Author: Emily Jenkins
Illustrator: Paul O. Zelinsky
Format: Hardcover
Published: Random House, 2006

Lumphy is a stuffed buffalo, StingRay is a stuffed stingray, and Plastic, well, readers will find out what plastic is after she resolves her identity crisis in chapter two. They belong to the Little Girl, and, like all good toys, have marvelous (and sometimes perilous) adventures when no one is looking. Lumphy goes on a picnic, gets covered in peanut butter, and must face the terrifying washing machine (who, it turns out, is a really nice machine named Frank). Plastic goes to the beach and survives an encounter with a possible shark (well, it had sharp teeth anyway). Through it all, StingRay maintains her amusing air of superiority. Sure to become a classic (we really don't say this often), Toys Go Out is equally wonderful as a read-aloud for the My Father's Dragon crowd or and read-to-oneself for 8-9 year olds. Zelinsky's charming pencil drawings perfectly complement the text.