There are dolls, and then, there are DOLLS. When Lisa from Kidstuff PR emailed me about KidsGive and their amazing Karito Kids dolls, I showed the images to Kaitlyn and asked her what she thought. I didn’t try to guide her towards any one doll, and she pointed to Zoe and said, “can you get her for me?” So, I asked, and Kidstuff came through! I want to thank them right up front, because this is not an inexpensive doll, people. At our local educational toy store, this doll sells for $99.00. I’m going to tell you and show you exactly why that is not too much money to spend on one doll. Meet Zoe:

The Karito Kids World Collection launched in summer 2007 with five doll and book sets:

• Zoe and book “The Manhattan Menace” • Wan Ling and book “Shanghai Secret” • Lulu and book, “Nairobi Nightmare” • Pita and book, “Mexico Mystery” • Gia and book, “Florence Fiasco”
• A sixth doll, Piper from Australia and her book, “Sydney Scandal,” joins the collection in 2008.

Karito [`ka-ree`-toe] noun. Etymology: from the constructed international language, Esperanto, a universal second language created to foster peace and international understanding. 1: charity, 2: love of one’s neighbor

Zoe is dressed in the height of Manhattan kid fashion (or so the box says), and comes with a hardback book and her own passport. The only problem we have is that her hat won’t stay on. But look at how beautiful her hair is:

I love her beautifully detailed face, although her joints are so moveable that her head rotates around on her neck. One night we were sitting on the couch, Kaitlyn, Nathan, myself, and Zoe, and Nathan suddenly says “MOM. I swear that doll just turned it’s head and LOOKED at me!” More likely he just bumped the doll and the head rotated, but his reaction was kind of funny Here’s her sweet face:

From the press release:

Karito Kids® World Collection is an award-winning new line of ethnically authentic international dolls and books, designed to empower kids to become globally aware and participate in helping other children around the world. Parent company KidsGive believes that children are naturally charitable and only need to be given the opportunity. They approach this goal through a methodology that can be summed up quite simply as “the more you play, the more you give.”
Kids need no instructions to teach them how to play house. Playing “world” is a little different, so KidsGive has created a simple yet effective way to help teach children that every purchase helps another child. When a child gets their first doll, book or accessory, they receive a special code and are invited to “activate” it on the Karito Kids website, www.karitokids.com. Next, the child can read about four charitable causes that KidsGive supports through Plan USA, a children’s focused charity that delivers an impressive 80% of all funds directly to programs. After learning what life is like for children in other parts of the world, they can choose the cause they want to support. KidsGive donates 3 percent of the retail price of all products to Plan USA.

So, your child gets an amazingly detailed doll to play with, and a chance to directly help a child in another country. And while Kaitlyn chose the doll from Manhattan and not one of the world dolls, I’ve been talking to my boys about it and they are going to help me decide which charity to support with our code. The donations that the four charities have received so far are just amazing:

38% of children who “voted” on their favorite cause through the Karito Kids website directed funds to aid the “Health Project” in Kenya. This money can now buy 15,720 mosquito nets helping children in 357 remote villages.

24% of children directed funds to aid the “Food Project” in China. This has helped children in 13 rural schools which can now purchase 4630 chickens and the eggs they produce for food.

23% of children directed funds to aid the “Homes Project” in Honduras. This can help families live in enclosed homes by building 12 mason homes to be clean, safe and healthy.

15% of children directed funds to aid the “School Project” in Mali. This can now purchase 1,925 textbooks for 976 kids in Mali.

See? Amazing! I am so proud to be helping spread the word about the Karito Kids World Collection of dolls and books. I urge you, if you have a child to buy a gift for, or for your own child, to consider purchasing a Karito Kid doll to not only have a beautiful doll, but to have a chance to make a difference in the life of another child. See www.karitokids.com to learn more about the company’s products and online games, or visit www.kidsgive.com to learn more about the company and its charitable mission.

Tags: charitable giving, charities, karito kids, kidsgive, kidstuff pr, world collection, zoe doll

This entry was posted on Thursday, July 3rd, 2008 at 2:55 pm and is filed under Kids, Products. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.