This Christmas, one of the hottest toys of the festive season comes all the way from Moycullen, Co Galway. It’s the BB Bear and it’s ready to teach your child the Irish language.
Let’s face it; as a child, there was no yearly TV event more exciting than the Late Late Toy Show and all the host jumper-wearing and frantic segment transitions that it entailed.
Though adults look back and remember hours of Gay Byrne or Pat Kenny chatting to extremely well-spoken kids and becoming visibly exasperated when toys failed to work on live television, children simply couldn’t believe their luck that their parents allowed them to stay up late to watch their possible Christmas Day gifts on the small screen.
Yet as exciting as the prospect of the Late Late Toy Show was and continues to be, there’s always one aspect of the show that set back our enthusiasm for at least 15 minutes in each broadcast – the Irish toys.
We’re not trying to be unpatriotic, but we always found it difficult to muster any intrigue over a wooden rocking chair from Leitrim after we’ve witnessed an incredible Darth Vader Voice Changer or Scalextric set.
One company that’s proving that buying Irish at Christmas time can be just as satisfying for your little ones are BábógBaby Ltd. Based in Moycullen, Co. Galway, the company was created by Galway entrepreneur Adrian Devane in 2010 and he has since produced the world’s first Irish-speaking toy, the ‘BB Bear’, which teaches Irish to toddlers and, we think, is cuddlier and better looking than BiBi Baskin.
Adrian proves that adults and teddy bears needn’t be such an odd combination
The bear, seen above, is currently available in over 100 stores in Ireland as well as online and further afield in over 14 states in the US. With global domination clearly on the horizon, the bear is also set to receive his own pre-school TV series, ‘Bella agus BB’, which will be seen on TG4 in mid-2012 and will incorporate language learning.
As you can tell, the BB Bear is the perfect way to get your child excited about learning Irish and we reckon it’s the most innovative Irish toy we’ve ever come across. With BábógBaby expanding into the UK early next year with the addition of three new language bears, we think you’re much better off surprising your child with the BB Bear this Christmas morning rather than waiting until you’re getting pestered for their new TV favourite in the summer.
BB Bear’s creator, the aforementioned Devane, has researched, introduced, marketed, sold and run the day-to-day business of BábógBaby himself while employing the services of local companies on a need basis to ensure the company’s survival in the first year in order to progress to year two and continue in challenging times in a competitive market.
Its outcome, the lovable BB Bear it could have an extremely happy ending for you too come Christmas morning.
The BB Bear costs €29.99 on www.babogbaby.com and stores around the country. It comes with 2xAA batteries and is suitable for children aged upwards of 6 months.
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