Children's Book Recalled Over Choking Hazard

Scholastic issued a voluntary recall after a popular children's book was found to pose a hazard to young children. The Shake Look Touch book was recalled in multiple countries on July 7 after the company received multiple reports of the pom poms on the book detaching, making them a choking hazard for young children.

The Shake Look Touch book, which measures 5.9 x 1.7 x 8.4 inches, is a plush book with touch and feel components for young children. The book was sold in two versions, including one version without pomp oms. However, only the Shake Look Touch book with pink and green pom poms attached to the book with a string is included in the recall. Scholastic received two consumer reports of the pomp poms detaching, though no injuries have been reported. The recalled books feature the ISBN number 978-1-338-64564-4 Images of the specific book included in the recall can be found by clicking here.

According to a notice posted by the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC), the book is being recalled in both the United States and Canada. Approximately 185,700 recalled books were sold in the U.S., with an additional 1,500 sold in Canada. The books were available for purchase at bookstores, specialty, big box stores and other stores nationwide and online at www.barnesandnoble.com, www.homegoods.com, www.booksamillion.com and other websites from January 2020 through April 2022 for about $13.

Due to the choking hazard the Shake Look Touch books pose to young children, consumers are advised to immediately take the book away from young children. Consumers in the U.S. can simply cut the pomp oms off the book and then continue use. Consumers can submit a picture of the book and removed pom poms, and affirming that the removed pom poms will be disposed of in the trash, to receive an electronic gift card for $10. Per a release from the Canadian government, "consumers should immediately stop using the book and contact 1-800-268-3848 to begin the return process. Consumers will be provided a shipping label and asked to return the books to Scholastic Canada Ltd. Upon receipt of the returned Book, consumers will be issued a refund."

The Shake Look Touch books are just the latest items targeted at children to be found to pose a choking hazard. The recall comes just a few weeks after The Children's Place recalled several baby boy clothing items after receiving incident reports of snaps on the rompers detaching. Prior to that, a musical children's toy sold at Primark stores in the United States was recalled because it also posed a choking hazard to young children. Thankfully, no injuries were reported in connection to any of the recalls.