a whole lot of hullabalu (and a gruffalo too)

I had the pleasure of being introduced a wonderful online shopping site for awesome kids gifts… Hullabalu.

The concept is pretty simple. Share great character plushies from the world of Hullabalu in an easy to access shopping portal. No need to dig through page after page after category after page in search of a good gift.

Here’s one of their first characters… Pan! (a purple Panda no less!)

Here’s her backstory: Pandora Beribolt aka “Pan” is a panda of the nomadic cloud tribe; living in the sky going where the winds take them. Pan’s parents left her in the care of the tribe when she was very young as they went to investigate a change in the winds. She grew up as an independent, tough kid with a mischievous streak.

And here’s the plushie cuteness of Pan in real life!

Here in the M household, we’re pretty big advocates of having 100x as many stuffed animals as arms to told them… so it’s no surprise that I instantly loved the concept and the execution of this wonderfully imaginative new world. And while the site is still in beta, you can sign up now and get an invite when then doors open in the near future!

Before they had introduced their new characters and redesigned the shop, they carried a selection of some of the best plushies around and I was lucky enough to have them send Miss L her very own Gruffalo…

What’s a gruffalo?          A gruffalo?? Why… did you know???

If you haven’t heard of “The Gruffalo” and you’re a parent, I suggest adding it to your Amazon.com queue and never looking back. It’s one of Miss L’s favorite bedtime stories, and she loves reading it to us now! But let’s just say he’s a hideously wonderful imaginary character that comes to life to the astonishment of all… oh, and he has purple prickles all over his back…

So this past weekend, when the big blue box from Hullabalu arrived on our doorstep, I quickly snuck the box inside and set her up to surprise her.

We got to the part where the Gruffalo shows up in the book…

and then magically the Gruffalo appeared in her lap as well!

There’s something simply magical about having a world full of plush friends as a kid… says the former little girl with hundreds of her own friends. And I can’t wait to see what wonderful characters the world of Hullabalu holds in store for us in the future…