Too Many Toys!

This year's Story Time Monday is a delight since there are four Mondays between the end of Thanksgiving break and the beginning of Christmas break.  Four Mondays to read wonderful Christmas books, twice the number of days we had last year.   What a pleasure!

David Shannon's book Too Many Toys isn't exactly a Christmas book, but I think it's a very appropriate read-aloud for early in the holiday season.  It's the story of Spencer, who has way too many toys.   It's not his fault, really.  After all, everyone keeps giving him toys --his mom and dad, his grandparents, his aunts and uncles, his friends, his doctor, the fast food drive through.  He's always being given more toys.  I love this picture of the hoards of toy-givers.

And this fabulously detailed one of just some of the toys.  

There are so many toys in Spencer's house that Daddy keeps stepping on legos and jacks and Mom trips over race cars and train tracks. 

Finally Mom snaps and demands that Spencer go through his toys and put the ones he doesn't want any more in a box to give away. When this is too difficult ("a catastrophe!" Spencer says), Mom steps in to help out and together they painstakingly sort through each toy, negotiating whether it stays or goes.  When they finally have a box of toys to get rid of Mom takes a rest while Spencer plays in his room.  But when Mom comes back she finds all the toys on the floor!  Spencer is in his room playing with the empty box.  "You were right, Mom, I had too many toys.  But this box is the most perfect toy of all!" he tells her.  

Such a great story!  The kids all loved it, even my little three year-olds, who listened raptly.  The book led into some interesting discussion with the kindergartners.  They could all think of ways they had played with an empty box and two of the three classes said that they were going to put "empty box" on their wish list for Santa!