Nap-a-Roo Board Book: It’s time for a nap-a-roo just like the kangaroo. Little ones can’t get enough of this adorable board book. With colorful images and imaginative text, your little one will fall in love with the story. Fast, fun, and engaging, Nap-a-Roo makes sleepy time special for children and parents! This board book makes an excellent gift for new parents and small toddlers. It is a popular product for newborn gift registries.  

One of my favorite books on the market today is Nap-a-Roo baby board book In full disclosure, I am very bias towards this book… Why? Because I wrote it! Nap-a-Roo is my first book published, one of three currently in my Creative Kids Board Book Series.  This board book is short, sweet, and to the point.  Little eyes gravitate towards the bright images and catchy rhyming text.

When writing the book I focused on quick text that is easy to read and say out loud.  It is truly fun to read!  As the author, Kristy Kurjan, I wanted to create a book that parents actually enjoy reading to their children.

The illustrations were created with developing brains in mind…. Think whimsical animals that are quirky and fun loving.  Little ones love the bright colors that seem to jump off the page.  The illustrator, Tyler Parker, focused on simple backgrounds and making the animals have personality. His talent shines through in the images!
Nap-a-Roo board book has won numerous awards including the 2014 Silver Moonbeam Award for Best Board Book, the 2015 Silver IBPA Benjamin Franklin Award for Best Picture Book (0-3), and was named a Finalist in the 9th Annual National Indie Excellence Awards.

Critiques of the book say it is too short however the short nature of the book is by design.  Parents love to read the book because it is short… Thus, if you have to read it ten times, you are still in good spirits when the inevitable 11th request to read again is made.  Nap time routines make mid afternoon naps easier to manage, but they don’t have to be long and drawn out! Short and sweet, that is what Nap-a-Roo offers!

So, yes, I fully recommend Nap-a-Roo baby board book for ages 0-3.  This book makes a great newborn gift as not many people own the book already.  As an independently published book, it is not found on everyone’s book shelf yet, which I think makes it even more special!

All our toys are designed in San Francisco, USA but lovingly hand-crocheted by a team of artisan women in China, mostly mothers and farmers working to provide their families with extra income for basic needs. We provide free training, flexible working hours and fair wage. Toys are tested for highest standards of safety (ASTM and CPSIA). Size: 11" tall. Suitable for kids 3 and up.
Material: 100% Bamboo viscose yarn, Polyfill
Care instruction: Body can be hand washed with mild soap but hair/hat should be spot cleaned. Hang to dry.

By Brooke Hecker, illustrated by Deborah Melmon

One special rite of passage in childhood is the loss of the first baby tooth. For many children it's an exhilarating time, while for others the trauma of the first "gap" is cause for mortification. And the journey of losing those baby teeth is not a speedy one--it lasts for nearly six years!

In Letters From My Tooth Fairy, Natalie and her devoted tooth fairy exchange letters, asking and answering questions about some of childhood's most important moments. From the loss of her first tooth as a first grader to losing her last two baby teeth as a confident eleven-year-old, Natalie's early milestones, including bad school pictures and best friend troubles, are lovingly told through this epistolary relationship.

Readers of all ages--those with baby teeth and those years beyond--will cheer for Natalie as she experiences the highs and lows of this time of life. Energetic, colorful artwork perfectly captures the magic of this toothsome tale, making us all wish for our very own tooth fairy.

Made in United States of America

By Linda Vander Hayden

Illustrated by Kayla Harren

Hannah is feeling just a bit peckish and knows exactly what she wants to eat: an A to Z sandwich on thick whole wheat bread! From avocado to zucchini, Hannah's whims throw Mr. McDougal at the cafe into a sandwich-building frenzy. But what happens when Hannah discovers the towering sandwich isn't quite what she ordered? This messy romp through the alphabet will have readers in fits of giggles from beginning to end.

Who knew that you could make an alphabet sandwich? It might be something to try at home!

