Toys Meet Snow: Being the Wintertime Adventures of a Curious Stuffed Buffalo, a Sensitive Plush Stingray, and a Book-loving Rubber Ball

by Emily Jenkins, Paul O. Zelinsky (Illustrator)

Overview

A stuffed buffalo, a plush stingray, and a plastic ball venture outdoors and discover snow for the very first time in this delightful wintry picture book.

Lumphy, StingRay, and Plastic—the toys from the beloved chapter books Toys Go Out, Toy Dance Party, and Toys Come Home—are back in a glorious full-color picture book, perfect for gift-giving this holiday season. Acclaimed author Emily Jenkins and Caldecott Medal–winning illustrator Paul Zelinsky have created a book destined to become a classic.
 
Children who have loved listening to the Toys trilogy, as well as those meeting the toys for the very first time, will be thrilled to see Lumphy, StingRay, and Plastic venture outdoors to play in the snow. Together the toys build a snowman, make snow angels, and, when day is done, head back inside their cozy house and wait for the return of the Little Girl.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780385373302
Publisher:	Random House Children's Books
Publication date:	09/22/2015
Pages:	40
Sales rank:	540,269
Product dimensions:	10.10(w) x 11.20(h) x 0.40(d)
Lexile:	AD500L (what's this?)
Age Range:	3 - 7 Years

About the Author

Emily Jenkins is the author of numerous award-winning picture books, including Water in the Park, a Booklist Editors’ Choice and a Bulletin Blue Ribbon Book; Lemonade in Winter, a Publishers Weekly Best Children’s Book of the Year; and two Boston Globe–Horn Book Honor Books: Five Creatures and That New Animal. She also wrote the three chapter books in the Toys trilogy: Toys Go Out, Toy Dance Party, and Toys Come Home. She lives in Brooklyn, New York. Learn more at emilyjenkins.com.
 
Caldecott Medalist Paul O. Zelinsky is one of the most acclaimed picture book illustrators working today. He is the illustrator of Dust Devil by Anne Isaacs, a New York Times Notable Book and an Oppenheim Toy Portfolio Platinum winner. He received the Caldecott Medal for his retelling of Rapunzel and three Caldecott Honors for his illustrations in Rumpelstiltskin, Hansel and Gretel, and Anne Isaacs's Swamp Angel. He also illustrated the three chapter books in the Toys trilogy: Toys Go Out, Toy Dance Party, and Toys Come Home. Visit the illustrator at paulozelinsky.com.

Editorial Reviews

With childlike fascination, [the toys] attempt to unpack the true meaning of snow, and in the process, understand life…it's wonderfully poetic, especially the logic of StingRay, whose explanation of the natural world will put a smile on any reader's face.

The New York Times Book Review - Christopher Silas Neal

★ 07/06/2015
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. (Sept.)

Publishers Weekly

★ 06/01/2015
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

School Library Journal

★ 2015-06-10
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)

Kirkus Reviews

Utterly enchanting; a perfect bedtime read.” —School Library Journal, Starred

“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… Snow never left you feeling warmer inside.” —Kirkus Reviews, Starred

"This wonderfully understated story enchants from the first page." —Publishers Weekly, Starred

“There is perennial pleasure to be had in stories of toys come to life, and fans of Jenkins’ Toys Go Out (BCCB 11/06), its sequel, Toy Dance Party, and its prequel, Toys Come Home, already know and love stuffed buffalo Lumphy, plush StingRay, and Plastic (a rubber ball).” —The Bulletin of the Center for Children’s Books, Starred

From the Publisher