It’s time for another Weekly Roundup post where we share some of our favorite family-friendly products on the market! Every week companies, publishers, and creators from around the world send us their best products. We match each product with a panel of 5 parent evaluators. Only the very best products earn our award!

The products you see below all won a Mom’s Choice Award last week. For more information about a particular product, click the product image or purchase link.

Saving Our Sons: A Parent’s Guide to Preparing Boys for Success
Written by Clayton Lessor, MA, LPC

Help your son grow into the man he’s meant to be.

There’s never been a more challenging time to be the mother of a teenage boy. Our young men are currently in crisis, falling far behind their female counterparts in school and in life and failing to learn the lessons they need to survive and thrive in the adult world. With Saving Our Sons, veteran psychotherapist and founder of The Quest Project® Clayton Lessor, MA, LPC is out to reverse this trend.

Based on years of research, study and practical application, Saving Our Sons provides mothers—as well as fathers and other caregivers—with the expert guidance they need to help their sons navigate the turbulent transition between boyhood and manhood.

Adult Books:
Parenting – General

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Zeenie Dollz – Zennia, Mother Earth

At Zeenie Dollz, LLC. saving the planet is more than just a motto. From conception to production, these dolls have been about protecting the environment with style. Founded by a mother-daughter team, Zeenie Dollz are made with 100% recyclable material.

The company started when Hansini Wadhwani came to her mother, Laxmi Wadhwani, with a drawing of Zennia, the embodiment of Mother Earth. Sharing her daughter’s passion, Laxmi utilized her talent and resources to transition the character from concept to reality. With their newfound passion, Laxmi and Hansini worked together to create another 5 characters and so the Zeenie Dollz were born.

These 12” fashion dolls are made with non-toxic rubbers and non-toxic plastics, have 24 points of articulation, and eyes that are embedded rather than painted on with harsh materials. By not using materials like vinyl or PVC, the manufacturing process of Zeenie Dollz has a much lower carbon footprint than the majority of current fashion dolls in the market. In addition to their eco-friendly construction, these dolls each have a unique style that reflects the aspect of the environment they protect.

Besides supporting environmental-conservation by helping kids learn about eco-friendly behaviors, Zeenie Dollz also supports environmental efforts across the globe. A portion of Zeenie Dollz sales goes to support either an environmental or animal conservationist organization.

Toys, Games & Puzzles:
Ages 9 to 12

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Touch & Learn Activity Desk™ Deluxe

The Touch & Learn Activity Desk Deluxe is a three-in-one desk with interactive activity cards that’s expandable for more fun and discovery. The desk features an interactive desktop and five pages to explore that are filled with engaging content including letters, numbers, music, colors and more. Choose from eight expansion packs (each sold separately) that each focus on a specific curriculum like reading skills, animals and numbers. It also transforms from a desk into an easel and chalkboard with plenty of storage space for art supplies to encourage play and discovery. The LED display illustrates letter and number stroke order and how to draw basic shapes. For even more fun, toddlers can play with the toy telephone or listen to fun tunes on the music player. Enjoy hours of fun as kids create, discover and learn.

Educational Products:
Preschoolers

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Sashi and the Puppy Mill Girl
Written by Linda Greiner; Illustrated by Morgan Spicer

Anna and her mother love fostering Shelties through Shetland Sheepdog Rescue. By taking care of rescued dogs, they help the dogs become ready to find a forever home. They’ve already adopted two Shelties of their own, Sashi and Buddy, and their newest foster is a shy girl named Cinnamon who’s been rescued from a puppy mill. Neglected and frightened, Cinnamon has a tough time settling into her new home at first but with help from Sashi and Buddy, Cinnamon realizes she doesn’t have to be afraid. Now loved and cared for, Cinnamon learns to be happy and playful again and soon finds her forever home. Based on the true story of Cinnamon, this tale addresses the reality of puppy mills while keeping the story light, warm, and accessible to young readers. Sashi and the Puppy Mill Girl is the third in the award-winning Sashi series of children’s books.

Children’s Picture Books:
Domestic Animals & Pets

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Ring & Learn Cash Register™

Little shoppers will love filling their basket with healthy play food and pretending to buy it with this interactive toy cash register. Weigh the food, ring up the order and use the credit card to pay for the groceries. Each interaction is rewarded with a variety of playful phrases, fun sounds, songs and music. Press the light-up number buttons to introduce numbers, colors, food and play healthy-eating phrases. For more role-play fun, press the “open” button to pop open the cash register drawer.

Toys, Games & Puzzles:
Toddlers

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Panda Panache Baby & Kids 6 Shelf Hanging Closet Organizer

The Panda Panache closet organizer has loads of features that make it the perfect solution to keep your closets tidy and organized. With this product, they’ve paid attention to every detail from top to bottom: like the newly added double reinforced stitching at the top for strength, to the neutral colored durable white polyester fabric with purple trim, all the way to the stylish box it comes in. Whether you’re looking for a hanging organizer for yourself or to give as a baby shower gift, the Panda Panache Organizer is a smart choice.

You’ll get the most from all that vertical hanging space in your nursery closet with 6 roomy reinforced shelves. The bottom shelf has a full sized reinforcement and the middle shelves have reinforcements going ½ way back each shelf. The reinforcements are made from thick MDF board (not flimsy cardboard). This blend of full and ½ sized MDF shelf reinforcements creates the ideal balance of the highest quality materials, excellent functionality, and affordability. When you open your nursery closet door, what you’ll see is all your baby garments and essentials neatly stored in an organized, stylish way.

