Product Spotlight: Mini Monster Magnetic Game

Designed for children ages three and up, the Mini Monster Magnetic Game from Haba stimulates creativity in little ones. The heavy duty metal box houses four different background scenes and 143 magnetic pieces to create hundreds of different monster combinations for different characters every time.

HALO Founder Receives 2015 National Leadership Award from Cribs for Kids

Bill Schmid, founder of HALO Innovations, was recently awarded the 2015 Making a Difference National Leadership Award presented by Cribs For Kids. The award recognizes Schmid's ongoing role in safe sleep education.

As a result of a personal tragedy, Schmid began an exhaustive review of medical research available on Sudden Infant Death Syndrome (SIDS). Halo Innovations began shortly after with a mission to reduce the number of infant deaths related to SIDS. His first product was an engineered solution to the issue of re-breathing, the Halo Active-Airflow Crib Mattress. The company expanded to include more convenient alternatives to crib blankets with the Halo SleepSack and the SleepSack Swaddle. Halo products are now sold throughout North America and a number of other countries and are used in more than 1,400 hospitals nationwide. Schmid's most recent invention is the Halo Bassinest, a bedside bassinet providing a safe sleep space for infants while still next to parents.

Bunnies By The Bay Apparel Bright and Cheery for Little Ones

A division of Kids Preferred, Bunnies By The Bay offers gifts for little ones embarking on their first years of life. The Stinkin Cute collection for boys includes a hoody with Malibu blue and carrot orange solid and striped knits with a fish coming out of the front pouch; pants that are pull on and off in solid Malibu blue with carrot orange striped waist and ankle bands; the Baseball Shirt with a striped long-sleeve shirt underneath a short-sleeved shirt with a retro baseball patch; and two tees in carrot orange and charcoal gray.

The Pretty Girl Spring collection features embroidered and stitched messages on each article of pale pink and gray-colored clothing. The line includes a Pretty Sailor Top in soft peony pink with a sailor collar; Pretty Sailor Dress with a double-layered ruffle skirt; Shorties, the bubble bottoms in gray stripes, to complement the Sailor Top and Dress; the Pretty Tweet Romper with ruffles at the neck and knees; and a number of other t-shirts, hooded sweaters and friendly stuffed animals.

The Stinkin Cute Boys collection and the Pretty Girl collection will both be available spring 2015.

Children's Choice Book Awards Recap

To kickoff Children's Book Week this week, the Children's Book Council held its 8th annual Children's Choice Book Awards Ceremony on Monday, May 4 in New York City. Winning titles are selected by young readers of all ages, and this year's event was hosted by Jon Scieszka and Betsy Bird. This year, children and teens across the United States made their voices heard by casting more than 1 million votes. The 2015 Children's Choice Book Awards winners are:

• Kindergarten to Second Grade Book of the Year: Eva and Sadie and the Worst Haircut EVER!, by Jeff Cohen, illustrated by Elanna Allen (HarperCollins Children's Books)
• Third Grade to Fourth Grade Book of the Year: Kali's Story: An Orphaned Polar Bear Rescue, by Jennifer Keats Curtis, illustrated by John Gomes (Arbordale Publishing)
• Fifth Grade to Sixth Grade Book of the Year: The Dumbest Idea Ever!, by Jimmy Gownley (Graphix, an imprint of Scholastic)
• Teen Book of the Year: The One, by Kiera Cass (HarperTeen)
• Children's Choice Debut Author: J.A. White for The Thickety: A Path Begins (Katherine Tegan Books, an imprint of HarperCollins Children's Books)
• Teen Choice Debut Author: Jennifer Mathieu for The Truth About Alice (Roaring Brook Press, an imprint of Macmillan Children's Publishing Group)
• Children's Choice Illustrator: Chris Appelhans for Sparky!, by Jenny Offill (Schwartz & Wade, an imprint of Random House Children's Books)