Purveryor of Playfulness

She calls herself Danna Bananas. Clicking through her online store, also called Danna Bananas, is an adventure in whimsy. She has assembled a collection of some of the most novel novelties I've ever encountered on one site - page after page of wacky, funny, laugh-provoking, and often genuinely playworthy tchotchkes.

Take, for example, Airfork One, "made of sleek stainless steel encased in food-grade, dishwasher-safe silicone. Just the thing to bring those mashed potatoes and peas in for a safe landing...Packed in a recyclable clear PET box." It's a fun thing. It's a functional thing. It is sensitive to the realities of child-rearing - embodying a game that hundreds of thousands of parents have played with their babies as they often desperately try to get them to finish their food.

It is for these reasons, and others manifesting themselves throughout her website, that Ms. Bananas joins the ranks of the select few, to be known now and forever more (or less) as a Defender of the Playful.

Danna Bananas, DotP, has managed to share with us her gift of playfulness. She offers us and the rest of the known universe access to silly, sometimes remarkably inexpensive (c.f. Finger Twister), sometimes the semi-miraculous (c.f. the bouncing-on-water Waboba Ball), and often the actually somewhat practical (c. also f. the Banana Handle. Again I quote: "...very appealing non-slip handle grip! You’ve never seen a chimpanzee burn himself on a hot pan, have you? Of course not! That's because Banana Handle's heat-resistant silicone construction protects hands, both human and primate. Slide the ripe yellow peel onto any pan handle and you are fully protected, hands down.") - inviting laughter, paving the way for play. And US residents don't pay tax! What more, I ask you, could you ask?

Tweet her on Twitter.