It was a middle-grade reader, I think. Kind of goofy and spooky, with monsters and toys that came alive. I specifically remember some army men coming alive to fight a monster. Pretty sure the protagonists were two siblings, a girl and a boy.
Any ideas? I wish I could remember more, I listened to it as an audiobook in the 90’s or 2000’s in the US, I’m pretty sure it was new-ish then so maybe published in the 80’s or sooner?
The Indian in the cupboard?
That was my guess
No, this isn’t it although I think it’s a similar age range/book category. The book I’m thinking of had a more goofy vibe and it was more like the toys came to life in regular life rather than going into a world with the toys.
https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/3460514-small-soldiers
Based on the movie Small Soldiers?
This isn’t it, but thanks for the suggestion!
Darn! It checks all the boxes, it might have been a book riffing on the movie’s success. Good luck!
The Illiad, or the Odyssey. Gotta be.
Maybe both at the same time.
Is it perhaps part of the Magic Treehouse series?
No, although I think that’s the right age range as I was also reading those books around then!
Longshot for a Goosebumps knockoff - Strange Matter, “Bad Circuits.”
ChatGPT spit out three suggestions:
- The Dollhouse Murders by Betty Ren Wright
- Night of the Living Dummy from the Goosebumps series by R.L. Stine
- The Castle in the Attic by Elizabeth Winthrop (1985)
Curious to know if it was right, based on your “prompt”.
None of those are what I’m thinking of, although Castle in the Attic was another favorite of mine around that time. : )
Oh man I forgot about that book. Should look it up.
