November 2010 New Specialty Toys — Books

Written by Nora Gaydos and illustrated by Akemi Gutierre, these two companion books are sure to help both parents and new siblings face the challenges and changes that come with having a new baby brother or sister. The text is simple and straightforward and the illustrations are whimsical and endearing. This is the perfect book for the sibling with a new baby brother or sister.
Awards:  2010 NAPPA Honors Award.

Ten chunky little books, each with a very short rhyming story about the featured creature. These are non-fiction books for babies--young science books with each of the animals shown in their habitat. Illustrations show a parent and baby pair. The set includes a mini book about an alligator, elephant, giraffe, kangaroo, koala, lion, monkey, panda, penguin, or turtle. Made of recycled materials they have a craft brown eco look that goes along with the subject matter. Each small book will easily fit in a little hand and their thick pages are easy to turn for solo ‘reading.’ The sturdy tall box has a handle so toddlers can carry their library from room to room. Their Little Learning Books tower is also nice and includes small books about colors, shapes, opposites, and other basics. Good for talking as well as independent reading.
Awards:  2010 Oppenheim Toy Portfolio Gold Seal.

There are four different storybooks and four matching plush animals in this series. Each storybook tells a story about the featured animal -- where it lives and how.  These are little science books told in simple fashion with clear illustrations. Each is packaged with a small huggable plush animal that fits in a little hand. There's one about Little Gorilla, Little Polar Bear, Little Elephant, and Little Panda. You can't go wrong with any of them.
Awards:  2010 Oppenheim Toy Portfolio Gold Seal.

This guide to the guts-and-glory of G.I. Joe identifies every figure with all its weapons and gear, every vehicle with all the easy-to-lose pieces and every accessory related to Hasbro's stellar team of soldiers. Use it to expand your knowledge about Joe and the team, or Cobra and his cronies, and to identify and assess the value of any of the series' 350 action figures and 240 vehicles and accessories.

Filled with super rad toys and bodacious memories, Totally Tubular '80s Toys is a righteous ride back in time when Madonna ruled and Spinal Tap amplifiers went to 11. You'll find everything from He-Man to Cabbage Patch Kids, Trivial Pursuit to Rubik's Cube, Transformers to Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, and Pac-Man to Mario Bros Donkey Kong-as well as lots of fun and smiles.  Featuring color photos featuring more than 500 fabulous toys and period shots of the people who made the decade gnarly, and lists of the top 10 TV shoes, movies, and music for each year.

So what’s the appeal of football? And how does the sport work? All the answers can be found in How Football Works. It's an examination of the players, the plays, the legends, and the science behind this powerful sport.  From the way the body initiates a tackle to a behind-the-scenes look at how an NFL team prepares for its weekly game, How Football Works presents the facts, drama, and one-of-a-kind anecdotes that make football such a popular sport.  Paperback: 64 pages.

In this second book of the Stone of Tymora trilogy, R.A. Salvatore and his son Geno continue their gripping tale of coming-of-age in a world filled with magic, featuring a cameo of R.A. Salvatore's signature character Drizzt Do'Urden.

Here is the fast-paced conclusion to the Stone of Tymora fantasy trilogy for young adults, by R.A. Salvatore and his son, Geno Salvatore.  The Sentinels includes a cameo appearance by Drizzt Do'Urden, the Dark Elf who has been featured in seventeen of Salvatore's books and is the most popular Dungeons and Dragons character.

This book is written in the style of a travel journal and offers a different slant on Monet’s life and art. It is filled with unusual stories and facts students might not know. A visually stimulating book with 35 engaging activities for students. 32 pages,
hardcover.

The OrganWise Guys provide a comprehensive program to teach kids about nutrition and promote a healthy lifestyle. By making friends with the OrganWise Guys, kids learn all about healthy habits for life. The Back to School Kit includes: School Days Here We Come Book, Keeping the Beat Music CD, Monthly Healthy Behavior Tracking Calendar, Breakfast Skippin' Blues DVD and Sir Rebrum Plush Toy.
— Katleen from Life With 4 Boys reports that the kit “has gone a long way towards helping all four of my boys the different things they need to do each day to stay healthy and grow up strong.” Katleen added: “My youngest is in love with the music CD and his favorite is the ‘That's How You Exercise’ song. I still catch my oldest reading the book to the younger ones every so often.”
— “My girls really rocked along with the CD included in this kit and as a parent I liked the healthy behavior tracking calendar,” explained Chris, Dad of Divas. Overall, he liked that “The kit was a great combination of many forms of reinforcement to consider living healthy as well as making good choices.”

