A review by bickie
Teddy's Favorite Toy by Christian Trimmer

4.0

Similar to Knuffle Bunny but perhaps a bit less realistic (Mom fishes favorite toy out of garbage truck after what seems to be several hours). Regardless, the realism of the plot is not all that important. This story is easily related to by pre-schoolers who often love to make up stories based on facts or even are not sure what the facts actually are. The facts in this story are that Teddy's favorite toy breaks, he tries to fix it by wrapping it up until it is unrecognizable, Mom throws it away thinking it's trash, Teddy is horrified when he can't find it, Mom rescues it. The best part of this story is that it subverts gender stereotypes without that subversion having anything to do with the plot or the story. Teddy's favorite toy is a doll who gets lots of different hairstyles, wears a variety of creative outfits but usually a poufy-skirted dress, has tea parties, and has fierce warrior skills. Teddy loves his doll, and clearly loves his mother, who seems to have a very similar variety of interests and abilities. Teddy's skin color is not exactly the same as his mother's; the one-legged doll is still fierce and lovable. Great messages delivered in a non-didactic way.