Made in United States of America

By Michael Shoulders, Illustrated by Teri Weidner

Mother shares a book about love, while Brother shares a book about friendship. Next Aunt Grace shares a book about adventure. Everyone in this family is eager to share books and have the newest member's affection and attention.

But all kidding aside, this family knows the bond that is created when reading aloud with someone you love. When Daddy closed the last page, he smiled at me for hours and said, 'Say Daddy! Say Daddy!' He hoped that would be my first word! 

Educator Michael Shoulders, who has devoted his career and life to spreading the word that "reading is magic," offers a gentle tale reinforcing the bonding power of a good book and the importance of developing lifelong reading skills. Having been involved in education in many different roles for more than years, Dr. Michael Shoulders travels extensively, visiting schools and speaking conferences across the country. He has written several books for Sleeping Press including D is for Drum: A Native American Alphabet. Mike lives Clarksville, Tennessee. Teri Weidner is a graduate of the Rhode Island School of Design. Her previous children's picture books include Give Yourself to the Rain and Look Both Ways: A Cautionary Tale. Teri lives in Portsmouth, New Hampshire.

Board Books printed in Asia
Made in United States of America

Dimensions: 
7" w x 5" h

Made in United States of America

  Format: Deluxe Edition, NTSC Language: English Subtitles: English, Spanish

 

  Format: Deluxe Edition, NTSC Language: English Subtitles: English, Spanish

Morgan Taylor developed the “musical moving storybook” Gustafer Yellowgold experience as equal parts pop rock concert and hand-drawn cartoon movie.

In Gustafer Yellowgold’s Wisdom Tooth of Wisdom, the sixth offering in the Gustafer Yellowgold series, former Sun-resident Gustafer Yellowgold traverses the woodlands of Minnesota to find the owner of the world's largest and most mysterious molar.

Ten humorous and hand-drawn music videos follow Gustafer through a mind-bending adventure that unfolds in graphic novel fashion with an hilarious but poignant narrative about ownership, humility and the mind's capacity for knowledge.

The story kicks off with a joyous, acoustic jangle about imagination on “Telephone Called” and then travels to a front-row seat at a pterodactyl fashion show in the XTC-meets-Beck style of “It Suits You.” “Smilefield” sees Gustafer trying to resist the magnetic pull of distraction from a soundscape of melodic-pop moodiness that rivals the best of “Bends”-era Radiohead.

Gustafer goes with the flow during an impromptu visit to a grizzly bear dentist’s treetop office in the up-tempo rocker, "I Can't Feel My Face.” The story comes to a zenith in "Wisdom Tooth," which shares the grandest moment of groovy philosophizing in a tune so visual it would make Tim Rice and Andrew Lloyd Webber proud. Every video in Gustafer Yellowgold’s Wisdom Tooth of Wisdom receives the one-of-a-kind Gustafer blend of blissful pop-music, lyrical poignancy and gorgeously drawn cartoon absurdity.

Gustafer Yellowgold’s Wisdom Tooth of Wisdom is the first Gustafer Yellowgold release to be recorded ‘live in the studio’ with an all-new Minneapolis band with John Munson (Semisonic and late ‘80s cult favorite Trip Shakespeare), Ken Chastain (Jonas Brothers, Miley Cyrus) and Tom Scott. Also featured is the horn section of Robert Jost (Bjork, SNL, Sesame Street), Steve Tyska (The Autumn Defense) and Dean Jones (Dog on Fleas).

Bonus features include an in-depth episode of My Yellowgold Life with two segments: “The Tooth Will Set You Free,” presenting an up-close and behind-the-scenes visit with Gustafer’s creator, Morgan Taylor, and “Gustafer Guitar Lessons,” in which Morgan demonstrates his technique and shares tons of fun facts!

