• Norman & Jules

  158 Seventh Ave., nr. Garfield Pl., Park Slope; 347-987-3323

  Parents tired of blinky, bleepy, techie toys will find nothing of the sort at Norman & Jules. The old-world shop, opened by Slope parents Avi Kravitz and Courtney Ebner, forgoes the usual primary-colored glut of battery-operated plastic for eco­conscious wooden stacking towers, plush mobiles, and pint-size musical instruments. Here, moms and dads watch children bang and strum on handcrafted glockenspiels and ukuleles, snuggle with cashmere monsters stitched by local artisans, and re­arrange furniture in the hand-carved dollhouses from the German wood shop Norbert Verneuer. For the rare kid not content with toys, the owners’ dachshund-Chihuahua, Addi, trades cuddles for kisses.

From the 2013 Best of New York issue of New York Magazine