May 2009 New Specialty Toys — Construction

Based on the sizes and shapes of standard unit blocks, these blocks feature hand-scrolled and turned detailing that turns block towers into buildings with archways, buttresses and columns. These blocks are smooth-sanded hardwood with a natural finish, and come packed in a wooden crate for storage. The set contains 44 pieces in 11 shapes. 
― “Wooden blocks by Melissa & Doug” are best-selling wooden toys, Marianne Kearns, owner of Second Star to the Right in Bridgehampton, N.Y., told TDmonthly in January 2009. She said she sells an average of eight sets per month.

Made in the United States from sustainable basswood grown in Michigan, Uncle Goose's Nursery Rhyme Blocks give a whimsical twist to standard block play. The set of nine 1 1/3” cube-shaped blocks are embossed and painted with classic children's nursery rhymes. Two sides feature scenes in silhouette, while the other four feature the words to the rhyme itself, encouraging early reading and memory skills. Rhymes included with Set A are “Little Jack Horner,” “Three Little Kittens,” “Mary, Mary, Quite Contrary,” “Old Mother Hubbard,” “Humpty Dumpty,” “Diddle Diddle Dumpling,” “Little Boy Blue,” “Baa, Baa, Black Sheep” and “Old King Cole.” 
― “I'd say blocks, and the manufacturer is Uncle Goose,” Rebecca Pfeil, owner of Timeless Toys in Homer, Alaska, told TDmonthly about best-selling wooden items.
― Sandra Bartholomew, owner of Wingdoodle in Warner, N.H., told TDmonthly her best-selling wooden toy is “wood blocks, the basic kind.”
― Ten percent of 56 retailers said blocks were a top-selling wood item in early 2009.