The Secret Lives of Toys and Their FriendsImage from the 1895 story, The Adventures of Two Dutch Dolls and a Golliwogg, by Bertha Upton and Florence K. Upton |
The Secret Lives of Toys and Their Friends contains items drawn from The Miriam Snow Mathes Historical Children’s Literature Collection and is on exhibit in the lobby of the M.E. Grenander Department of Special Collections and Archives (Third Floor of the Science Library) beginning in August 2006. This exhibit features a small sampling of the many stories written for children from either a toy’s point of view or about adventures based on the lives of living toys or objects. The M.E. Grenander Department of Special Collections and Archives houses many book collections, including the one used for this exhibit: The Miriam Snow Mathes Historical Children’s Literature Collection. The over fifty items in the physical exhibit, including the small number shown here, are a fraction of what the Mathes Collection contains on the subject of animated objects and/or toys. The Mathes Collection includes over 10,000 children's books and periodicals published from the early 1800’s through to around 1960. The exhibit was curated by Kali M.D. Roy, Collection Management Assistant, Miriam Snow Mathes Historical Children's Literature Collection. |
In 2006, Newbery Medal winner Kate DeCamillo, wrote a story in this vein entitled The Miraculous Journey of Edward Tulane, who happens to be a china rabbit. In this story, the timeless element of love comes to the fore as with the ever popular Velveteen Rabbit, story of Margery Williams Bianco, from 1922. Whether brought to life by a child’s love, unwavering faith, Christmas magic, midnight, enchanted dreams, or in rare cases “Elixirs of Life,” there seems to be no end in sight for this genre of children’s literature in which toys, household objects, or even foodstuffs secretly lead their exciting lives. |
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A bibliography of the books used in this exhibit is available online in PDF format and can be viewed using Adobe Reader. |
Exhibited Curated by Kali M.D. Roy, Collection Management Assistant, Miriam Snow Mathes Historical Children's Literature Collection