Black Forest Books & Toys

This is the most darling little store full of toys and books for all ages. The staff is so sweet and helpful without being overbearing. A nice little find were several foreign language children’s books — mostly in Spanish, but some in Mandarin, German, French, etc. It was nice to stock up on them.

Incredibly friendly and helpful staff, and way too many awesome gifts for kids of all ages.
Shopping for a one year old who lives out of town we weren’t entirely sure which direction to go in for gifts, but luckily within 30 seconds of entering the door someone asked if we needed any help. (yes, please!) We were guided to the books of the appropriate level, the area of toys for her age, and the options were plenty. Classics we grew up with, eco-​friendly toys, awesome items we kind of wanted to buy for ourselves — they have it all.
After we finished looking downstairs (it seemed to mostly be aimed at those under 5) we made our way upstairs to the land of books, puzzles, board games, and other brain teasers. Needless to stay we ended up staying longer than intended.
I really liked the combination of the old school (and sometimes wooden) classic toys with the quirky new stuff on the market, so you can pick up a copy of Goodnight Moon — but they also have the line of books children are begging to be read to them these days. I also loved that they gift wrapped for free!

Black Forest is a godsend for those of us for whom the idea of shopping for kids is both perplexing and terrifying.
When shopping for holiday gifts for my cousins’ children, I had repeatedly found myself in the toy aisles of chain stores, staring at brands that I’m sure are familiar to most but are alien to me. Which doll goes with the good, wholesome TV show and which one is a trampy little who-​di-​who? Beats me. Enter Black Forest.
I walked into the adorable little house and was immediately surrounded by 2 floors of books, dolls, games, crafts and toys of all kinds, all of which looked like they wouldn’t break within 5 minutes of being opened. They even had a 3D maze toy to occupy the BF while I shopped!
Still lost, I asked the lady behind the counter for help and after assessing my budget she pointed me in the direction of the perfect toys for the little rugrats. I had previously heard her coworker describing, in extensive detail, the plots of several series of childrens books to an equally clueless shopper. These ladies know their toys.
Oh, and an added bonus, they will giftwrap for you. For free. In appropriate birthday or holiday paper. And I got out of there underbudget. It’s a Christmas miracle!

This is a great place to help the kids expand their reading horizons. The staff is really helpful and can get ahold of just about anything you need. It’s a ton of fun to go in here and play around seeing what you can find. The selection is pretty good, but if they don’t have it in stock they can order it for you.