Janod has been making toys for 40 years and are well established in their home country, France. They are making a big push into the US this year with their line of attractive wooden toys focused on open-ended play. Here are some of my favorites from the Janod booth as well as other notables from Kid O, Seedling and another newcomer, AppCrayon: More

As I walked the aisles of the Toy Fair this year, I was more aware than ever how dominated the toy industry is by licensed characters. As a self-described toy snob, of course, I hate them. Toys are supposed to be what childhood memories are made of, not marketing propaganda for a mega brand that is already plastered all over your television, kids' clothes, and food. But, oh wait, I love Charlie and Lola, and Huckle and Lowly and plenty of other characters and would barely hesitate to buy a toy with their image. Hmmmnnnn...a chink in my toy snob armor?

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Toy Fair coverage continues! Here is another group of my indie picks: some charming ride-on toys and some great "green" products. More

Despite being a bit of a Debbie Downer in my Toy Fair overview, I did meet some wonderful people and see some great stuff. Here are some of the standouts for me: More

After last year's Toy Fair I hinted that I was becoming a bit of a toy snob, but this year I think it's official. If you've never been, let me paint you a picture of the annual tradeshow: grown men shooting marshmallow guns, remote controlled cars whizzing at your feet, potential buyers perched on stools around new games as if at a Vegas blackjack table and groups of people jockeying to have pictures taken with fully-costumed toy mascots. For most, it's a jovial atmosphere and the one time of the year when the industry insiders are all in one place - scouting each other out, making deals and seeing the larger industry picture. Me, I'm an industry outsider. More

Once again, Green Toys is spinning gold from Rapunzel's hair with their recycled milk jug toys. I made sure to stop and get the scoop at the Toy Fair booth earlier this week and see if they had anything new. And, boy, did they… More

We tell kids to dream big, but dreaming small can be amazing too! In this case, 9-year-old Grey dreamed of using stickers on his plastic play bricks that he could peel off, rearrange and use again. His parents thought, "hey, that's a darn good idea" and they created BrickStix. More

The annual Toy Fair at the Javits Center in New York has all the heavy hitters in the industry like Hasbro, Mattel and LEGO, but Ohdeedoh is a friend to the little guy (and gal). We're not toy snobs (okay, maybe a little) but we'd rather use this space to share finds with parents that are unique, special or harder to locate. Here are a few items that caught my eye as I staved off hunger and blisters walking the aisles of Toy Fair yesterday.
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One of the highlights of Toy Fair for us was chatting with MishiDesign about their line of toys that adapt and grow with your child. This concept can be gimmicky unless it's done really well and we think these pieces have been well thought-out and beautifully executed. This Italian company has been around for a few years and their products will be widely available in the US in June. More

We've always liked that the Learning Tower helped get more kids (safely) up to the level of kitchen counters or other tables to observe and help their parents with baking, cooking or playing in the sink. But if you live in a small space you likely can't invest in a piece of furniture with this singular use. So we were happy to notice at the recent Toy Fair that there are now add-ons for it including an art easel and playhouse kit. More