Welcome

Welcome to The Stuffed Animal Review.  As the byline says, this is a publication dedicated to the philosophy and analysis of stuffed animals.  Seriously.

The Review fervently believes there is a place in everyone’s life for a high-quality stuffed creature, regardless of age.  Stuffed creatures have the power to make your everyday world joyful, playful, and highly amusing. 

Given the potential importance of stuffed animals for both young and old, it is imperative to surround yourself with well-designed creatures and the stuffed animal world is, unfortunately, filled with mediocrity. 

The Review is here to help you sort through the piles of fur.  Inside this publication you will find probing consideration of proportions, stuffing, size, and particulars such as clothing and color, as well as associated topics such as where to find high-quality stuffed creatures, specific brand reviews, and stuffed animal outsourcing.  The consideration of stuffed creatures requires meticulous study and scrutiny.

But The Review is also dedicated to exploring the larger world of stuffed creatures: their role in everyday life, their animation and personalities, and their wide-ranging abilities, from calling forth smiles and laughter to fostering world peace.

The Stuffed Animal Review is a simultaneously serious tongue-in-cheek look at stuffed creatures and their worlds.  Enjoy…

Who is Behind The Review?

The staff of The Stuffed Animal Review is…well…me.  May I guess what you are thinking?  Who is this person?  Why should I read her musings about stuffed animals?  My professional credentials are not terribly convincing: I teach at a small college.  But I am also a long-time stuffed animal devotee with thirty-four years of experience playing with and loving stuffed creatures. 

As family, friends, colleagues, and students know, stuffed creatures are an important part of my life.  Furry friends are a constant presence; in jacket pockets at the grocery store, on the desk at school, propped up on bed pillows at home, and plopped into car cup holders.  I take great pleasure in introducing others to these soft, squishable personalities; coaxing smiles, laughter, and the occasional odd look through my animals.  But I also take stuffed creatures seriously, keeping an evaluative eye out for high-quality animals and fretting with genuine distress when I see neglected, abandoned, or orphaned creatures. 

The Review is also staffed by stuffed creatures; animals I have amassed over the years.  Collectively they provide much of The Review’s inspiration and are also useful as illustrative examples of concepts or themes.  You will find them sprinkled throughout the blog.  Each creature, however, also has a specific behind-the-scenes staff role.  As staff members are introduced, a profile is added to the Staff Directory.

Perhaps all of this has convinced you of one thing: this is a very weird individual.  And you are right.  Weird enough to create this blog.

A lot of what follows is, of course, subjective, born of my personal experience with and exposure to stuffed animals.  What I might reject as an inferior stuffed creature could be a treasured object for some of you.  Keeping that in mind, I rely on years of experience guided by philosophy to provide advice and commentary.  Trust me...I have thought more about these topics than would be labeled “appropriate” by a mental health professional.  Take advantage of my compulsion.

Blog Schedule

Written commentary appears early Saturday morning, in time to peruse alongside the newspaper and your first cup of coffee.  Sunday through Friday posts also appear in the pre-dawn hours, and focus on an uploaded photograph of a stuffed creature(s) doing silly things, accompanied by text.  These photographs might be tied to Saturday’s ruminations, thematically connected, or they might be random.  Sunday through Friday posts are meant to be entertaining bright spots; something you can turn to during the day for a quick smile and laugh.

Next Saturday’s post digs deeper into the philosophy behind The Stuffed Animal Review.  Bring a shovel and an open mind.