Talking Baseball…

Not sure what to do tonight without the World Series…sleep might be a good idea!  All of this baseball reminded me of one our Platinum Award winners, Testing the Ice, A True Story About Jackie Robinson written by his daughter Sharon (published by Scholastic) . Read our review.

Really? …Star Wars Death Star for Babies

I love Star Wars…and if you’ve noticed, Star Wars toys often find their way to our award list even though technically they violate our “no violent or aggressive toy” rules.  It’s fantasy after all.

However, I have to draw the line at a board book  – marketed to babies and toddlers – STAR WARS Spaceships (Scholastic).  What could this possibly mean to children under the age of two?  Is knowing and naming the different parts of the Imperial fleet important?  How about more basic knowing and naming concepts like cup or banana?

Most outrageous really is the last page…here’s one you certainly will want to share with your baby on your lap….Let’s all say it together…

“Death Star ….This spaceship has a dangerous laser. BOOM!”

I certainly get mass merchandising as a concept…but this one goes too far.

Pure silliness!: Klutz’s Invasion of the Bristlebots

This time of the year with all of the toys pouring in for review, it takes a really unique product to make me laugh out loud!  I just took a look at Klut’z new toy/book – Invasion of the Bristlebots.  Imagine an oversized head of a tooth brush–attach a motor– and then imagine that someone thought of lots of silly things you could do with two of these little creations.  You can paint, you can add cut outs, you can race…you get the idea.  We have not gotten a safety certificate yet on the toy portion of this toy…but I wanted to share.

Our favorite dogs…

Now that Bo has happily arrived at the White House…here are some of favorite toy dogs just in case bringing home the real thing isn’t in the cards…

Biscuit was on our Platinum List last year and still keeps us company in the office.  He’s extremely sweet but still pretty pricey.

New for Spring, from the same Furreal line is a smaller and much more affordable Lil’ Patter Pup.  If  the Gabor sisters were going to have a  toy dog, this would be it…of course that dates me…so if you’re Paris Hilton…you get the idea. There is a Shih-Tsu and a Pomeranian…both bark and unlike Biscuit, they do walk!  At $29.99 they are  a good buy.

We also still love Lucky–who is bigger than Lil’ Patter Pup and does many of the same tricks as Biscuit. Lucky is from Zizzle.

And if a low tech pup will do the trick, we love the new Spot from Kids Preferred. This oversized delicious doll is $29.99.

And if you’re looking for a great book on dogs…I’m biased but I highly recommend my mom’s Have You Seen Dogs?