Currently the fastest growing toy company in Europe, tonies has made their U.S. debut

in time for the fall and holiday seasons.

tonies are an original, screen-free audio entertainment system designed specifically for children ages three and older. The toy was developed by two dads, Patric Faßbender and Marcus Stahl, who sought out to keep their kids entertained while limiting screen time. After three years in development, tonies launched in Europe in 2016 and is now the number three most popular toy in the region.

“When we created tonies years ago, we had one thing in mind: our kids,” says

Faßbender and Stahl. “We wanted to devise a way for children everywhere to experience storytelling in a fresh new way -- one that utilized the ease of modern technology, while stimulating the imagination without screens. We are so proud to bring our beloved tonies to the U.S. and delighted to welcome American families to our expanding global tonies family.”

The Toniebox is a soft, shockproof, five-inch cube made of durable fabric that contains no screens, sharp corners or edges, ads, camera or a microphone, making it super simple, safe and fun for kids to use. Kids can get their hands on individual tonies figurines, which they place on top of the box to either listen to content or create their own. All tonies content is managed through a secure cloud-based system via the app and website.

U.S. families can choose between 17 individual characters, including classic storybook fairy tales like Pinocchio and Rapunzel. Families will also find stories like Disney’s “The Lion King,” “Frozen” and “The Little Mermaid” and Pixar’s “Toy Story,” “Cars,” and “Finding Nemo.” Additional stories and songs are also expected to roll out in 2021 through collaborations with Penguin Random House, Disney, Pixar, Universal and many others.

tonies are now available for purchase online via tonies.com, Target.com, BarnesandNoble.com, Amazon.com, and FAO.com. In-store, tonies can be found at FAO Schwarz in New York (tonies’ U.S. flagship in-store retailer), and at independent toy retailers nationwide.

For the latest news in licensing from companies in this category, click here.