Muslim doll honored as Oppenheim Portfolio Platinum winner

Toy judges praise Selma's Dolls for being inclusive, earning awards from Oppenheim, Tillywig and National Parenting Product Awards.

Hawzah News Agency – One ragdoll-and-book set that celebrates diversity has wowed Oppenheim Toy Portfolio, the benchmark of excellence with consumers, toy makers and media. Oppenheim Toy Portfolio published its annual announcement of the best toys of 2018. Ameena, a Muslim ragdoll who wears a beautiful hijab, has melted the hearts of toy judges who have seen everything on the market over the years.

The Muslim doll is one of three in the Selma’s Dolls collection. Winning the rare Oppenheim Toy Portfolio Platinum Award means this doll is one of the most innovative and engaging new products of the year.

“We’ve had dolls from many cultures and ethnicities. Ameena, is a first,” said the Oppenheim Toy Portfolio review. “She is a fabric doll wearing a hijab, in the tradition of Muslim women. Like the other dolls in the collection she comes with a little book about differences and friendship.”

Selma’s Dolls formed when two moms, Valerie Alva-Ruiz and Courtney Stillwagon, realized a conversation needed to be started with their young children about accepting and learning from people of all different backgrounds, races, cultures and religions. In addition to Ameena, there are two other dolls in the collection. Annie is a loveable doll with Down syndrome who wears a blue and yellow dress – colors that represent awareness for Down syndrome. And Lola is a Mexican-American doll who loves to teach friends new Spanish words. The three dolls also won the Tillywig Parents’ Favorite Products Award and the 2018 National Parenting Products Award (NAPPA). Each doll and book set sells for $39.99 online and in retail stores across the eastern United States.

“Selma's Dolls is a collection of uncommonly beautiful ragdolls that celebrate our differences (cultures, religions, developmental disabilities) and similarities as human beings and help sow acceptance and inclusion as a way of thinking and being,” said the write-up for Tillywig Award Winners 2018. “The book includes conversation starters that help parents and children explore what it means to be different from others. The dolls' construction and design is such that they are easy for young ones to hold and will remain sitting upright on their own, features that inspire an abundance of pretend play!”

NAPPA judges also fully agree.

“Meet Selma’s Dolls — a collection of soft ragdolls that celebrate diversity and help teach kids about the beauty of being unique. In each doll’s clothing print, there is a nod to the olive branch that is a universal symbol of ‘peace’ and part of the Selma’s Dolls logo. These dolls are a NAPPA winner because they bring an important message to kids and parents: Diversity is beautiful and we should all celebrate our uniqueness.”

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