Holy huggable toys
Couple comes up with innovative way of introducing children to bible
They are soft, they talk and they hope to provide an educational answer to Barbie dolls, robotricks, superman dolls and other cultural heroes of the West.
They are the Holy Huggables, the product of an American couple who thought their children deserved toys that would guide and each them the bible and good deeds.
As parents we believe in instilling values and morals, love and wisdom that constitute the basis of our Christian faith, say Cliff and Laureen Rockwood on their website www.holyhuggables.com, launched specially for the project.
And indeed the dolls starring at the top of the list are the Huggable Talking Jesus doll, a 30 cm high, soft velvety doll with a red heart on its chest inviting kids to "press me."
Children pressing the red heart are in for a surprise. A selection of bible verses from the New Testament such as John 14:6 and Isaiah 54:10 are recited by the doll over and over again, teaching children bible verses as they cuddle their toys.
However, Cliff and Laureen also considered the other religions and offer the Huggable Talking Moses, with a grey beard and two soft cushions representing the two tablets of stone.
Moses' and Esther
A press on Moses' heart sounds the 10 Commandments of course. And for girls who prefer female dolls there's Huggable Talking Esther, who talks about how she was chosen to be Queen because of her natural beauty, how she was not selfish but rather put others before herself and courageously risked her own life to save many people from harm.
Esther was chosen because she is roll model for young girls, says Rockwood.
The couple is planning to extend the line to include further dolls such as Jonah the Prophet, King David and Noah and the ark. And we ask, what about a doll of Mohamed the Prophet?
