toys | DVDs | music | books | games | Stories
Use this handy list to find the perfect gifts for all of the children in your life.
Toys
Each year, toy manufacturers present a new wave of products that make us think, laugh and explore. This year we saw a number of notable trends. One of the most pervasive and challenging for manufacturers is “kids getting older younger” (KGOY), in which children age out of toys much earlier than in the past. Another major shift is the emergence of products that encourage higher-level thinking.
In addition, the prevalence of childhood obesity has motivated manufacturers to develop toys that encourage active fun. “Smart toys” are thriving, with players increasingly interacting with high-tech toys that almost seem alive.
For Infants & Toddlers
Brightlings Exploration Station
LeapFrog, $39.99; ages 6 months and up; www.leapfrog.com.
Spin & Sing Alphabet Zoo
LeapFrog, $19.99; ages 6 months and up; www.leapfrog.com.
Ultimate Family Wagon,
Radio Flyer, $179.99; ages 18 months and up; www.radioflyer.com.
For Preschoolers
Candy Land Castle
Hasbro, $19.99; ages 3 and up; www.hasbro.com.
Crocodile Stage Puppet
Folkmanis Puppets, $18; ages 3 and up; www.folkmanis.com.
Mighty World ConstructionSite
International Playthings, $19.99; ages 4 and up; www.intplay.com.
Moon Sand Adventure Island
Spin Master, $24.99; ages 3 and up; www.spin
master.com.
Smart Cycle
Fisher-Price, $99.99; ages 3 and up; www.fisher-price.com.
Squawkers McCaw the FurReal Friends Parrot
Hasbro, $69.99; ages 4 and up; www.hasbro.com.
For Ages 5 & Up
Karito Kids – Gia, Lulu, Zoe, Wan Ling and Pita Dolls with Books
KidsGive, $99.99 each; ages 6 and up; www.KidsGive.com.
Rubik’s Revolution
Techno Source, $19.99; ages 5 and up; www.rubiksrevolution.com.
Safety Brainiac – Junior Edition
Brainiac Games, $29.99; ages 5 and up; www.safetybrainiac.com.
ShapeScapes
Remarkable Toys, $33; ages 6 and up; www.shapescapes.com.
For Ages 8 & Up
ArtLab Clay Studio
SmartLab Toys, $19.99; ages 7 and up; www.smartlabtoys.com.
Lonpos 303 Pyramid and Rectangle Game
Mic-O-Mic Americas, $24.99; ages 8 and up; www.micamericas.com.
Princesa Quinceañera
Brass Key, $24.99; ages 5 and up; www.brass-key.com.
RC Snap Rover
Elenco Electronics, $74.95; ages 8 and up; www.elenco.com.
Young Naturalist’s Backpack Kit
Home Science Tools, $89.95; ages 8 and up; www.hometrainingtools.com.
DVDs
This year, more than most, there is an astonishing amount of excellent programming available for children and families. This made selecting the Gold Awardwinning DVDs an enormous challenge. Check out these fine titles. You’re in for a real treat.
For Infants & Toddlers
Baby Einstein: My First Signs
27 min., $19.99, http://disneyvideos.disney.go.com.
Classical Baby 3-Pack: Music, Art & Dance,
90 min., $26.95, http://store.hbo.com.
Phonics 4 Babies: Baby’s First Words,
60 min., $14.98, www.anchorbayentertainment.com.
Way to Go
Juno, 40 min., $20, www.junobaby.com.
For Preschoolers & Up
Angelina Ballerina: Angelina Follows Her Dreams
63 min., $14.98, www.hitshopusa.com.
Caillou’s Playschool Adventures
90 min., $14.99, www.paramount.com.
Disney’s Little Einsteins: Legend of the Golden Pyramid
72 min., $19.99, http://disneyvideos.disney.go.com.
Maggie and the Ferocious Beast: Somewhere in Nowhere Land
45 min., $14.99, www.shoutfactory.com.
For Ages 5 & Up
Arthur and the Invisibles
94 min., $28.95, www.geniusproducts.com.
Eloise Goes to School
45 min., $14.98, www.anchorbayentertainment.com.