1. Telephone Called
2. It Suits You
3. Toothloser
4. Secret Fox
5. Smilefield
6. I Can't Feel My Face
7. Thought Balloon
8. Yawn
9. The Wisdom Tooth
10. We Got The Bite

  Format: Deluxe Edition, NTSC Language: English Subtitles: English, Spanish

Morgan Taylor developed the “musical moving storybook” Gustafer Yellowgold experience as equal parts pop rock concert and hand-drawn cartoon movie. In Gustafer Yellowgold’s Year In The Day, we find former Sun-resident Gustafer Yellowgold enjoying his Minnesota woodland home and experiencing his own unique take on a year’s worth of Earth holidays, both classic and unusual.

Featuring top-tier guest musicians such as John Munson (Semisonic and late ‘80s cult favorite Trip Shakespeare,) Robert DiPietro (Norah Jones) and Robert Jost (Bjork, SNL, Sesame Street), Gustafer Yellowgold’s Year In The Day is the first Gustafer Yellowgold DVD/CD package to feature a focused theme throughout, unfolding in graphic novel fashion and sequentially connecting eleven thought provoking, melodic soft-rock music videos in the inimitable Gustafer Yellowgold style, ranging from sublime alt-pop to gentle acoustic.

These humorous and hand-drawn music videos follow Gustafer through eleven different days of the calendar year. The season kicks off with the crackling, minty optimism of “New Is The New Old,” then moves to some worm’s-eye-view philosophizing with a groundhog in the McCartney-esque “A Shadow.” “Pancake Smackdown” gets a Freddy Mercury-type royal treatment by intertwining a rocking medieval choir with a flurry of frisbeed flapjacks to celebrate Fat Tuesday/Pancake Day. Gustafer spooks himself with an awesome Halloween costume in the howling 1970s guitar-driven exhilaration of “Werewolves Rock,” then settles head first into comfort food heaven in the Tin Pan Alley swing of “Pumpkin Pied.” Many more celebrations receive the one-of-a-kind Gustafer blend of blissful pop-music, lyrical poignancy and gorgeously drawn cartoon absurdity.

Bonus features include an in-depth episode of My Yellowgold Life, “Making of Year In The Day,” where we go up-close and behind the scenes with Gustafer creator, Morgan Taylor, and “Gustafer Guitar Lessons,” in which Morgan demonstrates his technique and shares tons of fun facts!

1. New Is The New Old
2. A Shadow
3. Keep It Simple Sweetheart
4. Pancake Smackdown
5. Four Leaved Clover
6. Eggs
7. Midsummer’s Son
8. Fireworks!
9. Werewolves Rock
10. Pumpkin Pied
11. Fa And A La

  Format: Deluxe Edition, NTSC Language: English Subtitles: English, Spanish

Gustafer Yellowgold’s Mellow Fever is the third in the award-winning series of DVD/CD sets released by Apple-Eye Productions.

Groovy Gustafer Yellowgold has come to Ear th in his Sunpod and landed in Minnesota. He is living out his dream of a cooler existence while making new and interesting friends along the way. Along with a richer look into Gustafer’s former Sun-years, we learn of Slim the eel’s old watery neighborhood within the rolling and climbing acoustic guitars of “Underwater Stars” and lament the loss of some excellent bell-bottoms with Forrest Applecrumbie, the pterodactyl in the thump and jump of “Panther Stamps Pants.” The gang watches as Gustafer learns to put his warm mitts to good use in the acoustic Charleston of “Melter Swelter.” We meet his biggest fan Wincey the ferret between the fan faring french horns of “Sugar Boat,” and tour the world with Sisson the blue worm through the Harry Nilsson-esque romp of “Quite Easily Lost.”

Gustafer Yellowgold’s Mellow Fever has guest-star performances by WILCO’s John Stirratt and Pat Sansone, as well as Lisa Loeb. Each song is accompanied by a series of hand-drawn, minimally animated illustrations set to melodic and catchy tunes ranging from mellow acoustic to crackling-pop.

