My girls had endless amount of fun at that age with this thing:
https://www.amazon.com/Fisher-Price-Lit ... =play+barnMy girls had endless amount of fun with things like drums and bongos and maracas too. Me, not so much.
At 2, my girls had absolutely no fun with books, though i loved them dearly.
McDonald's happy meal is about $5 nowadays, so while i understand the indignation, the reality is that every kids birthday party we go to, the gift is about $40. Sometimes a bit more, sometimes a bit less, but, realistically speaking, $50 for a kids birthday gift isn't the outrageous amount it used to be.
Edited to add: I see orono already posted the exact same Little People barn with animals. At that age, few things beat Little People.