Mini Grey
Walker Books
Age 5-7
An imaginative, beautifully illustrated story by talented picture book maker Mini Grey. It explores what might happen if toys are forgotten and left in the garden overnight. Through a story within a story the toys and the reader go on a journey into space. There are important themes to talk about such as being frightened and making good or bad choices.
Mini Grey writes
‘With Toys in Space I had an image in my mind of a group of toys left on the grass in the garden, lying on their backs and looking at the sky. When the sky got dark they’d see the stars for the first time. At first I tried to write a story about different toys trying to explain what the stars were – but that didn’t work. Then I wondered what would happen to a group of toys left out in the garden? Well, really, not much probably – except get a bit damp. But what did I want to happen to them? And of course, what I really wanted to happen was for them to be abducted by aliens. Being a very truthful author I decided I couldn’t let such an improbably event actually happen, so in Toys in Space the toys tell a story to get them through the night, and in the story they are beamed up by an alien. I was thinking a tiny bit of 1001 nights – where Scheherazade has to tell a story every night to stay alive.’
Download Mini’s own special poster – what to do if you lose your favourite toy
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