Indian in the Cupboard Review
By Lynne Reid Banks
Reviewed by Oren Raynes
Book 16 of 2026
Disclaimers
First, this review is going to be longer than other book reviews I have done, as it is going to have more sections; Disclaimers, The Bans or Controversy, and The Movie. But otherwise I'll still cover my normal sections; The Writing, The Story, and The Takeaway.
Next, I just want to say that there is a part of me that does not want to write this post. This book seems to have a lot of controversy about it and I do not like politics in my life. But I did read this book and I do have my own opinions on it. I apologize ahead of time if I upset people with my opinions, this is not my intention with this post.
The Writing
Banks's writing did not stand out as bad, but I also wouldn't say that it was overly great either. It was easy to read and I was able to finish this book in less than a day. Of course, it is meant for a younger crowd, so it is expected that it would be an easier read. Banks is able to make the story very visual and also conveys the message or theme well.
The Story
The story follows a young boy who receives a cupboard from his brother and a key from his mother for his birthday. Together, the cupboard and the key allow Omri to bring plastic toys to life. It would seem that these beings are pulled straight from wherever they existed in the real world, and are not created new. That is important to the story since the author is trying to convey to Omri that these are real people and not toys. As the story moves along, we get to watch Omri as he struggles with this very concept.
The Bans or Controversy
There is a lot of controversy around this book because of the racism and treatment of native people as well as the factual inaccuracies. I could only find one actual banning of the book though, in Kamloops, BC, Canada. This ban was in 1992, for "Potentially offensive treatment of native peoples."
While I read the book, this time, I was initially hit with the connotations of slavery more than racism. With statements like "my toy" from Omri. But as I read on, I realized that the author was showing Omri's understanding shift from "my toy" to this person, which is really the whole premise of the book; learning to be accepting and understanding. I read and understood the book more as an anti-racism statement, even if it didn't "age well" or "wasn't factually accurate."
The Movie
Now this is one of my favorite parts of reading books, watching and judging the film adaptation. I love to see how much they mess things up or don't understand or just use the premise to create a whole new thing (I Am Legend, and I, Robot).
This adaptation is probably one of the truest I have seen, which blows me away. I found it to be very true to the book. There were differences of course but overall, very well done.
The very first thing I noticed about the movie was after Omri brought Little Bear to life he then immediately brings to life a whole slew of toys. He immediately sees his mistakes and undoes this. This doesn't happen in the book but he does imagine Patrick doing it at some point. Other things I noticed were that:
- he did not get a horse or wife for Little Bear
- he did make a deer for Little Bear to hunt
- the brother accidentally misplacing gym shorts was replaced with the intentional hiding of the rat ball
- the store that Omri buys more toys from is replaced with some sort of display at his school
- Boone's drawing scene in school was replaced with just a statement from Boone.
I also noted that the movie seemed to be more in the 90's when it was filmed as opposed to the late 70s or early 80s that the story was written. The novel takes place in England but the movie takes place in America. And the movie didn't seem to have the same speech issues for Little Bear as the book did.
A note about the movie, the graphics were phenomenal. The visual effects seem to be far more practical and realistic. Far better than most things they are doing with CG nowadays.
The Takeaway
Despite being controversial, I think that this is a great story about acceptance, understanding, and empathy that everyone should read at least once in their life. The adaptation is very well done, but the movie overall isn't something I would watch again or recommend to others.
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