Learn Baby Learn Book Review

Learn, Baby, Learn the Shindana Toy Factory’s Legacy of Black Pride

By

Charlotte Watson Sherman

Illustrated by Esther J. Stimphat

My excitement about this book commenced when I learned of its publication by email from the author. The excitement increased after receiving my copy directly from the author, and it escalated even further after I viewed the front cover, which illustrates Black children enjoying Shindana’s dolls Kim in formal attire, Career Girl Wanda, and J.J., along with Slade Super Agent action figure.

After opening the hardcover and viewing the first three pages of colorful Shindana doll illustrations by Esther J. Stimphat, I was filled with joy to realize others, both familiar and unfamiliar with the company’s rich history, will rediscover or discover its legacy of Black pride and what prompted the founders to create this historic doll company—the first to mass-produce ethnically correct Black dolls.

Readers will discover the names of former businesses that operated in what became the Shindana Doll Factory. Sherman's poetic historical account of the people who migrated West from the South seeking better living conditions and what they found explains the conditions that led to the 1965 Watts Rising.

Learn, Baby, Learn: The Shindana Doll Factory’s Legacy of Black Pride tells the inspiring story of how a community’s despair sparked the creation of a company devoted to rebuilding hope—producing ethnically accurate dolls, action figures, and educational games that celebrated Black identity.

Hardcover and paperback versions are available on Amazon, Barnes & Noble, and from other book sellers.

Visit the author's website www.charlottewatsonsherman.com.

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All photos and text are copyrighted and cannot be used elsewhere unless permission is granted by the author.

©Black Doll Collecting/dbg

There are countless items to collect and write about. Black dolls chose me.
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Thank you for reading. Comments that are not spam are appreciated. Spam comments will not be published. To contact me directly, use the About page link, which is also visible in Web View mode, find, and use the email link.

Visit and follow DeeBeeGee's Virtual Black Doll Museum for detailed installations of antique, vintage, modern, and one-of-a-kind black dolls. http://virtualblackdollmuseum.com

Learn Baby Learn

Former librarian and published author Charlotte Watson Sherman shared the following information about her new book:


"I have written a picture book, Learn Baby Learn: The Shindana Toy Factory’s Legacy of Black Pride, published March 10, 2026, to describe the events leading up to the Watts Uprising and the resulting partnership between a community organization, Operation Bootstrap, and Mattel, Inc. that led to the creation of the Shindana Toy Factory. Shindana was the first Black toy company and, eventually, the world’s largest maker and seller of Black dolls, toys, and games. For the first time, Black girls and boys could play with dolls that looked like them."

Hardcover and paperback versions are available on Amazon, Barnes & Noble, and other websites.

Ms. Sherman's other books include Brown Sugar Babe, Mermaid Kenzie: Protector of the Deeps, and co-author of This Opening Sky, a 2024 Junior Library Guild Gold Standard selection.

Visit the author's website www.charlottewatsonsherman.com.

__________

All photos and text are copyrighted and cannot be used elsewhere unless permission is granted by the author.

©Black Doll Collecting/dbg

There are countless items to collect and write about. Black dolls chose me.
__________

Thank you for reading. Comments that are not spam are appreciated. Spam comments will not be published. To contact me directly, use the About page link, which is also visible in Web View mode, find, and use the email link.

Visit and follow DeeBeeGee's Virtual Black Doll Museum for detailed installations of antique, vintage, modern, and one-of-a-kind black dolls. http://virtualblackdollmuseum.com