The Brave Little Toaster

"The Brave Little Toaster" is a novel by Thomas M. Disch intended for children or as put by Disch, "A Bedtime Story for Small Appliances". The story centers on five household appliances—Lampy (a lamp), Blanky (an electric blanket), Radio (a radio), Kirby (a vacuum cleaner), and the Toaster (a toaster)—on their quest to find their owner, Rob (also referred to as "The Master").

The story first appeared in "The Magazine of Fantasy and Science Fiction" (August 1980). Although appearing in a general circulation magazine, the story was written in the style of a children's fable. It was one of the most popular science fiction and fantasy stories of the early 1980s, and was nominated for both a Hugo Award and a Nebula Award for Best Novella.

In 1987 the novel was adapted by Disch as an animated film. The film contains many differences from the book but is essentially the same story.

Disch later wrote a sequel to the book, "The Brave Little Toaster Goes to Mars". In this book, the Brave Little Toaster and his companions travel to Mars to stop an invasion from hostile appliances who have a colony there. This too was made into a film. There was also a third film in the series, "The Brave Little Toaster to the Rescue".

Characters

; Toaster: Toaster is the protagonist; brave as it is described in the title. It acts as leader to the others and never gives up hope or effort.; Lampy: A lamp that shines a bright light, but is not very "bright" in intelligence.; Blanky: A shy electric blanket who always needs reassuring.; Radio: A radio that constantly talks about anything of which it can think. It annoys the others by trying to seem intelligent.; Kirby: A big, strong vacuum cleaner. It is said to be grumpy and bossy, but is still a valuable part of the team.