, conveying its awe-inspiring beauty from the toy's-eye perspective. Zelinsky affectionately imbues these characters with a warmth that never veers toward the cloying, and his use of light and dark as day slowly turns to evening is masterly. The text is soothingly lyrical in its simplicity; relying on only a few lines of dialogue, Jenkins effectively gives each of the characters their own voice. VERDICT Utterly enchanting; a perfect bedtime read.-Mahnaz Dar, School Library Journal

Copyright 2015 School Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

July 1, 2015
Preschool-G Lumphy the toy buffalo, StingRay the plush stingray, and Plastic the red ballwho were first introduced in Jenkins and Zelinsky's Toys Go Out (2006)are striking out on their first picture-book adventure. Having been left at home while the family is on vacation, the three toys stare out the window in awe of the season's first snowfall. Lumphy is full of questions about the snow; StingRay answers poetically ( the clouds are sad and happy at the same time ), while Plastic is more matter of fact ( it's what rain becomes when the temperature is freezing ). Soon the friends decide that the best way to learn about snow is to go play in it, so out they go. Expressive illustrations by Caldecott winner Zelinsky (Rapunzel, 1997) are rich in color and texture, occasionally splitting the page into panels to effectively depict action sequences or differences in the toys' perspectives. Simple and cozy with just the right amount of wonder, this story offers a look at the pleasures snow brings and its transformative effect on the world.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2015, American Library Association.)

September 1, 2015
While the Little Girl is off on a winter vacation, three of her toysstuffed animals StingRay and buffalo Lumphy, plus rubber ball Plasticsee the season's first snowfall. As they do, these Toys Go Out to investigate the stuff. The illustrations, which are digital but resemble cotton-soft paintings in a wintry palette, take an active role in the storytelling. When Lumphy says, I need a hat, readers watch him pull a mitten onto his head. There's a slapstick element here: attempts to reach the front doorknob are captured in five adjacent panels showing what readers will see as the friends' amusingly flawed logic. In place of plot points, Jenkins supplies dialogue that ranges from the existential ( Why does it decide to snow? ) to the practical ( I need a plastic baggie, ' says StingRayPoke me some air holes' ). By book's end, the characters are well established: Lumphy is inquisitive ( What is a sunset? ), StingRay is fanciful ( It's strawberry syrup pouring over the world to make it sweet before nightfall ), and Plastic is cerebral (she doesn't say anything. She is thinking ). This picture-book story doesn't have the forward momentum of Jenkins and Zelinsky's Toys chapter books, which introduced these characters to an older audience, but it does have the same wit. nell beram

(Copyright 2015 by The Horn Book, Incorporated, Boston. All rights reserved.)