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J'Mel Dowdel
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317-237-0049
jmeldowdell@thebuttonnos...
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Hilary Ricks
Vice President of Operations
317-502-0523
hilaryricks@thebuttonnos...

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News Releases

The Button Nose Kidz are Totally Awesome, and so is their new product line – Active Reading Cardz!

New York, NY -  February 17, 2018.    

First a little background…

The Button Nose Kidz, LLC, is a minority owned children’s educational entertainment company based in Indianapolis, Indiana. Debuting in January, 2010, the Button Nose Kidz characters were created by J'Mel Dowdell to serve as role models for children ages 5-13, promoting positive life skills such as self-esteem, healthy habits, and honesty. Live action interactive musicals performed by costumed mascots using relatable situations, age appropriate conversations, childish humor, and popular music styles created a large local fanbase. 

The Toy Brand was added and launched in the summer of 2015 at the California  Gift Show with eight (8) character dolls and six (6) active educational books in the Kidz product line. As first-time ITF exhibitors in 2016, four (4) larger than life-size mascots standing and sitting around the booth space drew lots of attention! The Animalz product line for younger children was introduced at ITF 2017, with five (5) plush characters, life lesson story books, and young learner puzzles.  

As a partnership, The Button Nose Kidz, LLC, was founded and remains  grounded on the shared belief that children should be encouraged to dream big,  challenged to follow through on those dreams, and offered real opportunities and tools to achieve them. The company strives to design, manufacture, and distribute products that can motivate, guide, and otherwise assist youths to excel in education, character and leadership – and enjoy themselves along the way. 

New for ITF 2018… 

The Button Nose Kidz Toy Brand has moved to the Educational section in the main room on the lower level, doubled the size of their booth, and added a third product line to officially introduce when the doors open February 17th, 2018. 

Button Nose Kidz Active Reading Cardz are a child-directed supplement to organized educational activities. Numerous child development and literacy studies indicate that environmental exposure and independent experimentation are as essential to acquiring reading, writing, and spelling skills as focused instruction. For example, reading words in their real-life context, when it's their choice to do naturally leads children into figuring out how to pronounce new words by recognizing sound/letter patterns in familiar ones. 

The Around the House set of Active Reading Cardz includes 26 brightly colored 8½ x 5½ inch cards with a Button Nose Kidz character drawing attention to the words printed next to them. The cards are attached to the named object with small strips of peel and stick Velcro that work on every type of surface tested, including fabric, yet remain easy to remove, and can be re-stuck several times. 

Most important, and unique, about Active Reading Cardz is that each set features English and a second language. Researchers are finding that dual language education is an effective approach to developing language literacy in both English and the other language. Proficiency in more than one language is a valuable skill that should be cultivated and nurtured in and out of the school setting. "[E]arly bilingualism has been found to aid memory, problem-solving, decision-making and other brain functions." http://articles.latimes.com/2011/may/08/local/la-me-bilingual-20110508.  

Button Nose Kidz Active Reading Cardz are also a useful tool in the classroom, and the “In the Classroom” sets will be available following ITF, as well as ESL sets for home and school. Orders can be placed for all varieties by visiting Booth 6474 – just look for the mascots! To learn more about the Button Nose Kidz, Animalz, and Cardz, visit www.thebuttonnosekidz.com as well The Button Nose Kidz on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, and You Tube. 

For additional information, contact Hilary Ricks, The Button Nose Kidz, LLC, by phone  (317) 502-0523 or email hilaryricks@thebuttonnosekidz.com.