Talking dolls' Islamic message surprises mother

McClatchy Newspapers (MCT) - A South Carolina woman went to a local Walmart to buy a doll for her daughters this Christmas, but what she ended up with was a Mattel Fisher-Price Toys baby doll that says "Islam is the light."

Jennifer Calandra of Burton, S.C., 28, bought the doll for her 5-year-old and 7-year-old daughters shortly after Thanksgiving.

Calandra said she thought she was going crazy when she first heard the phrase about a week after buying the toy.

She exchanged the $20 doll on Dec. 22 for another, also from Walmart, thinking it could be a malfunction in the soundtrack of coos and baby babble.

The second doll said the same thing.

Calandra is not the first to hear the Little Mommy Real Loving Baby Cuddle and Coo doll say "Islam is the light." Reports began popping up around the country this fall. Some reports say the dolls also say, "Satan is king."

Moms Ask Mattel for Accountability, an educational effort geared toward preventing children from being invited to join Islam unknowingly, launched a campaign to remove the dolls from store shelves, according to MAMA's Web site.

"It's like a subliminal message," Calandra said. "It's not really something you want to hear coming from a doll. I had to tell my kids they wouldn't get a baby doll for Christmas because it said bad things."

She said the doll was to have completed 5-year-old Miranda's doll play set, which already included a crib and stroller.

Fisher-Price Toys, which makes the dolls in China, could not be reached for comment last week and is closed until Jan. 5, according to an automated message for spokeswoman Juliette Reashor. Walmart corporate spokeswoman Anna Taylor said the dolls were being removed from the Beaufort store's shelves Tuesday. She said only some stores have removed the dolls and most stores still stock the doll because a product recall has not been issued.

Calandra said she e-mailed Fisher-Price Toys on Dec. 22 to alert the company of the problem, but has not received a response.

She said the doll's message has sparked a lot of questions from her 7-year-old daughter, Katelyn, about religious tolerance. Calandra said Katelyn wants to know why it is wrong to say "Islam is the light" and why some people do not like Christians.

"I'm not sure how to talk to them about these things yet," Calandra said. "The statement in itself isn't a bad thing. It's someone's opinion. It's that it's snuck in a doll's soundtrack."

Calandra said she's asked dozens of people if they have heard of other Beaufort area residents buying the doll, but hasn't heard of anyone else purchasing the toy. To avoid taking the chance of bringing home a third defective model, Calandra said she would dispose of the doll she has rather than attempt another exchange.

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© 2008, The Beaufort Gazette (Beaufort, S.C.).