July 2011 Notable Toys — All

Enjoy lots of games with Dora and friends. Each tin consists of a color game board printed on the inside of the tin, an activity book with 5 additional play scenes and 2 sheets of magnets.

Follow Barbie on her shopping adventures to all of the best boutiques with her friends in this 16-page sticker book. Each starter pack comes with one collector’s book and a pack of numbered stickers to place inside. There are 7 mystery sticker packs to find to complete the collection, and plenty of places to showcase designs as well. Each blind pack of stickers includes a 3-D water sticker, plus a combination of epoxy, foil, puffy and glitter stickers. There are 224 stickers to collect in all. Additional refill packs available and are sold separately. "This is a new, girly twist on the old baseball card collecting concept. Girls have to collect the additional sticker packs to finish their books. If they get duplicate stickers, they can trade them with friends for the ones they need to complete their StickerZine," Sarah Malchow, PR Manager at Fashion Angels Enterprises, told TDmonthly. Launch date: 2011.

Follow Barbie on her shopping adventures to all of the best boutiques with her friends in this 16-page sticker book. Each starter pack comes with one collector’s book and a pack of numbered stickers for you to place inside. There are 7 mystery sticker packs to find to complete your collection, and plenty of places for you to showcase your designs as well. Each blind pack of stickers includes a 3-D water sticker, plus a combination of epoxy, foil, puffy and glitter stickers. There are 224 stickers to collect in all. Additional refill packs available and are sold separately. Launch date: July 2011.

Barbie and fashion are made to go together. Style and design clothing, accessory and beauty looks for Barbie with the Fashion Design Super Sketch Portfolio! Use the removable plastic stencils to trace the perfect clothing, accessories, and hair and make up looks. The instructions provide tips and inspiration on how to color, shade, and add details to make each outfit perfect for Barbie. Finish off and embellish your beautiful designs with the stickers included in the large spiral bound portfolio book. This sketch portfolio includes 40 Barbie formatted sketch pages featuring 5 different scenes, 4 removable plastic stencil sheets with 162 stencil designs, 164 stickers, and instructions. Launch date: 2011.

Barbie® enjoys pampering herself with a day at the spa. Create a spa atmosphere and a line of beauty products to go with it at home using this Make Your Own Natural Beauty Products kit. Create sweet smelling body lotions, soaps, lip balms, and more with helpful hints and recipes from the full-color guide book. Finish off products with the prefect packaging by using the gift tags, stickers, containers and pink raffia. The best part of all: the recipes use ingredients found at a grocery store or home so they are totally natural and safe to use. This kit includes beeswax, 2 cosmetic tins, 2 bottles, 56 stickers, 16 gift tags, pink raffia, 16 recipe cards, and a guide book filled with recipes, beauty tips, ideas and more. "Young fashionistas love to experiment with make-up and what better way than with one of their favorite beauty icons, Barbie! They can customize Barbie's make-up using real tools and make-up items on the sketch sheets. The design guide is great for beginners to learn about how to apply make-up properly too," Sarah Malchow, PR Manager at Fashion Angels Enterprises, told TDmonthly. Launch date: 2011.

There are so many fun things to do in the Costume Club Treehouse. Play on the tube slide. Have a turn on the tire swing. Gaze through the swivel telescope. Share a cup of tea with a friend, or take a snooze on the comfy bunk beds. Paddywhack Lane® Costume Club Treehouse can be Combined with the Costumed Kids Figures & Accessories. INCLUDES: Tube Slide, Tire Swing, Table & Chairs, Swivel Telescope, Bunk Beds, Fleece Pillows, Gingham Sheets, Circular Area Rug.
Awards: TDmonthly Top Toy Award, August 2011.
— Why it won: This play set for adorable child figures is high-quality and stimulates imaginative play in girls and boys.

Fun and easy to sew, colorful wool felt is perfect for making your own fuzzy caterpillars, dragonflies, ladybugs and more! With easy to follow tips and lots of examples for inspiration, use craft thread, beautiful ribbon and beads to make wings, eyes and antennae.  Make up to 7 creepy-crawly bugs! Two bonus projects in every kit! Turn the box into a mailbox, birdhouse or special treasure box. The inner tray is perfect for framing your art. Ages 8 and up
Awards: 2015 TDmonthly Magazine Top Toy Award; 2010 NAMTA (National Art Materials Trade Association) Best New Kids' Product

The P'kolino Book Buggee is a fun way to make books a part of everyday play. This fun-loving friend helps introduce and develop a playful bond with books through the self-directed acts of selecting, loading and pulling books. This incorporation of books into play nurtures a child's love for books. "In addition to the P'kolino Book Buggee being super cute, it is easy to use. Specially designed book holders make loading and unloading a snap, while the extra "head" room provides plenty of space for other treasures. See how much you can fit into your Book Buggee, its quality wood construction can carry the load," J.B. Schneider of P'kolino told TDmonthy. Launch date: June 2011.

Encourages creative problem solving and more. Develop a child's ability to creatively solve challenges with this Multi-Solution Puzzle. Offered in a variety of designs, these easy to use puzzles challenge children 2 years and older to come up with creative alternatives. "With as many solutions as a child can imagine, these puzzles hold their attention longer than the standard one-and-done puzzles," J.B. Schneider of P'Kolino told TDmonthly. Launch date: October 2010.
Awards: 2010 Parents' 55 Best Toys

Encourages creative problem solving and more. Develop a child's ability to creatively solve challenges with this Multi-Solution Puzzle. Offered in a variety of designs, these easy to use puzzles challenge children 2 years and older to come with creative alternatives. "With as many solutions as a child can imagine these puzzles hold their attention longer than the standard one-and-done puzzle," J.B. Schneider of P'Kolino told TDmonthly. Launch date: October 2010.
Awards: 2010 Parents' 55 Best Toys

It’s Tu Bishvat. Grover, Brosh and Avigail get back to nature as they learn how to plant trees and make the world a better place. Launch date: January 2011.