Four large mesh side pockets with elastic trim are positioned lower down on the organizer so you can access them even when the organizer is hanging in between other items. Perfect for quickly tucking away stuffed animals or irregular shaped items.

The mesh panels at the front of the top two shelves and bottom shelf keep all those little essentials like socks and bibs (and even toys) from falling out. Keeping the nursery neat and tidy has never been easier!

Plus the Panda Panache organizer comes with an 11×15 inch patterned-print, zippered mesh laundry bag. This cute little laundry bag is not only great for delicate items; it’s a total lifesaver for keeping all those tiny baby socks and things from disappearing in the washer/dryer. Just a little perk that goes a long way toward making your routines easier.

Gear & Accessories:
Housewares, Housekeeping & Cleaning

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KeeKee’s Big Adventures in Amsterdam, Netherlands
Written by Shannon Jones; Illustrated by Casey Uhelski; Edited by Lisa Pliscou

KeeKee is the adventurous calico kitty traveling the world in her hot air balloon. Hoera! In this charmingly illustrated picture book, she lands in Amsterdam, Netherlands. KeeKee explores the city with Jasper the Lion. Together they speak Dutch, cruise the canals, and enjoy the sights, sounds and tastes of this beautiful, colorful and historic city.

KeeKee’s Big Adventures in Amsterdam, Netherlands is the 4th book in the award-­winning series, which has earned…
• Foreword Review’s INDIEFAB Book of the Year Finalist,
• IBPA’s Benjamin Franklin Awards‘ Best First Book Silver Winner, and
• Mom’s Choice Award Gold Medals.

The back of the book features an illustrated map of the city and pronunciation guide to key Dutch words found in the book. Young explorers can visit Amsterdam at bedtime and still be on time for school in the morning.

Children’s Picture Books:
Peoples, Places & Cultures

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Chatter in the Caldera: Monkeys of Bioko Island
Written by Heidi Rader; Illustrated by Holly Smith; Edited by Peter Muir

The forests of Bioko Island, Equatorial Guinea have become strangely quiet. For weeks there has been no monkey chatter. Follow forest guard Cirillo and his father as they guide the expedition team on an adventure into the Gran Caldera Scientific Reserve to unravel the mystery of why the monkeys of Bioko Island have disappeared and to save them before it is too late.

Juvenile Books (Level 2 – Ages 9 to 12):

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Care for Me Learning Carrier™

Care for Me Learning Carrier is an interactive pet carrier that lets little ones take their plush pet anywhere! Put the plush puppy inside or take her out of the carrier and hear playful phrases when opening and closing the door. The activity panel on the side of the carrier is packed with learning fun. Press the light-up buttons to learn about colors, shapes, pet care and more. Sliding the letter beads introduce letters and play music. Sliding the window and spinning the roller add to the fun and encourage motor skills. The carrier also includes four pet care accessories so toddlers can groom, feed and play with the cuddly puppy.

Toys, Games & Puzzles:
Toddlers

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Bizzy the Mix & Move Bot™

Now children can get creative as they build their own robot with Bizzy the Mix & Move Bot. With 10 different accessories there are so many ways to encourage the role-play experience by creating a different robot every time they play. This playful bot illustrates cause and effect as children connect the 10 accessories to trigger fun responses. It also includes 10 fun and unique melodies that children can personalize by switching around the accessories to add in their own special sound effects. Bizzy will guide children through various activities, allowing for creative, independent play. Bizzy also loves to dance around to the music on his interchangeable legs or wheels. With Bizzy around, the fun never stops!

Toys, Games & Puzzles:
Toddlers

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A Girl with a Cape: The True Story About the Super Hero in All of Us
Written by Amy Logan; Illustrated by Rich Green

This is the story of the power of our everyday kindnesses.

The book introduces a little girl who wears a leopard-print scarf (comes with the book) as a superhero cape in hopes to do something big to make the world a better place. What she doesn’t realize is that she’s already doing just that.

Every day, she is polite and kind. Her actions cause others to act the same way; to pay it forward creating a ripple-effect of kindness.

However, by the end of the week, she feels defeated. She thinks her scarf doesn’t work and she’s too small to make a difference.

Mom steps in and tells her she is the “biggest difference-maker of all” and asks her, “So now that you know that your powers are true…tell me sweet darling, what next will you do?”

Children’s Picture Books:
Inspirational / Motivational

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1-2-3 Magic: Effective Discipline for Children 2-12
Written by Thomas W. Phelan, PhD

1-2-3 Magic has helped millions of parents, teachers, and caregivers all over the world establish an effective, appropriate discipline system that helps children listen better and motivate themselves to behave well. Dr. Thomas Phelan is an internationally renowned expert in his field and has broken down the elements of effective parenting into an easy-to-understand program that can work for any family or in a classroom or care-giving scenario.

Recommended by parenting experts for over twenty years, 1-2-3 Magic is a cornerstone book in the parenting category that combines timeless advice with fresh, up-to-date anecdotes and content, and is a must-have book for any caregiver hoping to raise happy, healthy, responsible kids.

Adult Books:
Parenting – General

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