Gustafer Yellowgold’s Wide Wild World
30 min., $15, www.gustaferyellowgold.com.
Suzi Shelton Live at Southpaw
45 min., $20, www.suzishelton.com.
For Ages 8 & Up
Flight 29 Down: Vol. 1
80 min., $14.95, www.geniusproducts.com.
Going to School in India
76 min., $29.95, www.master-comm.com.
Hannah Montana: Pop Star Profile
92 min., $19.99, http://disneyvideos.disney.go.com.
Music
Once again, NAPPA’s Gold Award-winning music CDs offer an entertaining batch of selections for your family’s listening pleasure.
Lullabies
Baby Loves Jazz: Greatest Hits Volumes 1 & 2
various artists, $16.99, www.babylovesmusic.com.
Dream, Mae Robertson
$15, www.maerobertson.com.
Siente: Night Songs from Around the World
Hilary Field & Patrice O’Neill, $15.99, www.yellowtailrecords.com.
For Toddlers & Up
Exercise Party: Stretchin’ and Jumpin’ Songs for Young Children
various artists, $7.99, www.casablancakids.com.
Go Team Baby!
Joe McDermott, $12.98, www.teambabyentertainment.com.
Putumayo Kids Presents Animal
Playground: Playful Tracks From Around The World
various artists, $14.98, www.putumayo.com.
For Preschoolers & Up
I Like Being Me!
Lanny Sherwin, $12.98, www.dreamwithmetonight.com.
I Wanna Play: Songs by Bill Harley
Bill Harley, $15, www.billharley.com.
My Green Kite
Peter Himmelman, $14.98, www.rounder.com.
Never Mind the Rain
Tracey Eldridge, $15, www.traceyeldridge.com.
Play!
Milkshake, $14.99, www.milkshakemusic.com.
For Ages 9 & Up
Mommy Says No!
Asylum Street Spankers, $12.49, www.yellowdogrecords.com.
The Movement
The Figureheads, $16, www.kiddopublishing.com.
The Power of One
Patricia Shih, $15, www.patriciashih.com.
Books
There’s something exciting for everyone on this year’s list of NAPPA Gold winners. These standouts include books for the musically inclined, reluctant readers, family read-alouds and kids who like super-serious or silly reading.
For Infants & Toddlers
Amazing Baby: Clap and Sing!
by Emma Dodd and Mike Jolley, $12.95.
Farm Fun!
from Little, Brown/ALEX, $7.99.
Global Babies
by the Global Fund for Children, $6.95.
Little Scholastic: Peek-A-Zoo
from Scholastic, $10.99.
Wow Babies: First Words
by Wow Worldwide, $6.99.
For Preschoolers & Kindergartners
Am I a Color Too?
by Heidi Cole and Nancy
Vogl, illustrated by Gerald Purnell, $15.95.
Brewster the Rooster
by Devin Scillian, illustrated by Lee White, $16.95.
Bye-Bye, Big Bad Bullybug!
by Ed Emberley, $10.99.
How to Be a Baby . . . by Me, the Big Sister
by Sally Lloyd-Jones, illustrated by Sue Heap, $15.99.
Today I Will Fly! — An Elephant and Piggie Book
by Mo Willems, $8.99.
Wolf! Wolf!
by John Rocco, $15.99.
For Ages 6 & Up
Ain’t Nobody a Stranger to Me
by Ann Grifalconi, illustrated by Jerry Pinkney, $16.99.
The Great Smelly, Slobbery, Small-Tooth Dog: A Folktale from Great Britain
by Margaret Read MacDonald, illustrated by Julie Paschkis, $16.95.
Library Mouse
by Daniel Kirk, $15.95.
One Thousand Tracings: Healing the Wounds of World War II
by Lita Judge, $15.99.
365 Penguins
by Jean-Luc Fromental and
Joëlle Jolivet, $17.95.
For Ages 9 & Up
Diary of a Wimpy Kid
by Jeff Kinney, $12.95.
Fred & Anthony Escape from the Netherworld by Elise Primavera, illustrated
by Esile Arevamirp, $14.99/$4.99 (paperback).
