toys talking
particular books, 2016
42 pages
"This is an extraordinary book — remarkable, but also odd. Each two-page spread depicts a toy animal, illustrated in broad brushstrokes, with an accompanying caption. So far, so normal. Yet the muted colours of the board-paper are reflected in the lonely, melancholy air each animal exudes and the tone of the captions, which are riddled with insecurity and sadness. A stuffed rabbit claims, “I have often had sleepless nights”. A kangaroo, joey in pouch, baldly states, “We can not afford it”. A panda looks depressed, declaring “All my evenings are engaged”. Some small children may recoil from the gloom that hangs over the book. Others may respond positively, taking comfort from seeing their own anxieties given a voice and a relatively friendly face." - James Lovegrove, The Financial Times
Leanne Shapton explores the inner life of children's toys. Designed to appeal to the very youngest readers, penguins, panda bears, stuffed dogs, and cuddly cats reflect on jokes, consider the weather, and long for tomorrow to come.
"I love it completely. Toys Talking is the only book which both I and my eleven-month-old daughter agree is a masterpiece — she thinks it is a delightful series of candy-colored toy portraits; I think it is unbearably poignant. A children's book for adults, or an adult book for children! Nothing else I know of more accurately describes the strange mêlée of feelings that we call, for convenience, a family." - Adam Thirlwell
"This is a book created out of the rich emotional landscape of parenthood... Toys Talking is that category of book you'll read aged three, that betrays deeper layers when you reread it aged 20. It possesses a knowing humour which, years later and all grown-up, will finally make you laugh out loud." - Oh Comely