I love books...especially childrens books

As a child, I always loved to read. I remember belonging to the library book club every summer and trying to read as many books as I could in order to win a prize (which was probably a book).

I also remember reading a lot of the classics that we now carry here at freckle face, and I remember what an impact they had on me.

I love Watty Piper's "The Little Engine that Could", and "The Carrot Seed" by Ruth Krauss, for their wonderful lessons in faith, perservence, and strength.

I also love "Harold and the Purple Crayon" by Crockett Johnson and "Where the Wild Things are" by Maurice Sendak, for the way they tap into our imaginations.

Now, as a buyer of childrens books to sell at freckle face, I get to share my passion for children's literature with all my customers.

No matter how old some of these classic books are, they seem just as impactful now as they did then. I am obviously not alone in this opinion, because I sell these books all the time. Which is great, because I love the idea that they are touching new readers in the same way that they touched me.

While I love offering the classics, I also like to give our customers a good selection of current titles. And, I am happy to say, this is not very hard to do.

I'm always finding new titles and authors that continue to strike a chord with me (I don't know why, but it seems I'm always surprised every time I find another great book).

Some of my more recent favorites have been "Stop Kissing Me" by Ethan Long, a silly book that enthuses both children and adults; "Odd Velvet" by Mary E. Whitcomb (who, by the way, is from Madison, Wisconsin) that teaches the age old lesson of accepting differences in one another; and "The Little Pea" by Amy Krouse Rosenthal, which is about a pea that cannot have his vegetables for dessert until he eats all his candy.

The latest book I just took out of the box, (and the one that prompted me to write this post) is "Not a Stick" by Antoinette Portis -- a very simple book about the magical imagination of a pig and his "not a stick". This is the second book from this author, and her first book, "Not a Box" (just as creative and clever and also offered at freckle face) won several awards.

I often wonder which of these great authors are currently making that same impact on our young readers as their predecessors had on me.

Will these books all become classics too? I don't know the answer. But something tells me they just might.

Then again, as long as they impact at least one child's life, they're all classics in my book.

Giving, sharing, & fun!

It certainly was a day of fun on Saturday when Santa came to freckle face for our annual fund raiser for Sojourner Truth House.

When I woke up in the morning to see the snow had already been falling for a couple of hours, I was a little concerned about how the day would go.

Ahh, how I quickly learned that snow doesn't stop anyone from coming to see Santa. (and the snow never did stop).

It was very interesting to hear all the different things the children told Santa they wanted for Christmas. There was the typical requests like trains and trucks and then the amusing requests like "25 shirts" and "pink tape".

But, what I really enjoyed the most, was seeing the excitement on their faces when they placed their donated toys in Santa's sack. The children were fully aware that they were giving toys to others in need and you could tell how good they felt doing it. Many of them even picked out the items themselves.

After the children took portraits with Santa they made Christmas tree ornaments to bring home and hang on their trees.

Everyone gave and received something on Saturday.

By the end of the day, (with a car full of toys to deliver and snow still falling), I realized the true magic of Christmas was upon us.

Wishing you all a Happy Holiday season and an even better New Year!

Toys, bottles, and better ideas

These days, making sure your child is dressed appropriately for the weather, eats daily, and gets a good education doesn't seem to be enough anymore. Now we have to worry about whether the toys they are touching (or in a lot of cases, tasting) are made in China - aka lead-free - and if the bottle they are drinking from is made of plastic with bisphenol A. More times than not, both of the answers are "yes."

If any of you aren't aware of what I am referring to, it's the media frenzy that has been surfacing around both of these issues.

The December 2, 2007 cover of the Journal Sentinel talked about the chemical bisphenol A; and their investigations into how harmful it is to us, even though the Federal Government's investigations say the contrary.
(bisphenol A is a chemical compound of plastic that is widely used in many consumer products including baby bottles, sippy cups, food containers, etc.)

The concern over toys "Made in China" is largely due to toys made with lead, and less about where they are made.

But...when most toys are made in China, how can the average consumer know which ones are, in fact, safe?

Thankfully freckle face can offer plenty of baby-safe products for your little ones. Our main toy line, Plan toys, is both environmentally conscious and socially aware, and has been making their wooden toys with this approach long before this media frenzy started.

freckle face also offers the safe-sippy cup. This is a recent addition to our offerings and will be part of a category that freckle face plans to grow in the near future.

The safe sippy is made of stainless steel with a rubber outside so it's still kid friendly. Only the spout itself is made of plastic, and even that part is free of harm inducing chemicals, including bisphenol A. This cup has been so popular here that we are already sold out and awaiting the next shipment in January 2008.


In the new year, we will also include the Eco Baby Natursutten pacifier. This pacifier is made of 100%natural rubber that comes from a tropical Amazonian tree. It is softer than silicone and is molded into one piece so there are no crevices for bacteria to build up.


In addition, freckle face is looking into offering the Wee*Go baby bottles. These are glass baby bottles with a protective sleeve that prevents breakage and allows for easy grip during feeding time. The nipple is latex free, and the entire bottle is free of bisphenol A, phthalates, and PVC.



freckle face is trying to do our part by offering more and more of these products to our customers to ensure a safer environment for all.

What do you think of these product offerings? Are there other products you are looking for that you can't find in Milwaukee? What are some of your concerns as parents?

Let us know what you think by clicking on the comment feature below.

Santa is coming - this Saturday!

This is the big weekend at freckle face - Santa is coming
for a visit.

freckle face is partnering with Sojourner Truth House for a great
fund raising event.
Bring in a new, unwrapped toy to freckle face, place it in Santa's
toy sack, and then tell Santa want you want for Christmas.
Sit on his lap if you'd like and take a photograph too (bring your
own camera for photographs)

There will also be a holiday craft, some special treats, and a few other secret surprises.

We are really excited to bring this fun event back to freckle face
again. In addition to the toy collecting, freckle face will also
donate 10% of all sales from that day to Sojourner Truth House.

If you want to find out more details (including other needs at Sojourner Truth), visit the news/events page at freckleface.
...and if you want to find out more about Sojourner Truth House, you can visit their website by clicking here

I hope everyone was able to stay indoors today and keep warm with some hot cocoa.

Hope to see you all on Saturday.

Welcome to the freckle face boutique blog!

This is the place where you can get the latest news about whats happening in the world of freckle face:
current events, upcoming events, the latest collections, exciting new products, and anything and everything that is going on in the childrens retail world.

But....we hope its not just us doing the talking and sharing.
Sometimes we may offer up topics of conversation where we'd like your opinion- like "hey freckle face just saw this cool new product at the latest trend show, what do you all think of it?"

At freckle face we LOVE to plan fun events for the children and parents- like arts & crafts classes, young yoga, tea parties, and lots more. You can always check the news and events page on our website for the most current events, but we'll also let you know about them here. .....and we'll even share some fun stories and photos from our events.

As a matter of fact this past weekend, during Christmas in the Ward, freckle face hosted a childrens fashion show birthday party for one of our regular customers - Margaret.

This was such a fun event and a great idea that was brought to freckle face by Margaret's mom- Colleen.
There was a fashion show with runway
walking instructions afterward, purse decorating,
cupcakes, and of course-lots of great gifts
for the birthday girl.

All the guests got to go home with the fabulous meerkat tee shirt shown below(currently available at freckle face).