Since his creation in 2005, Gustafer Yellowgold has become an international phenomenon, acclaimed by the New York Times, which describes it as, “A cross between ‘Yellow Submarine’ and Dr. Seuss.” Enter tainment Weekly praised “…The most infectious original songs. It’s like tapping into some pleasure center in the brain- both adult and kid…absurdly appealing. Grade: A.” New York Magazine named Morgan Taylor “Best Kids’ Performer” in its 2008 “Best of New York” issue. “Mint Green Bee” from Gustafer Yellowgold’s Wide Wild World is the Session I Grand Prize Winner in the Children’s Category of the 2008 John Lennon Songwriting Contest.

1. Getting In A Treetop
2. Sunpod
3. Melter Swelter
4. Butter Pond Lake
5. Sugar Boat
6. Panther Stamps Pants
7. Underwater Stars
8. Quite Easily Lost
9. An Erring Ant
10. Green Heart
11. Constellation Pies

Groovy Gustafer Yellowgold is a little, yellow, cone-headed fellow, who came to Earth from the Sun and has a knack for finding himself neck-deep in absurd situations as he explores his new life. His best friend is Forrest Applecrumbie, the world's last surviving pterodactyl, who staved off extinction with a sharp sense of fashion. Gustafer has a pet eel named Slim (short for Slimothy) and a menagerie of woodland creatures who curiously gather to share Gustafer’s solar warmth and quixotic sense of adventure. For recreation, he enjoys punching cheese and jumping on cake.

In Gustafer Yellowgold’s Infinity Sock, we find former Sun-dweller Gustafer Yellowgold settling into his new Minnesota woodland home, finally beginning to understand what a strange and peculiar planet he landed upon! The story follows Gustafer, who begins an ordinary day by washing his pet eel's laundry but soon embarks upon an hilarious, mind-bending musical journey in search of the toe-end of the longest sock in the universe. Gustafer learns much along the way, as he encounters a Band of Bees performing at their late night hangout in the chime-and-timpani drama of ”Beehive,” joins in the Broadway romp "Wisconsin Poncho" (set in an all-cheese clothing store), and comes upon the pterodactyl's unusually calm cat in the Fleetwood Mac lushness of "Cheddar,” all the while discovering that everyone has a use for The Sock. In an artful balance of poignancy and the absurd, Gustafer ponders his own curiosity in "Question Marks" (a tune in the classic folk tradition) and enjoys a fun, one-of-a-kind look at the interconnectivity among all life on Earth in the uplifting, Bacharach-esque "Sock Of Ages."

Bonus features include "Proof Or Foof (Is Gustafer Yellowgold Real?),” a visit with Professor Orel Harkness from the Huchaku Verification Center in St. Paul, Minnesota as he examines physical evidence from Gustafer sightings and answers viewer mail; "Gustafer Guitar Lessons" and "Draw Gustafer,” in which Morgan Taylor demonstrates his technique and shares a few fun facts!

1. A Sock Runs Through It
2. Slim Gets In ‘Em
3. Infinity
4. Beehive - Featuring Pat Sansone and John Stirratt of Wilco
5. Snake Proms
6. Cheddar
7. Wisconsin Poncho
8. Question Marks
9. Sock of Ages
10. The Sock Reprieve

  Format: Deluxe Edition, NTSC Language: English Subtitles: English, Spanish

The nine-song sucessor to the critically acclaimed Gustafer Yellowgold’s Wide Wild World released in early 2007 and described by The New York Times as “Dr Seuss meets ‘Yellow Submarine’!”

Gustafer Yellowgold’s ‘Have You Never Been Yellow?’ continues in the tried and true fashion of the first release, as a series of colorful videos with minimally animated illustrations set to catchy pop tunes, from the singular imagination of illustrator/songwriter Morgan Taylor. This second release made Disney Family.com’s and NPR’s “Best of 2007” lists, and was voted Best Album of the Year in the 2007 Fids & Kamily Awards, modeled on the Village Voice's Pazz & Jop Poll.

