The oldest toy of all, Slowpoke the Tortoise, speaks. “Welcome, friends! Here we are again, gathered for our long journey. The stars and the moon will light our way. Is everybody ready? Then let’s go!”’
The Toys’ Christmas, originally published in French as La longue marche des doudous, is a picture book that keeps young readers engaged during the toys’ journey on the night before Christmas. Noah’s toy, Fanfan, is joined by other toys in the world to march to their annual meeting place, Santa’s house. The toys meet there on Christmas Eve to report their owners’ wish lists as, “after all, they know their child best of all.” The toys travel back home in time for Christmas Day, and Noah is very happy with the item he wished for.
As the toys travel together to Santa’s house, they share their experiences of being chewed up, pulled apart, or left out in the rain by their owners. In these moments, Claire draws out empathy from her readers and provides them with a reminder to appreciate their belongings, to give their toys a hug. Geneviève’s unique illustrations directly bring readers along on the journey with the toys through the snow-filled forest on a cold winter night. She creates a unity with the characters as they all have the same intriguing circular black eyes, yet their emotions are precisely conveyed through their facial expressions. In The Toys’ Christmas, Claire and Geneviève cohesively used dialogue, illustrations, and minimal narration to perfectly tell the story.
My Anh Truong is a librarian at the Toronto Public Library in Ontario.
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