It’s time to celebrate Chanukah in Israel. Grover’s bringing the latkes and all is well until Anneliese gets caught in a game of tag with a chicken and loses her special menorah. Can her Muppet friends find the missing menorah in time to celebrate Chanukah? Launch date: October 2010.

Join Grover the blue monster and his new pal, Anneliese van der Pol, as they begin to explore the beautiful land of Israel. It’s an adventure they’ll never forget — full of fun, friends and flying falafel. Launch date: October 2010.

Shalom Sesame is a brand new series of 12 episodes from the creators of Sesame Street starring the loveable Sesame Street cast of furry pals, new friends from Israel and celebrities. Each episode introduces Jewish holidays, traditions and culture to viewers of all ages. Join Grover as he explores Israel, its people and places, and learns new things. Launch date: October 2011.

Take the Lalaloopsy dolls on a day of imagination and fun! Each tin consists of 2 characters printed on the tin, activity card to be used on the tin and 1 sheet of magnets.

Each corner of this table has an entire interactive learning center with lights and a friendly character who invites baby to play, encouraging movement and exploration all around the table. Baby can learn letters, numbers, counting, first words, colors, shapes, opposites, animals and much more - in English and Spanish. Musical fun includes sing-along songs, tunes, real instrument sounds and a variety of music styles. Requires 3 AA batteries (not included).

BeyBlade tops are spinning battle tops (also called Beys). Their design features five separate components, which can all be customized for unique performance. Hundreds of combinations are possible, each creating a distinct battle style. With the pull of the ripcord, the tops can be launched into battle. The last top standing wins. Top includes Face Bolt, Energy Ring: L-Drago, Fusion Wheel: Lightning, Spin Track: 100 and Performance Tip.

Designing a wardrobe for Barbie® has never been easier. This Barbie® Fashion Design Artist Tote features the Compact Fashion Design Sketch Portfolio and markers. Simply use the removable plastic stencils and markers to trace the most glamorous collection of clothing and accessories for Barbie®. The instructions provide tips and inspiration on how to color, shade, and add details to make each outfit perfect for Barbie®. Finish off and embellish the designs with the foil stickers included in the spiral bound portfolio book. When you’re done designing you can carry all your designs around in the stylish Barbie® shoulder tote. This kit includes the shoulder tote, 10 markers and the Barbie® Compact Fashion Design Sketch Portfolio featuring 40 sketch pages, 4 removable plastic stencil sheets with 52 stencil designs, 77 foil stickers, and instructions. Launch date: 2011.

In this game, the players are prep cooks in a Pizza Shop and have to help Chef fill the pizza orders coming in while keeping an eye on how hot the oven is getting. Players don't want to burn any pizzas. Often one player on a turn will set up the next player for a good move. Next time round, they may get help from someone else. That's the fun of co-oper­ative play. It allows different ages to play together. Comes with three levels of play- The red dot game is for beginners and young players. Add the green dot cards for a tougher game. Add the yellow dot cards for the most challenging version. Includes 36 Cards, consisting of 6 Pizza Orders, 5 Ovens, 25 Ingredients and Rules.

Illuminate your message with Shains Glow in the Dark key clips. Come in flower and heart shapes. Shains Key Clips allow individuals to express themselves through letter and icon elements that easily attach through the holes. "What sets these apart is the ability to change your message whenever you want and the ability to mix, match and combine various Shains products to create new cool looks," Chris Ohama from Shainware told TDmonthly. Launch Date: Summer 2011.

Based on the popular website (ranked in the Top 10 comedy websites by CNN), Awkward Family Photos combined classic and never-before-seen Awkward Family Photos with open-ended questions to inspire laughter and creative discussion among players. 4-6 players.

KATATU, which means ‘three’, is a unique abstract strategy board game, very rich in history, that takes its roots from a 3000 year old game that was played originally in Italy and Egypt and eventually made its way to Southern Africa. KATATU is adapted from this ancient game that has never before been available in a packaged form to the Western part of the world until now. Very easy to learn, but hard to master, KATATU can take some surprising twists and plays in about 15 minutes. Ages 5 and up. Where Tic-Tac-Toe leaves off, KATATU picks up.
Awards: 2012 Game of the Year and 2012 Preferred Choice Award from Creative Play Magazine; 2012 Seal of Approval National Parenting Center; Dr. Toy 2012 winner Best New Products; 2011 Preferred Choice Award Creative Child Magazine; TDmonthly Magazine Staff Pick August 2011

From the creator of the popular Uglydoll Plush figures, David Horvath has created another lovable character, Bossy Bear, based on the titled character from David's children's book. This new "monster" version evolves the classic Bossy Bear into the world of kaiju or monsters like Godzilla and Gamera. Available in a case pack with two different versions - classic Blue and Cutie Stomp Pink Editions and includes variant expression editions. Launch date: July 2011.

This nonfiction series encourages kids' historical exploration and discovery. With detailed reconstructions, original artworks, and source material from each period, plus reading lists, and resources for further study, this series is a comprehensive introduction to the history that shaped America. "It's history in action with dynamic full-bleed spreads featuring historical objects, cutaway illustrations, scenes from daily life, and accessible age-appropriate text," Marina Cambareri, Marketing Manager at Kingfisher, told TDmonthly. Launch date: June 2011.