Scholastic Parent & Child® Magazine Announces Winners of 2014 Gold Star Toy Awards

NEW YORK, Nov. 18, 2013 /PRNewswire/ -- Scholastic Parent & Child® magazine today announced the winners of the magazine's inaugural Gold Star Toy Awards. The 24 winning kids' products are featured in the December/January issue of the magazine and online at Scholastic.com/goldstar. This year's holiday issue gives parents a whole new way to shop by allowing parents to buy any of the winning toys directly from the magazine pages using their tablet, smartphone, or mobile device.

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The magazine put out a call for submissions to toy manufacturers in February, and the editorial team reviewed thousands of products and sent hundreds out to parents to test at home with their children. The winning toys, games and books were selected based on the following criteria: innovative and cool; magnetic and engaging for the child; mind-expanding or educational; and an excellent value to the consumer.

"This holiday season, we are offering parents the best gift guide with an easy shopping experience right off the pages of our magazine," said Jamie Engel, Vice President and Publisher of Scholastic Parent & Child. "Working together with our experienced editors and engaged parent readers, we created a trusted guide of toys that parents can feel good about giving this holiday."

In this shoppable issue, parents can use their smart phone or mobile device to buy any of the award-winning toys thanks to ShopAdvisor and Digimarc Corporation's (NASDAQ: DMRC) platform for mobile engagement. The Digimarc® Discover mobile app and ShopAdvisor shopping experience lets readers find out more about products featured in the magazine and buy them directly. By simply scanning a digitally watermarked photo in the print edition, tapping a button on the Parent & Child app on their tablet, or clicking a button on the Gold Star Toy Award online site, readers can learn more about the products mentioned within the magazine – price and price history, availability at online and local retailers, and full product description – and click through to purchase.

"Readers of Scholastic Parent & Child magazine look to the publication as a trusted source when it comes to finding the right products for their children," said Scott Cooper, CEO of ShopAdvisor. "By shop-enabling their publication across platforms, they are making it simple and natural for readers to act on those recommendations. We are excited to work with Scholastic Parent & Child to introduce this innovative reader service and inspire shopping this holiday season."

The winners of the Scholastic Parent & Child magazine 2014 Gold Star Toy Awards are:  

• Bebe Bath Girl, Corolle, $40, Ages 1 and up.
• Big Hugs Elmo, Hasbro, $60, Ages 18 months and up.
• The Book of Impossible Objects, Klutz, $20, Ages 8 and up.
• Busy Bus, Alex Jr, $44, Ages 10 and up.
• Doc McStuffins Get Better Checkup Center, Just Play, $80, Ages 3 and up.
• Duplo My First Circus, Lego, $35, Ages 2 to 6.
• Gears & Puzzles, PlanToys, $25, Ages 2 and up.
• Go! Go! Smart Wheels Train Station Playset, VTech, $50, Ages 1 to 3.
• Hot Wheels Car Maker, Mattel, $50, Ages 8 and up.
• LeapPad Ultra, LeapFrog, $150, Ages 4 to 9.
• Lottie Dolls, Arklu, $20, Ages 3 and up.
• Marker Maker, Crayola, $26, Ages 8 and up.
• Multi-Solution Shape Puzzle, P'kolino, $20, Ages 2 to 6.
• Nancy B's Science Club MoonScope, Educational Insights, $50, Ages 8 and up.
• NFL Game Day, Fremont Die, $20, Ages 9 and up.
• Octonauts Octopod Playset, Fisher-Price, $35, Ages 3 and up.
• Octopal Squirters, TOMY, $20, Ages 1 and up.
• RC Extreme Hero, EB Brands, $80, Ages 8 and up.
• Rocket, Green Toys, $25, Ages 2 and up.
• R.V. Seeing You Camper, Battat, $60, Ages 3 and up.
• Showcam, Hasbro, $60, Ages 3 to 7.
• Trikke E2, Razor USA, $140, Ages 8 and up.
• Wooden Musical Train, Boikido, $40, Ages 1 and up.
• Ziggle, Radio Flyer, $50, Ages 3 to 8.

About Scholastic Parent & Child®  
Scholastic Parent & Child is today's leading parenting magazine for families with school aged children, reaching more than 7.3 million parents. Parent & Child covers families with children ages birth to 12, and one hundred percent of the editorial content is dedicated to helping parents guide their children through the early school years with joy and confidence, informing parents on topics that serve the entire family, including child development, well-being, health, activities, travel, fashion, and food. To visit the magazine's online site, log on to www.scholastic.com/parents. To learn more about Scholastic, visit our online media room: mediaroom.scholastic.com.

About ShopAdvisor
With ShopAdvisor, consumers directly interact with all forms of content across their media platforms of choice to learn about, be reminded of, or purchase their favorite products. For media companies and advertisers, ShopAdvisor closes the loop between media and retail, deepening brand engagement, enhancing advertising ROI and generating new revenue. 

Founded in 2011 and based in Boston, Mass., ShopAdvisor also offers consumer apps for iPhone, iPad, Android and the Web. For more information, visit www.shopadvisor.com.

About Digimarc
Digimarc Corporation (NASDAQ:DMRC), based in Beaverton, Oregon, is a leading innovator and provider of enabling technologies that create digital identities for all forms of media and many everyday objects. The embedded digital IDs are imperceptible to humans, but not to computers, networks and devices like mobile phones, which can now use cameras and microphones as sensory inputs to "see, hear and understand" the world around them within the context of their environment. Digimarc has built an extensive intellectual property portfolio with patents in digital watermarking, content identification and management, media and object discovery to enable ubiquitous computing and related technologies. Digimarc develops solutions, licenses its intellectual property, and provides development services to business partners across a range of industries. For more information and the latest news, please visit www.digimarc.com and follow us on Twitter @DigimarcCorp.

Suggested Tweets:

• Check out the winners of @PARENTandCHILD's 2014 Gold Star Toy Awards, just in time for holiday shopping! http://www.scholastic.com/goldstar
• Stumped on holiday gift ideas for kids? The winners of @PARENTandCHILD's Gold Star Toy Awards are sure to be a hit! http://www.scholastic.com/goldstar

SOURCE Scholastic Parent & Child