Sometimes, Mom or Dad have to be away from the kids — business travel, family care, military service, lots of reasons.  Wouldn’t it be great for little kids to still have a connection to their parents — maybe the same kind of connection they have to a favorite stuffed animal?

Enter the Parent Doll, the brainchild of Altadena inventor and toymaker Brian Gibson.  The Parent Doll is exactly that — a squeezable doll with the parent’s face, that can speak up to four different messages in the parent’s own voice.

“A few years ago my childhood friend came up with this idea and wanted to know if he could do in in DVD — I have a film background,” Gibson said.  The idea was a DVD with the parent’s face and voice that could teach and talk to the young child.

But then the idea came: let’s do it on dolls.

The Parent Doll idea is rather simple: a male or female doll with a transparent plastic pocket over the face, so a picture of the parent can be inserted.  The doll also has a recording device built in and switches in the hands and feet, so parents can record up to four different messages in their own voice.  The doll can handle up to eight minutes of messages.

Pictured: Brian GIbson

“I knew it’s something doable, and it’s tangible, and kids love toys,” Gibson said.  “And who better to learn from than Mom and Dad, rather than Dora the Explorer or Sponge Bob?

The doll can leave personal messages, recite the ABCs, or even a favorite bedtime story — whatever the parents can imagine.