Bobbie Hinman continues her fairy series with this tale explaining what happens to missing socks. With illustrations by Kristi Bridgeman, The Sock Fairy book and accompanying CD tell how the Sock Fairy spirits away lost or mismatched socks.
— A Whole New Me’s Marta called the book “a delight from beginning to end. The rhyming sing-song story and the magical illustrations make this fun for parent and child alike.”
— Bianca Schulze from The Children’s Book Review applauded the rhythm of the book and CD for being “easy and flowing for young listeners and beginner readers alike.” She concluded that “This is a suitable book for both boys and girls and for anyone who appreciates rhyme or just likes to have a giggle.”

Written by Karen Phillips as a fun, inspiring journal to celebrate the lives of tween-aged girls, My [Not So] Perfect Life invites a young lady to overcome the blank page. It is filled with fun, often humorous writing prompts in a 'fill in the blank' style. The journal contains prompts about parents, friends, school, love, destiny, and many other subjects, and is written in a smart, funny voice sure to make any girl feel great about herself. The book comes with a sparkly pencil that fits in the elastic holster right beside the pages to keep it always handy.
— “A lot of Klutz sells really well for the with the tweens,” said Kristie Lash, manager of Leapin' Lizards Toy Company in Bend, Ore., in September 2010.
— “Anything in the Klutz line … is a good standard  seller,” said Terri Soelter, owner of Teri's Toy Box in Edmonds, Wash., of her best sellers for tweens during a September 2010 survey of 44 retailers.
— “I find them a boost for self image and promote them that way,” remarked Joe Berardoni, owner of Pun's Toy Shop in Bryn Mawr, Pa., of what makes Klutz books a best seller for tweens in his store.

Writer Susan Reed and illustrator Rachel Oldfield bring to life three kids’ aerial adventure via hot air balloon in Up, Up, Up! from Barefoot Books. This hardcover edition of the book includes a sing-along CD with Up, Up, Up! sung by Susan Reed.
— “Everything is so cheery and happy and the color scheme is wonderful,” raved Jody from Simply Stacie.  She found the sing-along CD to be a nice change from just reading a book since “you can’t help but tap your toes and clap your hands” along with Susan Reed’s “very catchy tune.”
— Up, Up, Up! was a big hit with Melissa and her daughter at Mommy Living the Life of Riley:  “As with all Barefoot Books, the illustrations are hard to look away from.  The pictures are so lively, colorful and interesting that you just want to delve further and further into the book to see what happens next.”

Snoozles, Zeez and Dozie take kids on an adventure to The House of Snooze in Shushybye: Sleepover Surprise from author Steve Syatt and illustrator Frank Caruso. The book comes with an audio CD containing the full story and three original Shushybye songs.
— Larry H. from CakeBlast  struggled at bedtime with his son, River, “but Shushybye is making a difference. River looks forward to Shushybye Sleepover Surprise at night” because “The story is imaginative, the characters are memorable, and the songs are exemplary.”
— According to Kathryn of Mommy Kat and Kids,  “Sleepover Surprise shows an incredible attention to child-friendly details. The lyrics to the brand-new song, Shushybye Blues, are included on the final page of the book so that children can sing along and the colorful cover of the book glows in the dark.” Kathryn said that after reading the book, “The music was the perfect way to settle down at the end of the day, and, sure enough, both boys were asleep about fifteen minutes after laying down.”

Fabulous Franko and his Fabulous Toys is a beautifully illustrated children's book about a fabulous little guy called Franko and his fabulous adventures, in six stanzas of rhyming verse. "Illustrations that are wildly creative and whimsical combined with rhyming verse," Randy Compton, CEO of Think-a-lot Toys, told TDmonthly.

