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Author James Patterson Reminisces About His Surprise Side Gig: Writing the Toys "R" Us Jingle

Author James Patterson says writing the Toys "R" Us jingle "I'm a Toys "R" Us Kid" was “a big moment in my life."

The bestselling author then sang the jingle’s unforgettable opening lyric: “I don’t want to grow up, I’m a Toys "R" Us kid.” “I knew that I had done something that was going to be catchy because there was a little 4-year-old running on the street, and his mother said to him, ‘If you don’t stop singing that song, we are never gonna make it to school,’ ” she recalled. Thaler added that she and Patterson thought the jingle would be a “one-time thing” and had no idea it would have the staying power it did, playing in Toys "R" Us commercials throughout the ’80s and ’90s.

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