Once Upon a Toy: Essays on the Interplay Between Stories and Playthings

In the magical realm of children’s play, toys and stories have a rich and complex relationship. In this collection, contributors analyze the many types of interplay between children’s toys and narrative. Many of these essays explore how this relationship is portrayed in novels, films, and television programs. Others discuss how this relationship is shaped by broader historical and cultural narratives. Still other essays discuss how children create their own stories while playing with toys.

Taken together, the essays speak to the myriad ways that toys are represented in popular narratives and provide insights into the meanings that toys hold for children, adults and society.

Kathy Merlock Jackson is a professor of media and communication at Virginia Wesleyan University, where she teaches courses in media studies and children’s culture. She is the author of over a hundred articles, chapters, and reviews and has published thirteen books. She is a former editor of The Journal of American Culture and a past president of the Popular Culture Association. Mark I. West is the former chair of the English department at the University of North Carolina at Charlotte. He has written or edited nineteen books on children’s literature and culture and is a former president of the Children’s Literature Association.