Bound To Stay Bound

Booklist - 10/01/2008 Spencer has too many toys. They spill from closets, cascade down staircases, and generally occupy him and frustrate his parents in equal measure. Finally Spencer’s mom has had enough, and after a litigious negotiation, she helps Spencer pack a box of toys to give away. At the last minute, though, Spencer reconsiders the plan in unexpected ways. Shannon’s illustrations are cacophonous explotions; even the title page is so chaotic that the text is crowded into the corner. Shannon’s fans will recognize elements of his previous characters—Alice the Fairy’s expressive aspect; David’s corn teeth—in this current cast, portrayed with ebullient vigor. Also effective are the almost surreal backdrops to some of the disagreements. When Spencer is asked to let go of some of his treasures, for example, he resembles a sad-eyed puppy, standing in a gray wasteland, a barren tree in the background. Shannon’s story carries an attitude large enough to entertain a big group, while the illustrations are detailed enough to engage even the most inattentive individual when viewed up close. - Copyright 2008 Booklist.

School Library Journal - 01/01/2009 PreS-Gr 2— In many ways Spencer's situation epitomizes every child's fantasy-he has a toy collection that rivals a major toy store in depth and breadth. Simply cataloging the different types takes many engaging pages overflowing with brightly colored playthings. The problem is that the sheer number of toys has created multiple hazards. Tired of dodging disasters and sidestepping landslides, Spencer's mom decides that enough is enough and begins negotiating the downsizing of inventory. Savvy Spencer turns on the big sad eyes in order to protect his favorites. Mom's troubles do not stop there; the toy debate is weighted in the boy's favor by the constant deluge of gifts from friends and family. After sorting through the entire collection, he and his mother come up with a box of items to give away—only to find that the toy he refuses to part with is the box. A master at capturing the workings of a young mind, Shannon combines realistic dialogue with his boisterous illustrations to create another surefire hit. This book provides a pertinent and appealing read.—Piper Nyman, Brookmeade Elementary School, Nashville, TN - Copyright 2009 Publishers Weekly, Library Journal and/or School Library Journal used with permission.

Bulletin for the Center... - 02/01/2009 Many kids would love to have Spencer’s problem: he has an overwhelming number of toys, which “covered the floor of his bedroom . . . and spilled down the stairs and into the living room.” In point of fact, Spencer himself loves his collection of toys, and it’s Spencer’s mother, fed up from tripping over race cars as she’s carrying the laundry, who declares them to be excessive and issues a dreadful edict: “Pick out which toys you don’t want . . . and put them in this box.” And so the war begins. Despite the title, the clear-to-adults absurd excess, and Spencer’s humorously transparent defenses of retention (“Grandma Bobo gave me that on my fourth birthday. And I’ll never be four again-EVER!”), most young viewers will be firmly on the side of the young toy amasser even as they giggle knowingly at his possessiveness, so they’ll be pleased to see him wreaking havoc again at the conclusion. With most of the book devoted to enumerating his plenty, though, there’s not a huge amount of plot and it takes a while to get going, and the final twist, Spencer taking a shine to the box his discards are stored in (“It’s the best toy EVER!”), doesn’t pack much of a compensatory punch. Even the wittily garish chaos of Shannon’s illustrations can’t completely dampen the visual excitement of the wall-to-wall extravaganza of toys that fills page after page, and even though bug-eyed Spencer seems to be buzzed on some kind of toy-contact high, viewers will be likely to lust after his hoard rather than see its dark side. Plenty of kids have heard the dread cry of the weeding parent, though, so they’ll enjoy rooting for Spencer against the tyranny of adult reason. DS - Copyright 2009 The Board of Trustees of the University of Illinois.

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