This new Teach Me Tiger Value Pac includes: A Teach Me Tiger learning, play, and sing along CD in a standard size jewel case with a four-panel, full-colored insert, an 8” by 8” 20-page, full color Teach Me Tiger story book, featuring Teach Me Tiger, BooWoo (The Magic Doggie), and Stanley, Lester, and Fred, the little friendly monsters under Teach Me Tiger’s bed, and a Teach Me Tiger, high quality “Kazoobie,” play along kazoo.
Awards: Dr. Toy 100 Best Children's Products - 2010

This is a 30-minute interactive DVD and activity book. Children will enjoy the animated characters, Otto, Blink, and Casey on their adventures as they visit all the real sights and sounds of New York City, while singing along to original music and
learning age appropriate concepts and themes. Each DVD comes packaged with a 36-page activity book that gives parents and children creative ideas on how to explore New York City together and enrich their experience.
Awards: Dr. Toy 100 Best Children's Products - 2010

The JTB Mini Concept Boxes include a careful selection of diverse eco-friendly toys, books and games pre-packaged to teach specific concepts to young children through play, emphasizing health, the body, good eating habits, art and music, geography and travel, personal safety, and sustainable architecture. The MINI Moody Foodie Box includes the classic Eating the Alphabet book by Lois Elhert, a fruit and veggie set made of renewable rubberwood, a USA made utensil and pots puzzles, USA made sensory dough, a USA made waiter costume for role play fun, and USA
made lace and trace food stencils for developing fine motor skills.
Awards: Dr. Toy 100 Best Children's Products - 2010

T’was the Night Before the Storm, A Katrina Story for Kids, is a new 62-page book telling one’ child’s story of the hurricane and flooding that devastated New Orleans and the surrounding cities in August 2005. Told in a familiar rhyme, the 29 verses describe the events in a child’s language. It deals with how parents coped with the evacuation from the city and the rebuilding of their homes. It is an instructive and informative way to acquaint children with the difficulties presented by a catastrophic event.
Awards: Dr. Toy 100 Best Children's Products - 2010

Each book includes a variety of write-on/wipe-off and magnetic activities designed to reward curiosity and spark an excitement for learning. Contains an 8” x 12” portrait, 24 pages of self-ends, 35 magnetic play pieces, and 1 write and wipe marker. Jump Into Numbers focuses on early number skills. The book is filled with activities that build a child’s understanding of the relationship between real objects and abstract
numbers, and how numbers are used to represent math facts.
Awards: Dr. Toy 100 Best Children's Products - 2010

Add excitement to story time with this new Interactive Story Buddy and book –cuddle up with your child and watch the fun begin as Jingle comes to life when you read his story aloud. Press the left ear on Jingle and begin reading—Jingle barks, whimpers, and even sings when certain corresponding lines are read.
Awards: Dr. Toy 100 Best Children's Products - 2010

Read a story to your little one even when you can’t be there. This unique storybook plays back your voice as the child turns each page. The beautiful, all-new illustrations with a classic feel and the dedication page make this book a keepsake to be treasured for years to come.
Awards: Dr. Toy 100 Best Children's Products - 2010

Going Blue vividly presents facts and statistics about Earth’s oceans and waterways and information about the issues surrounding our current water crisis. Readers will find a wealth of strategies and examples that help them see themselves as change agents and move forward to complete an effective service project. The book is divided into the five stages of service learning: investigate, prepare, act, reflect, and demonstrate. With the aid of lively photos and illustrations, along with practical suggestions and activities, teens plan and do meaningful service learning projects that benefit our planet’s water system.
Awards: Dr. Toy 100 Best Children's Products - 2010

Racing has never been furrier than in Hot Rod Hamster by author Cynthia Lord and illustrator Derek Anderson. The rhythmic text tells the story of an enthusiastic hamster as he works to build his own racing machine and show off his lead foot. The beautiful illustrations bring to life sizzling hot rods and the hamster’s adorable animal friends.
— At Jama Rattigan’s Alphabet Soup, Jama was positively ecstatic over the main character of Hot Rod Hamster, who “oozes personality and kid appeal from every pore.” Jama especially liked the fact that the “characters talk in speech balloons, which keep the narrative humming along like a finely tuned, well-oiled machine.”
— Middle-school librarians Lynn Rutan and Cindy Dobrez of Bookends praised “Lord’s child-centered fun text and Anderson’s perfectly jaunty illustrations.” “This big picture book with its bright colors and bold shapes has our focus group’s name written all over it. Hamsters, race cars, building stuff — I knew they would love this and I wasn’t wrong,” stated Lynn.