Wednesday, September 25, 2002
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NEWPORT, RI - Thames & Kosmos, a publisher of science kits, received Tuesday an award from the prestigious Parents' Choice Foundation, the country's oldest and most respected nonprofit guide to children's media. The company's first product, the Fuel Cell Car & Experiment Kit, received the Silver Award in the Foundation's fall selection of "doing and learning toys."

Reviewers at Parents' Choice, wrote: "Wow! - usually when toys say there are 30 experiments, there are a few basic experiments and the others amount to small changes and variations on the basic ones. Not so here. The experiments, based on building a model car that runs on water, are versatile and cover a wide range of phenomena. The background for each phenomenon is extensive. The lab manual and experiment guide is a 96 page fount of information -- from how fuel cells work as an energy source, to the social effects of cars powered by fuel cells. For the budding physicist or environmentalist in your house, or the engineer at Grandma's, this kit is a highway to fun."

"We are delighted that Parents' Choice has recognized the quality and educational value of our first product, " said Jane A. Holdsworth, president of Thames & Kosmos. "As a publisher and distributor, we know that a Parents' Choice award will significantly enhance our visibility in the marketplace. Also, as a retailer, we are reminded daily just how much these awards help customers in their decision making."

The Fuel Cell Car and Experiment Kit features a unique reversible fuel cell that splits water into hydrogen and oxygen and then uses the hydrogen as fuel to power a model car. Designed in Germany and manufactured in China, the kit is sold in English-speaking markets worldwide by Thames & Kosmos. More than 2,000 units of the kit, which retails for $150, have been sold. "Based on orders received at our most recent trade show in Chicago, we are looking forward to increasingly robust sales in the upcoming holiday season," said Ms. Holdsworth. There is also a Japanese version of the Thames & Kosmos Fuel Cell kit and a Spanish version will be available by the end of year, she said.

Representatives from Parents' Choice stopped by the Thames & Kosmos booth at the International Toy Fair in New York last February and subsequently invited the company to apply for an award. "This award comes just as we are sending our second kit into production," said Ms. Holdsworth. "The Parents' Choice reviewers' thoughtful analysis of our first product is both rewarding and encouraging."

"We strive to publish rigorous, user friendly kits that enhance scientific understanding while at the same time improving skills in reading and comprehension. While our main goal is to help young people learn by experimenting with the basic principles and concepts in science, we want to do so in a way that builds important communication skills," she said.

Parents' Choice offers on-line reviews and resources for parents, teachers, grandparents, and others who are involved in the lives of children. The foundation endeavors "to impart solid information about the vast array of children's media products and toys that are on the market, helping parents and caregivers of all achievements and backgrounds make informed decisions about which new products are right for their children," according to their mission statement.

The Foundation began in 1975 when a group of returning students came together in a Radcliffe College seminar on children's literature taught by Diana Huss Green. They had rigorous standards for their children's education which they felt were not being fulfilled. They wanted to create for parents a non-commercial clearinghouse of supplementary media experiences and learning products. Parents' Choice foundation was officially established in 1978. Their mission statement reads:

We continue . . .

* To hold fast to our standards in all fields of children's literacy and learning, and to cleave to universal human values.
* To consider and assess all new children's media.
* To narrow the parent information gap about all children's learning, including environmentally and learning disabled children as well as the gifted.
* To involve young adults in aspects of the informed and responsible critic's role in children's media.
* To maintain and expand the Parents' Choice press information service and our online service.

We believe ...

* Reading is our children's key to the world's histories, literatures, arts and sciences.
* Accomplishment is key to self esteem, that discipline is essential to learning, that knowledge gives parents confidence to help them teach their children.
* We know youngsters learn most easily when they enjoy it.
* Our children deserve only the best; material that strikes flint in their minds, laughter in their hearts, and strength in their bellies.

The Thames & Kosmos Fuel Cell Car & Experiment Kit is available at select toy, hobby and science/electronics stores, specialty catalogs and on-line retailers, as well at the Thames & Kosmos retail store in Newport, RI and online at www.thamesandkosmos.com