supplier profile
By Kim Pallozzi
DURING A CHILD’S formative years, learning the essentials is about more than just the
ABCs and 1-2-3s. Other values—such as honesty and kindness—are equally important.
But in today’s gadget-filled world, that can be
hard to achieve.
“We’re all entertained with technology,”
says Brenda Katz, president of Great Divide
Corporation, a brand and product develop-
ment company. “You go to dinner with your
kids and they’re playing with tablets or they
aren’t interacting with you or each other.”
Her company, founded in 1992, had a
creative response, with the 2012 inception of
My Friend Huggles. Multi-award-winning
My Friend Huggles are a group of life-size
dolls with an accompanying website that
encourages core values and promotes charac-
ter-building qualities in children. Mia is hon-
est, Lily is kind and Kira is cheerful. Rubi is
grateful and Ella is patient.
“I want to bring back meaningful play,
and not just to entertain the child, but introduce a toy that they can learn from and grow
with,” says Katz. “My vision is that every child
will obtain and acquire these core values and
integrate them in their everyday life.”
Addressing the issue of bullying
Inspiration for the dolls started in
response to what seemed to be an increased
awareness of bullying in schools, something
one of Katz’s two sons had endured as a
youngster. “It’s a problem that seems to be
prevalent in our society, and it has to be
addressed. I knew that through my creative
process as a designer [Katz has a background
in design] that I could make a difference.”
Katz says her son overcame the bullying
through family support and school social
workers who taught him to be brave and to
have courage and develop self-confidence.
“This gave him the tools that he needed to
overcome the bullying,” Katz says.
Huggles launch
Launched at the New York City Toy Fair
in 2012, My Friend Huggles gained reputation and awareness through a grass-roots
approach, mommy bloggers and targeted
print campaigns, and the momentum continues to grow with alliances with Children’s
Dolls with a difference Company: Great Divide Corp. President: Brenda Katz
Number of employees: 14
Address: 5653 Paré, Suite
201, Mont-Royal, QC H4P 1S1
Phone number:
1-888-686-4224
Website:
www.myfriendhuggles.com
Products at Costco:
A variety of My Friend Huggles
dolls (see photos on following
page) will be available at
select Costco locations.
Comments about Costco:
“For us, being associated
with Costco means an opportunity to reach more children
and a validation of the value
and quality of our product.
Making this powerful connection allows the My Friend
Huggles brand to be part of
the ultimate shopping experience backed with the integrity, value and dependability of
Costco.”—Brenda Katz
ANNELIESE DESIGNS
Kids learn important
values through
special dolls
Hospitals. Since its inception, accolades have
poured in from professionals and parents.
“My two children [with autism spectrum
disorder] have difficulty socializing with their
peers,” wrote one mom. “Our Huggle has
been a constant sidekick for my daughter and
a great conversation starter for her when she
meets new children.”
The Hospital for Sick Children, in Toronto,
Ontario, told Katz, “Through your kindness,
our patients are able to play, laugh and more
importantly enjoy the wonders of being a child
as they journey through their illness process.”
Interactive website
The My Friend Huggles website is an
interactive space where kids are challenged to
develop the virtue of every doll. Guided by a
series of interactive character-building activities, children learn the specifics of what each
doll did to acquire his or her personalized virtue, and then try to emulate that positive
behavior in real-life situations.
Once they’ve accomplished the set goal,
they can come back and share the details of
their experience on the site. And they can
receive a downloadable certificate to reward
their positive actions.
“They don’t have to own all the dolls, but
they can learn the values from each,” says Katz,
who explains that from the beginning she consulted with early child care specialists, thera-
“My vision is
to nurture
the natural
goodness in
all children.”
—Brenda Katz
M
YLE
S
B
EE
B
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