February 2010 New Specialty Toys — Books

Baby GoGo™ Goes Home comes with the baby doll in the Baby GoGo™ Introductory Set. This storybook follows Baby GoGo™’s experience coming home from the hospital, meeting the family, having a bottle, and earning a nickname. "The book and doll combination for helping a child prepare for a new sibling," Katie Wylonis told TDmonthly.

Written by Lana Button and illustrated by Tania Howells, this four-color, 32-page hardcover tells the story of a girl who speaks so quietly at school that she's misunderstood and ignored. Her magic microphone out of recycled items is only a solution for a little while; how will she be heard? Launch date: 2010.

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Vincent isn't like other kids his age. He isn't good at sports and has an overly creative mind. Vincent's super-secret lab in his attic filled with toy prototypes, and a chance meeting with a strange toy inventor gets him started on the road to becoming a serious toy inventor. Launch date: November 2009.

Written by Keltie Thomas and illustrated by Stephen MacEachern, this book delves into the history of science of figure skating as a sport, a lineup of the most creative moves, info about partnerships and rivalries, and much more.

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Written by Mary Wallace, this tale of Alaska's Inuit people illustrates each letter of "Inuksuk" in acrostic poem, connecting the meaning of each word to the people and their surroundings. Launch date: September 2009.

Complete with a CD featuring the singalong song "Driving My Tractor," this book follows a farmer as he collects animals in his trailer and then hits a bump and they all fly out! It's written by Jan Dobbins and illustrated by David Sim.

"Lin Yi's Lantern" is a heartwarming tale about a boy who's on a mission to get things for his mother at the market ... but who really wants a red rabbit lantern for the night's moon festival. This story shows the benefits of putting others before oneself, and includes notes of Chinese life, the legend of the moon fairy and the moon festival.

TDmonthly Review:

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Chester Raccoon and friends are devastated at the loss of their friend Skiddel Squirrel and, at the suggestion of Mrs. Raccoon, plan a special memorial service for him at the pond. This story is designed to help children understand and cope with funerals and the trauma of losing a loved one, encouraging them to create special memories. It's authored by Audrey Penn and illustrated by Barbara Gibson.

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Written by Kimiko Kajikawa and illustrated by Ed Young, this 32-page hardcover tells the story of a rich, old villager name Ojiisan who makes a great sacrifice to save his fellow villagers in the midst of a great tsunami. Launch date: February 5, 2009.

TDmonthly Review:

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Written Susan Lopez and illustrated by Ulises Wensell, this book follows little girl Carlota's dreams of her new family on the verge of being adopted from the orphanage. Carlota then finds out that even though her new mom isn't a pastry chef and her dad isn't a pirate, they really are the best family in the world.

This 64-page, full-color book written by Dr. Stephen Law introduces young readers to questions about life and the universe, leading them to ponder and learn about such things as, "What happened before the Big Bang?" and "What makes stealing wrong?" It's presented in question-and-answer form with quirky quotations. Launch date: October 2009.

TDmonthly Review:

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This lift-the-flap educational book explores geology, geography, meteorology and astronomy, taking kids on a journey to discover the ground under the feet as well as the clouds and the magnificent solar system. It's written by Pascale Hédelin and illustrated by Laurent Richard and Terri Bjorgan. The 9" x 9.5" book features color illustrations and 38 pages. Launch date: September 2009.

TDmonthly Review:

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In this story, presented as a 32-page hardcover, a little boy points out all the things his father knows, including the names of clouds and which insects are "buzziest." In rhyming verse, i's written by Jane Yolen and illustrated by Stéphane Jorisch. Launch date: April 27, 2010.

2pc novelty book mark set. Each set includes a 4.5" bookmark with matching 3.5" bookmark. Available in cute character designs.

These bright, eye-catching flip cover designs are created to make revisiting the past more fun than ever before. "The lenticular flip front covers flip from one colorful image to another," Leslie Montalbano, Prepress Manager, ISCREAM, told TDmonthly. Launch date: January 4, 2010.
THIS PRODUCT IS NO LONGER AVAILABLE

With these cool stationery books, kids just write it, seal it and send it. It includes 40 full-color letters and matching stickers. "Our designs are hip and fun," Leslie Montalbano, Prepress Manager, ISCREAM, told TDmonthly. Launch date: January 4, 2010.
THIS PRODUCT IS NO LONGER AVAILABLE

This line of bright, colorful, illustrated children's books includes positive lessons. The books are accompanied by soft, huggable, hand-embroidered dolls and a line of backpacks that carry out the same universal message as the books. Launch date: February 2010.

Building Thinking Skills Beginning is designed to provide fun, highly effective and engaging reasoning activities to improve the vocabulary, pre-reading, pre-writing, math, logic, spatial, and auditory processing skills of preschoolers. It teaches children to use organized analysis instead of guesswork to solve problems as it develops critical thinking skills necessary for success in reading, math, writing, and science. The book uses colorful, easy-to-understand activities, sequenced in small steps, many gamelike, and solvable in a short period. "Our thinking approach makes learning fun, motivating and effective. Empowering the mind through critical thinking is one of the best ways to prepare for life's journey," Nile Duppstadt, VP, The Critical Thinking Co., told TDmonthly. Awards: 2009 Teacher's Choice Award for the Family, Learning® Magazine, 2010 Best Products iParenting Media Award, Book category. Launch date: February 5, 2009.

Puzzles range from a few dots to hundreds of dots with images that cannot be guessed before the puzzle is started.

Written and illustrated by Ed Young, this book is about a boy who discovers an egg and presents it to chickens. When an eaglet hatches, the boy and the chickens work to help it fly, and it's eventually able to soar into beautiful skies. Launch date: April 2009.

Spirited little Lulu is determined to wear her soft, comfy pajamas to school, but is crushed when a day out in the PJs makes them barely recognizable. Launch date: 2009.

This guidebook by Lisa Trutkoff Trumbauer is written from the perspective of an international vampire hunter sharing secret details about everything from vampire games to the places they live. Launch date: August 2009.

This new edition of Jane Yolen's 1977 story tells about Hwei Min, the blind daughter of a Chinese emperor. Despite a reward offered for anyone who can cure the girl, physicians and magicians cannot help. But an old man with a seeing stick teaches the princess a new way to "see" the world. Launch date: September 21, 2009.

By air, land, and sea, migrating animals are "going home." Salmon, turtles, whales and manatees travel by sea. Hummingbirds, butterflies and geese fly with determination. And caribou thunder across vast plains. Both illustrations and text capture a sense of movement and purpose, plus a sense of mystery and amazement. This is an "educational book about why animals migrate [and] how they find their way home, and lets you discover the journey along the way," Sandy Philpott, Director of Marketing, Dawn Publications, told TDmonthly. Launch date: March 2010.