HearthSong truly is a cut above the typical toy website! They describe themselves best: "With a love for children, a reverence for life, and a desire to support you in your task of parenting, we offer you our service and our products: Toys you'll feel good about giving." Their merchandise selection and product development goals are inspired by Kane's philosophy of child development, drawn from a broad base of child psychologists, parents, religious teachers, toymakers, and educators-especially those from the Waldorf school of thought.

They offer the following categories of products: Educational Toys, Outdoor Toys, Arts & Crafts, Kites, Classic Toys, Baby Toys, Room & Decor, Travel Toys, and Toys & Games. This is an extremely friendly website!

KB Toys and eToys.com (actually the same company) have one of the best selections of must-have toys on the Web! In addition, they offer the hottest video games and great deals in the Clearance Center. We found that KBToys.com offers an enjoyable and easy-to-navigate online shopping experience. Type a word into their search field or browse their easy-to-use product categories, including Toys, Video Games , and Software, to find exactly what you're looking for. From their home page, you can also shop by age, price, category or brand.

Some of their top brands include LeapFrog, LEGO, BRIO, Fisher-Price, Little Tikes, Learning Curve, Learning Resources, Playskool, Mattel and many more. You can shop by age and gender, or browse by category, character or brand to find the perfect gift. Gift-buyers who want something a little different for the special child in their life enjoy our great selection of science toys, arts and crafts, collectible toys, puzzles and models. Need help finding the perfect present? Visit their Gift Center to choose gift wrap, create a Wish List, buy a gift card. They also offer the great benefit of having the convenience of returns and exchanges at any of our more than 1,300 K•B Toys stores nationwide.

Wal*Mart has done it again! They are not only the largest retailer around, but when they hit the Internet, they set out to really prove something! They are awesome online too! Walmart.com is a lot like your neighborhood Wal*Mart store. They feature a great selection of high-quality merchandise, friendly service and, of course, Every Day Low Prices. Their other stated goal is that they strive to bring you the best shopping experience on the Internet. We think they've succeeded!

Their website offers just about everything. Some of their online departments include (take a big breath): Electronics (Computers & Printers, Internet Service, TV, DVD & Video. etc.), Photo (Digital Cameras, Camcorders, Photo Center, etc.), Movies, Music, Books, Video Games (PS2, Xbox, etc.), Toys (Outdoor Play, Bikes & Scooters, etc.), Baby & Baby Registry (Shop by Age or Stage), Home (Furniture, Appliances, Bed & Bath, etc.), Garden & Hardware (Patio & Grilling, Lawn Equipment, Home Improvement), Sporting Goods (Exercise & Hot Tubs, Camping & Hiking, etc.), Gifts (Specialty Foods, Gift Registry, Store Shopping Cards, etc.), Jewelry & Watches, Vacations (Cruises, Hotels, Car Rentals), Pharmacy, and just about anything else you can think of!

Amazon.com has one of the largest collection of books (millions to choose from). It is a very popular site visited by more than 20 million people in more than 160 countries. We consider them to be the leading online store. They also carry a huge selection of CDs, videos, DVDs, toys, games, and electronics. They also have a very large online auction.

The Oriental Trading Company, Inc. is one of the nation's leading direct marketers of value-priced novelties, toys, party supplies, crafts, games, gift items, home décor products and garden accents. The National Retail Foundation's STORES magazine recently rated Oriental Trading as one of the top 100 Internet retailers (that's an excellent rating).

They offer more than 10,000 products, they meet the needs of people, businesses and nonprofit organizations. You can personalize many of the items too. Their Web site offers a wide range of unique products including things like fun Smile Face Porcupine Balls, elegant albasia wood Elephant Mask wall hangings, nic naks and carnival types of items (grass skirts, leighs, balloons, etc.). They make it quick and easy for you to purchase exactly what they're looking for at extremely cheap prices. We use this store as our first resource when looking for party gifts, decorations, and fun items.

Best Buy is one of the largest volume specialty retailers of consumer electronics, personal computers, software, music, movies, and accessories. The BestBuy.com Web site is also packed with helpful product information so customers can make smart decisions. We found the site easy to use. We purchased a digital camera online and appreciated the easy-to-use comparison feature (it's really cool) and the automatic link to appropriate accessories for the camera, including extended warranty information.

The site has Helpful Resources, Tech News and a Shopping Assistant feature that are provided to educate you on purchasing decisions, with customer service standing by 24/7.

Target entered the Internet in a big way with a well-developed website designed for fast, friendly, and efficient shopping. Target offers just about every type of category you can think of (clothing, hardware, software, games, gifts, bedding, jewelry, music, etc.).

The online store is packed with excellent extras to help make your shopping experience easier and more pleasant. These features include a great Gift Finder, Wish List (drop those hints!), Gift Reminders, Gift Receipts, Gift Registries, Gift Cards, Gift Wrap, My Store, and Returns by Mail (including prepaid mailing labels).

cd Universe, video Universe, and games Universe is a great place to shop for music, movies, and games. They contain a nice selection (over 500,000 products) of Compact Discs (CDs), DVD and VHS movies, Video Games, Cassette Tapes, Compact Discs Singles, Cassette Tape Singles, VHS music videos and more. The prices are nicely discounted and there is a Bargain Bin for even deeper discounts!

We also liked the many extras like the very helpful Gift Guide, Music/Video/Game Charts, CD University (where you can learn about music and music makers), Recent Releases, Future Releases, Hottest Sellers, and Accessories. We are impressed with the quality of content they offer.

GiftCertificates.com is the largest online gift certificate store. They offer gift certificates for literally hundreds of leading stores. The categories of stores include Apparel, Beaut/Spa, Books, CDs, Videos, Children, Dining, Entertainment, Electronics, Food/Wine/Cigar, Gifts, Home, Hotels & Travel, Luxury, Specialty, Sports, and Teen.

When you can't decide what to buy, send them a gift certificate...and this is THE place to do it!

eBay is the world leader in online auction services. As far as auction sites go, this one is by far the best. They have excellent security, a zillion products for sale, and a great reputation. They have many different categories to bid in. Our advice is that you should shop here whenever you can't find what you're looking for somewhere else. You have to really beware because there's no guarantees, no returns, and you can't always assume that the seller is honest.