Groovy Gustafer Yellowgold is fulfilling his lifelong dream of living on Earth after leaving his home on the Sun. His adventures continue with his gang of pals, Forrest Applecrumbie, the sharply-dressed Pterodactyl, Slim the Eel and Asparagus the Dragon. We get a more in-depth view of Gustafer’s environs as he explores his backyard woods, leaving no rock unturned! We bob along to the bouncy acrobatics of “The Mustard Slugs,” while away a mellow afternoon with Gus in the soft-rock haunt of “The Bluebird Tree” and crunch out loud with Gustafer and his new favorite food in the Queen-esque “Pinecone Lovely.” Even Asparagus the Dragon gets interrupted mid-meal in the french horn-laden ditty “Aye, Aphid.”

1. Pinecone Lovely
2. The Bluebird Tree
3. The Mustard Slugs
4. Aye, Aphid
5. Birds
6. Beard For All Seasons
7. Punching Cheese
8. The Cactus Calls
9. Dream In Green

  Format: Deluxe Edition, NTSC Language: English Subtitles: English, Spanish

“The best music is happy and sad at the same time.” - My 8 year old son.

Light and dark. Opposite but together. That’s life, right?

Brighter Side, Gustafer’s first music-only release, thematically expands on the two stories of the series’ protagonist, friendly alien Gustafer Yellowgold, from his current life in Minnesota back to his years spent growing up on the Sun.

In the Sun songs, Gustafer reveals his youth struggling as a Sun-dweller. Detailing his experiences with ‘heat based insomnia’, familial work expectations, and shunning popular Solarian life-aspirations. Sun life wasn’t all bad though, Ellen Lemon is a tuneful ode to Gustafer’s best girl-friend and confidante.

Most of the Earth songs illustrate Gustafer’s current charmed life in the woods of Minnesota. Tracks like “Baconstein," however, show that Earth can have its own hazards, personalities and egos to navigate. It’s a reminder that there is good and bad and tension and ease in everything.

The album concludes with a lush and even mellower anniversary re-record of 2005’s popular “I Jump On Cake”.

TRACK LISTING:

1. Brighter Side
2. Ride A Line O’ Stars
3. Lucky Day
4. Meet Me By The Fun
5. Hot Nights (w/ Wilco’s Pat Sansone)
6. Ellen Lemon
7. Window
8. Baconstein
9. The Carvery (w/ Wilco’s Pat Sansone)
10. King of the Sun
11. I Love The Night
12. (Bonus Track) I Jump On Cake '17

School's in session with the planet's favorite new kid in class - the Green Toys™ School Bus! Made in the USA from 100% recycled plastic that saves energy and reduces greenhouse gas emissions.

This sturdy bus is ready to be loaded up for an earth-friendly ride to the classroom, a field trip, or whatever excursion little ones can imagine.

Manufactured in the USA Made from 100% recycled plastic No BPA, phthalates or PVC Meets FDA food contact standards
Easy to clean and dishwasher safe

Packaged with recycled and recyclable materials and printed with soy inks

Perfect for young artists or art lovers of all ages. The Modern Artists set includes artistic representations of Salvador Dalí, Friday Kahlo, Andy Warhol, and Vincent Van Gogh. 

Hand-chiseled from Urapán wood on an electric lathe, these classic wooden peg dolls are finished with USA-made non-toxic water-based paints. Each doll is unique and safe for little hands. We design our dolls in our Brooklyn studio and work with artisans in Bogotá, Colombia to help us reproduce our designs. Our carpenter uses  sustainably-harvested trees;  when one tree is used, two are planted. Our team includes Goose Grease-trained skilled craftsmen and craftswomen, from Bogotá to Brooklyn, and each doll is carefully hand-drawn and hand-painted from start to finish. 

INCLUDES  Four Dolls, Size 3.5 inches // 9 cm.