Does your child often surprise you with funny and insightful comments? If so, perhaps you ought to share them with B., the award-winning toy company who wants to share them with the world. We’ll tell you how in a moment.
If you’ve ever purchased or received a toy from B., you know what comes in the box besides that distinct-looking toy, its striking colors and memorable designs the brainchild of chief toymaker Gisela Voss. Unlike other companies, B. doesn’t include promotional materials along with its product. Instead the small, family-owned company includes a booklet of insightful and funny quotes — contributed by adults yet spoken by children. The quotes are submitted via the company’s website, and here are but a few examples:
“Mommy, when is Abiel going back into your tummy???”—Angel, 3, talking about his 4 week-old little brother
♦◊♦
“Mommy, please can you help me tie my shoelaces because they are just not doing a good job cooperating today?”—Maxwell, 6
♦◊♦
Uncle P. “Well that just doesn’t seem possible.”
Blaise, who is 9: “But is it plausible?”
♦◊♦
Initially the quotes came from the family and friends of people working at B. But what began as a quirky way to distinguish B. from other companies blossomed into a popular back-and-forth between the toy company and its appreciative patrons, who took the initiative and began sending in quotes culled from the conversations they’d had (or perhaps overheard) with their own children. As a result, B. created a “Quote Gallery” on their website where parents can create beautiful art out of their own kids’ quotes and share them on Facebook, Twitter or across email or even print them out to make cards or frameable art. (Great gift idea for Mom, by the way.) And they started including these quotes in the quote booklets that come with the toys as well.
“We wanted to give a present to moms and dads,” says Amy Flanagan, who, with her partner Andrea Gavin, handles marketing for B. “Most companies put a little leaflet that advertise other toys. We wanted something that would put a smile on people’s faces, that wasn’t so self-serving. A gift for Mom and Dad. And so many people started sending us in quotes that their kids had said, and we were like, ‘Wow, we really need to set up a community around this, a place where parents can enter these quotes in.’ And it puts a kind of face on things, that these are the people who are playing with B. toys.”
B. is a family-run company from Montreal that works in association with Gisela and her team of toymakers in Massachusetts. The “B” in the name can stand for “Battat,” but they’d just as soon it stand for “justb-byou,” a reflection of the company’s appreciation for individuality, particularly as it applies to children. For every toy the company sells, 10 cents is contributed to Free The Children, a worldwide organization of children helping children that was started by 12-year-old Craig Kielburger in 1995. And for every toy B. sells, there’s also the inclusion of that booklet of quotes.
Has your child said something wise, witty or unexpectedly brilliant? If so, go to the B. website and enter your child’s quote. At the end of the quote submission process you will be given the opportunity to email the quote. Email it to us at: [email protected]. The first 50 Good Men Project readers who submit a quote will receive a set of magic markers — with color names such as B. fiery, B. sunny, B. deep — as always in celebration of all the personalities that make kids (and grown-ups) unique, and loved. Then, each week in June, the best and wittiest quote will be selected by Good Men Project editors and receive a surprise toy gift from B.
I was just wondering how we will know if you got our quote? I sent one in a little while ago. Thanks. Email is winterpoet 13 @ gmail (dot) com.
My son Lucas who is almost two years old has been saying, “lucas ear go beep beep!”
One night while reading my 2 year old granddaughter a bedtime story, she politely informed me she would tell me the story, so I said OK….
She began with
“Once upon a time in a house a lot quieter than ours…” (I have five girls)
I nearly fell out of bed at the seriousness of her tone.
We are having dinner and my 6 year old niece asks:
“So what does God eats when he is hungry?”
We didn’t know what to say lol
From the mouth of my 5 yr old son Ethan: “Mommy can I tell you something? 1 time Daddy was mowing the lawn and I snuck inside and had a brownie! AND I had already had dessert!” (with sheepish look on his face).
I hope I did it right!
I got my niece a “write your own fairy tale” art kit for her birthday and was helping her get started. She had decorated the first page and was ready to start writing her tale. She sat puzzled for a moment, so to prompt her I asked “How do fairytales begin?” She sat thoughtfully for a few moments before very seriously answering, “F!”
I love B. Toys! <3
~Heather Lee
After my wife had called me by my proper name (Kyle) my 20mth old son turns to me and says “Kyle…Dad” realizing that the names were one in the same. It was a proud moment.
I love B. toys and their quotes are awesome. My daughter, 4, has a bunch of silly things she has said and does say. I love it!
After finding out that my wife is pregnant with twins, 4 year old Jonathan exclaimed “Twins?? Open your mouth! I want to see them!!” 🙂