Too Many Toys
David Shannon is famous for his David books, a beloved series about a little boy who is constantly getting into mischief. His wonderful picture book Too Many Toys, however, isn’t about everyone’s favorite boy, but about a young boy named Spencer who has too many toys—enough to make my own daughter’s enormous collection seem like nothing.
We checked out this book because my daughter, who is four, is going through a big “I want!” phase, and despite my husband’s and my own efforts, she keeps getting more and more spoiled rotten! Everyone who visits brings her toys, and when she goes anywhere, people just hand them to her like she’s magically compelling them to do so. Even at small stores, she’s given free toys—once even a free stuffed bunny!—just for walking through the door and not making a purchase at all.
Like my little girl, Spencer doesn’t want to get rid of any of his toys. His entire home is, as I’m sure many of us feel our own homes are, completely overrun with toys. From electronic gizmos to blocks to outdoor toys to bathtub toys and everything a little boy could have, he has it. He has so many, in fact, that it starts to become dangerous.
His parents continually trip over Spencer’s toys, showing kids how unsafe it can be to have toys all over the place. Unfortunately, Spencer’s toy obsession doesn’t include the whole “I want!” philosophy that we’re trying to tackle in our home, but it’s close. And it does portray the whole “everywhere you go, you get toys” type of situation that we’re familiar with—from his grandma to birthday goody bags, the drive-thru to school, to aunts, uncles, and cousins, Spencer gets toys wherever he goes. And when his mother finally decides to go through his toys to get rid of some of them, he haggles with her like a seasoned lawyer—as I’m sure many of us have experienced as well!
The end has a cute message, where Spencer ends up more interested in the box his mother is sending the toys out in rather than the toys themselves—and the whole idea of imagination being more important than toys is stressed—but it still didn’t feel like it addressed the whole consumerism issue that well. Spencer didn’t realize that having so many toys was kind of outrageous, and that this kind of behavior leads to things later in life like overspending, hoarding, buying things we don’t need, etc. But how do you teach that concept to a child? I’m still learning how myself.
Either way, it’s still and adorable book that does help with the message. If you know of any other children’s books that really take on this issue of consumerism and help to explain the concepts in a child-friendly way, I’d love to hear about them!
