Toy Stories

Toys—a celebrated part of childhood and key figures in children’s imaginative play—have a fantastic history of heroism in print and on film. From the bears that safe guard the sleep of children to the plastic soldiers fighting alongside cowboy dolls as they lay siege to a block castle, toys are the heroes of the stories children inspire authors to tell. In this repository of original essays, literary scholars from around the globe examine the roles toys play as protectors of the child they love, as heroes of their own stories, or as champions for the greater good. Herein, the toy hero is examined through a variety of critical lenses, including gender studies, psychoanalysis, feminist theory, and the subversion of classic tropes in toy stories by authors like A.A. Milne, Hans Christian Anderson, William Joyce, and John Lasseter (to name a few).