Member Reviews

Miranda, Queen of Broken Toys is a cute book with sweet illustrations. It is the story of a young girl who loves and appreciates broken, used, old and lost toys. She collects them up, while her friends all want shiny new ones. Eventually, she has no friends and finds a new place to live with her toys. She becomes known as Miranda, Queen of Broken Toys. Eventually, she becomes a bedtime story and is forgotten, and very lonely. When Paul, a boy looking for his lost stuffed animal, seeks her out, she helps him look for his stuffie. Not finding it, they have a snack and he takes a liking to Bubbles, Miranda's legless stuffed bear. He returns home happy, with Bubbles in toe and shares his story. Miranda isn't lonely anymore, and her toys get a new life. The illustrations were cute and I loved seeing Miranda's variety of toys. The text was difficult to read aloud as it lacked a cadence, but it was easy to understand. My 5 YO granddaughter enjoyed this story and talked about some of her "broken" toys that she still likes. She didn't get the comparison to people, as "broken people" doesn't mean anything to her. Although the 8 YO grandson didn't really sit and listen, he joined in our discussion talking about how he felt broken when he was sick and couldn't walk or go to school, but his friends sent him cards and called. I think kids today are far more accepting of people with disabilities, but I know some adult that might benefit from this book and message.

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This is an amusing tale. Miranda watched those around her get new toys that they loved. Miranda was different. She liked the old broken toys. Soon, she has lost most of her friends, so she goes to find a place she can keep her toys. She finds it. It'a almost at the end of the world.
Black Rose Writing and Net Galley let me read this book for review (thank you). It has been published and you can get a copy now.

She has a castle full of broken toys and decides she is the queen of them. Then a small boy comes and asks her to help him find his toy. They look but they don't find it. She invites him back to the castle for lunch.

Does he find a toy there he can love? Read it and see.

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Miranda is different as she likes broken toys. She thinks they need extra care and love. When a boy can’t find his missing toy, he remembers his grandma telling him about the queen of broken tots. He is going to find her. When he does, he tells her about his missing toy. Miranda finds it (there are a lot of toys) and the boy returns to his home. As more children find out that Miranda is real they go to see her and the broken toys.

This is a story about kindness. It’s about caring. The book is a sweet story that has wonderful illustrations and a sweet plot. Don’t miss reading it yourself besides the children in your life!

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This book was really good to read with my son. It gave us things to discuss around how to treat people who like things different from us and also talking care of toys and a little broken doesn't mean you can't play with it or mean a toy is bad. but i also have concerns about how isolated Miranda was for a while, just because she likes broken toys doesn't mean she can't like new toys too and children that like new toys can be friendly too!

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This is a story about a very special girl, Miranda. Miranda likes old and broken and misplaced toys. Other children loved new toys but not Miranda. Word spread through the years about this special person and all of her toys. One day a little boy named Paul came and knocked on her door. He had lost his favorite stuffed animal and thought she might have found it. They searched through all her toys and did not find it. Paul was getting a little upset so Miranda thought it was time for a snack. Bubbles and bear with no legs prepared a tea for them with tomato and cheese sandwiches and raspberry tea. Well Bubbles had a special skateboard to get around on and there was an accident and sandwiches and tea went everywhere! Well that made everyone giggle and belly laugh. So Paul decided that Bubbles should come home with him and Bubbles was ready for a new child. So home he went. After that Miranda became known far and wide and children started coming to visit and she was no longer lonely.
My favorite line of the book is at the end. "Miranda was not always a queen, and her kingdom really was not a normal kingdom. But then, what is normal, anyway?"
What is normal? A good lesson to teach little children.

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Have you ever watched Doc McStuffins with your child? There’s a 2-episode arc where Doc comes in contact with the king of the broken toys. Reading Miranda, Queen of Broken Toys reminded me of this.

It was interesting to see how my kids reacted to this story. Miranda, as a child, falls in love with broken toys and other kids stayed away from her. Eventually she moves away to a kingdom to where they all can live freely, until a boy who has lost his toy comes to see her.

The moral of the story is rooted in being broken does not necessarily mean it’s trash. Being broken can make you unique and still worthy of love.

My kids understood that already from Doc Mcstuffins. My son immediately began pointing out the similarities in their broken toys that they still love so much. My daughter made a great connection that I didn’t even catch when we read it all the way through. “Those kids weren’t being nice to Miranda. I’m glad she found a friend.” I love books that show me how big my kid’s hearts are.

This book is out now!

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I was given an ARC of this book in exchange for an honest review.

The art in this book is charming, and I really appreciate the underlying message. That said, the typography is weird. The print seems to large for the page, an odd font, and is centered a lot. And the story just couldn't hold my attention.

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This was a fun picture book, beautifully illustrated by debut author and German-born artist, Andrea Tripke. It tells the fun and heartwarming story of a girl who dared to be different. Instead of being hypnotized by the shiny and new, Miranda finds joy in the downtrodden and broken - toys that are unwanted, are lost, or are missing bits. She creates a welcoming home for them, and becomes known as the Queen of Broken Toys. Her life seems to be set in its ways until a new person shows up looking for a lost toy.

I have to say this was unreadable in the Kindle format. Kindle, to me, means turning something into kindling and that's what happens with Amazon's crappy conversion process. Unless it's plain vanilla text, do not subject your work to Kindle. It will ruin it. I read the PDF version of this and it was perfectly fine.

I commend this as a fun, visual treat, and besides, where else can you find raspberry tea and tomato-and-cheese-sandwiches?

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The message of this story--that there is value in things even if the world would call them "broken" or "imperfect--is so lovely. The illustrations are gorgeous too. They're so colorful and detailed and could definitely inspire great conversations with young readers.

The text, while readable and understandable, seems to be missing a natural flow or meter (maybe it was translated from another language?). Still, it's a sweet tale and would make a great read for pre-K and elementary students.

Many thanks to the publisher and NetGalley for the opportunity to read and review!

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