Bath time has never been so enjoyable. The musical book features a pressure-sensitive melody module that is heat-sealed into the cover and plays music when a child presses the red circle. An adorable baby panda illustrates the classic bedtime song. The 5-1/2" square book contains the lyrics to the first verse to encourage word recognition and pre-reading skills. “Our waterproof bath books are musical!” The Straight Edge Inc. owner Amy Kallman Epstein told TDmonthly. “Music not only has been found to encourage cognitive skill development in young children, but it also is a wonderful distraction for a cranky toddler.” Launch date: July 2007.

This lightweight, waterproof book is hand washable and includes a pressure-sensitive melody module that is heat sealed into the cover and plays when a child presses the red circle. An adorable baby panda illustrates the classic bedtime song, which ends happily with Mama Panda’s good catch. The 5.5” square book contains lyrics to the first verse to encourage word recognition and pre-reading skills. “Our waterproof bath books are musical! Music not only has been found to encourage cognitive skill development in young children but it also is a wonderful distraction for a cranky toddler,” Owner Amy Kallman Epstein of The Straight Edge told TDmonthly.

“A Day at the Beach” Read a Mat displays a delightful beach scene showing children with proper beach accessories such as sunglasses, hats, shoes, drinking water, SPF 15 sun block and more. Place the mat under a child’s morning cereal bowl as a primer for the upcoming day at the beach. This mat conveys the message to the child without the nagging. Launch date: May 2007.

These frame tray die-cut puzzles typically measure 11" x 14" and are made of sturdy 1/4" board. Printed underneath the puzzle on the tray is a colorful cross section that illustrates and explains how things work. Captions are clearly written for first readers. Inside/Outside Puzzles have received awards from the Oppenheim Toy Portfolio, Parents' Choice, Dr. Toy, The National Parenting Center and Teachers' Choice. “Each puzzle … has clearly written captions to explain the sectional view printed on the tray and under the top layer. A 3- to 5-year-old will learn, for instance, that the brain of the Stegosaurus was very small,” Amy Kallman Epstein of The Straight Edge Inc. told TDmonthly.
— Catherine Kleszczewski, president of Music in the Parlour in New York, said she really liked this and other Straight Edge puzzles at Toy Fair. “I know my son would love it,” she said.

Kids can be learning while they’re waiting for Mom (or Dad) to bring their food to the table. The Straight Edge has an entire line of Read a Mats, but this Phases of the Moon mat is one of its newest, and the fact that it glows in the dark is sure to make it instantly popular. Is the moon waxing or waning, and what’s the difference? This simple placemat makes it oh so clear.

This is a beautifully designed place mat to teach the concepts of shapes and colors. The mat is both extremely basic for very young children and an excellent color-teaching tool for older children. The three primary colors are linked to their respective secondary colors so a child can see that red and yellow combine to make orange, blue and yellow to make green and red and blue to make purple. Each color is shown as a different basic shape. The 11-1/2" x 17-1/2" oval-shaped place mat is hand printed in the USA on thick vinyl.

The What to Wear Read a Mat was designed for any child who simply doesn't like to dress for the weather. The mat cleverly relates weather conditions to appropriate clothing choices. It is intended to minimize arguments and is most helpful at the breakfast table. The mat is 11-1/2" by 17-1/2" and printed by hand in the USA on thick vinyl.

Two-sided, 11-1/2” x 17-1/2” bright, colorful map of the world is up-to-date with country names. Back of mat has blanks for self- testing. May be used with dry erase, wet erase, wipe off or overhead projection markers. Wipes clean for use over and over again. Made in the USA.

Travel around the world while you're eating your morning breakfast cereal. The front of the Flags Write a Mat colorfully shows the flags of all the member nations of the UN. Turn the mat over and your child can create his or her own flag in the template provided. We also provide some basic information on flag symbols to spark the creative process. The Write a Mat is laminated and may be colored with many wipe-off markers and crayons and then wiped clean. Your child can design a new flag each day. The Flags Write a Mat measures 11-1/2" x 17-1/2".

Through its witty and charming illustrations, The Water Cycle Read a Mat helps a child understand how water is recycled through the environment. The water droplets take on appealing personalities when they parachute from the clouds or ski down a wintry slope (both to illustrate precipitation), or slide into the water (as runoff). But don't be fooled by the child-friendly imagery. This mat is rigorously scientific (it's even featured in the U.S. Geological Survey website). And cute. It is 11-1/2" x 17-1/2" and is printed by hand in the USA.

Imagine how much fun it would be to be able to grow your own beanstalk right after you have read the story of "Jack and the Beanstalk". Our "Jack and the Beanstalk Story in a Box" is a very unique presentation of the story as well. The book comes with a drawer filled with stand-up story characters and props. So you and your child can read the story and your child can re-enact the story using the thick, cardboard, stand-up characters. The atttached net bag holds a packet of easy-to-grow pole beans, a plastic planting pot and a small bag of pottting soil. Plant the beans on a window sill, keep moist and within a week or two, you will have your very own beanstalk! Life and art combine for a truly unique reading and growing experience. For children 3-5 years old. Story in a Box books have received Teachers' Choice, Teachers' Choice for the Family and Creative Child Awards.

For the next generation of baseball fans (and for current fans who supervise their bath times), the new Take Me Out to the Ball Game musical, waterproof Rub a Dub™ bath book by The Straight Edge will be a hit (pun intended).

When you press the center of the baseball on the cover, the music plays to the famous melody (written by Albert Von Tilzer in 1908). The little 5-1/2" book (a good size for small hands) has the lyrics to the chorus (written by Jack Norworth while he was riding a subway to a baseball game in 1908). The clever and colorful illustrations of baseball diamonds, crowds, and fans are by children's illustrator, Irena Romendik. They are sure to make you a big fan of the book, the song and the game and you as your child root, root, root you way through any bath time.

Bath time is a good time to express one's creative instincts. Tile Tales is a new line of bath books that come with story stickers. The first title, The Itsy Bitsy Spider, has four puffy, waterproof stickers of the spider, sun, rain and water spout so a child can read (or be read) the little 5-1/2" waterproof book and then attach the stickers to the tile in the tub to recreate the story. Actual bath water can also "wash the spider out." Both the book and the stickers float.

Packaged in a transparent handle bag, this set includes a book, finger puppets, stand-up story props and a two-sided theater backdrop. The company has two titles, "The Frog Prince," which comes with a two-sided puppet (on one side the frog, on the other the prince), and "Cinderbear." The books are wonderfully illustrated, with an emphasis on the visual as opposed to the textual. Children are encouraged to use the puppets to act out the story contained in the books, using imagination, voices and movement to bring these classic tales to life.