Middle School Is Worse than Meatloaf: A Year Told Through Stuff
by Jennifer L. Holm, illustrated by Elicia Castaldi, $12.99.
The Mysterious Benedict Society
by Trenton Lee Stewart, illustrated by Carson Ellis, $16.99.
The Name of This Book Is Secret
by Pseudonymous Bosch, $16.99.
Night of the Howling Dogs
by Graham Salisbury, $16.99.
This Is My Planet: The Kids’ Guide to Global Warming
by Jan Thornhill, $21.95/$10.95 (paperback).
What to Do When Your Brain Gets Stuck: A Kid’s
Guide to Overcoming OCD
by Dawn Huebner, illustrated by Bonnie Matthews, $14.95.
For Ages 12 & Up
The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian
by Sherman Alexie, illustrated by Ellen Forney, $16.99.
America Dreaming: How Youth Changed America in the ’60s
by Laban Carrick Hill, $19.99.
The Big Book of Pop Culture: A Howto Guide for Young Artists by Hal Niedzviecki, illustrated
by Marc Ngui, $24.95/$14.95 (paperback).
Blue Lipstick: Concrete Poems
by John Grandits, $15.
The Wednesday Wars
by Gary D. Schmidt, $16.
What in the World!: Wild, Weird and Wonderful Adventures of a Wanderer
by Michael Smith, $19.95.
Yeah! Yeah! Yeah! — The Beatles, Beatlemania and the Music That Changed the World
by Bob Spitz, $18.99.
For the Whole Family
Chihuly Art Kit, Portland Press, $28.
The Encyclopedia of Immaturity
by the editors of Klutz, $19.95.
The Golden Rule
by Ilene Cooper, illustrated by Gabi
Swiatkowska, $16.95.
600 Black Spots
by David A. Carter, $19.99.
Unplugged Play: No Batteries. No Plugs. Pure Fun
by Bobbi Conner, $29.95/$16.95 (paperback).
Software & Video Games
We enlisted 10 “experts” — kids ages 8 to 14 — to help our judges evaluate this year’s entries. We hope your family enjoys these Gold Award winners as much as we did.
For Preschoolers
PEEP and the Big Wide World Web Site
www.peepandthebigwideworld.com, free. Requires Web browser with Flash plug-in.
For Early Elementary Students
Get Puzzled!
for Leapster, www.leapfrog.com, $24.99. Requires LeapFrog’s Leapster.
IKeepSafe.Org
www.ikeepsafe.org, free. Requires Web browser with Flash plug-in.
For Ages 8 & Up
Brain Quest DVD Game
Ages 8 to 10, www.brightermindsmedia.com, $24.95. Requires TV or computer and DVD player.
Frogger 25th and Professor Fizzwizzle
www.konamimobile.com, $5.99. Requires multiple mobile phone services.
For Tweens and Up
Crazy Machines 1.5: More
Gizmos, Gadgets&Whatchamacallits
www.viva-media.com, $19.99. Requires Windows 98, 2000, XP or Vista.
Storytelling
There’s nothing like a good story to cheer you up, calm you down, cause you to think, send a shiver up your spine or spark your imagination.
For Young Children
Five Little Monkeys Jumping on the Bed
Twin Sisters Productions, $10.95, www.twinsisters.com.
Wickety Whack: Brer Rabbit Is Back
Diane Ferlatte, $15, www.dianneferlatte.com.
For Older Children
The Invention of Hugo Cabret
written by Brian Selznick, read by Jeff Woodman, $29.95, ages 9 to 12, www.scholastic.com.
Peter and the Wolf, Magic Maestro Music
$16.98, ages 7 and up, www.MagicMaestroMusic.com.
Family Listening
The Uglified Ducky
Willy Claflin, $14.95, www.willyclaflin.com.
Too Much Hair!
Donald Davis, $14.95, www.augusthouse.com.
For detailed descriptions of the NAPPA Gold Award winners highlighted here, as well as full coverage of the 2006 NAPPA Honors winners, judges’ bios, a downloadable shopping list of these award winning items and more, visit www.NAPPA.Parenthood.com.��