cover image Christmas at the Toy Museum

Christmas at the Toy Museum

David Lucas. Candlewick, $15.99 (32p) ISBN 978-0-7636-5868-7

After hours at the toy museum, a menagerie of vintage dolls, animals, and windup toys are dismayed to find no presents for them under the tree. Bunting, a dapperly outfitted toy cat, has the solution: “Friends! Toys! Dolls! Puppets!” he says, “It’s Christmas Eve! Let us not be downhearted! Why don’t we all give one another ourselves?” The toys wrap each other up as presents and quietly wait under the tree until Christmas morning. Lucas’s ink-and-watercolor spreads contrast sharp angles and geometric patterns with the soulful expressions of the heirloom toys, as they joyfully discover that togetherness is the best Christmas gift. Ages 3–up. (Sept.)