More Than Child’s Play: The Scaffolding Role of Toys, Games, and Play in Children’s Literature

Abstract

Scholars have explored the way books about toys inculcate consumer, racist, and sexist ideologies in the young, subversively controlling their attitudes and behavior. Judging from the scholarship in this area, teachers, librarians, and parents may hesitate before recommending or purchasing toy-centered stories for children. Using insights from play theorists and psychology researchers, this article argues that toy fiction can empower children by both acknowledging their marginalized status and providing models of coping, learning, and agency. Keywords toys; toys in fiction; play; play in fiction; games in fiction In the 1930s, educational psychologist Lev Vygotsky felt it necessary to advocate for children's play, arguing that "it is incorrect to conceive of play as activity without purpose" (16). And in 1962, psychologist Jean Piaget observed that "play has always been considered, in traditional education, as a kind of mental waste-matter, or at least as a pseudo-activity, without functional significance, and even harmful to children, keeping them from their homework" (151). Although adults today recognize the value of play, there remains a lingering hesitation, reflected in adult characters of toy narratives. In his picture book Clown, for example, Quentin Blake depicts a stern matron holding a bundle of toys at arms-length as she heads towards a trash