Beanie Soft Toys: An Opportunity to Promote Literacy Development, or Another Money-Spinner for the Business Tycoons?

This paper reports on a qualitative research project undertaken with Y6 children. It draws on transcriptions of children's discussions; recordings of collaborative writing sessions; and the children's responses to a series of questions relating to Beanie soft toys, their origins, their intended market audience and their creator's entrepreneurial intentions in relation to the global market. The paper considers how far the children were motivated by working with popular icons as a purpose for collaborative writing. It also analyses children's stated views on the manufacturers who make, advertise and sell these types of popular toys and explores children's relationship to the consumerist ideology which surrounds popular culture.