Baby Toys Henrietta Cooks Analysis

There’s a war on baby toys. In a modern world only the best is good enough for our future offspring and to find the best, we must test the best. Henrietta Cooks article ‘Traditional toys beat gadgets in language development’ published earlier this year describes the growing support for more traditional styles of play and learning for kids. Scrapping the new alien-age gimmick-gadgets that is Leapfrog and co. Like a motley crew of toys, should we reconsider their use?

Cooks bold headline juxtaposes concepts of tradition and modernism, a blood bath of words if not for the impartial partisan of a noun and a verb. The title is also an assertion, which Cook later supports through expert opinions and first person accounts. Also included in the article is a picture of three year old Leo Colosimo “having fun with some traditional toys”. Within the pictures foreground the wooden castle presents a dominating structure, concealing a tv resentfully half cut off in the background suggesting the superiority and power of the wooden toy. Reinforcing this is the fear stricken expression displayed by young Colosimo, a wide eyed, fearfully forced grin, an expression reminiscent of the face posed before a lion tears apart your neck.

Such opinions help to reinforce her titles contention and provide evidence for the claim. However to not be too one sided Cook includes an example of how technology can be helpful in the development of creativity by citing Dr. Verenikina, who notes that “open-ended apps, such as ones that let children create stories and choose characters encourage creativity.” Seemingly a gesture of fairness it helps to reduce peoples pre-conceptions of propaganda journalism and reassuring the reader that all arguments have been