Bobo is the little dormouse from a picture book series that German-speaking families have read at bedtime since 1984. In 2024 a customer asked us to sew him as a dormouse plush, working from the book's pictures. We made one Bobo, made to order for that customer, not taken off a shelf.
Who is Bobo
In German he's Bobo Siebenschläfer, and a Siebenschläfer is a dormouse, the animal famous for sleeping. Swiss author and artist Markus Osterwalder wrote and drew the first stories for his own daughter. The first book came out in 1984. The stories kept coming long after she grew up.
Bobo is about two or three years old. His adventures are small and everyday, like a birthday or a trip to the zoo, and at the end of every story he falls asleep. That's why parents read him at night. Since 2016 the books have been drawn by Dorothée Böhlke, who gave him a fresher look and kept his sweet face. There's a cartoon too, made in 2014 for the German children's show Die Sendung mit dem Elefanten.
How we sewed him
In the books Bobo is a few soft pencil lines and pastel color. A toy needs real shapes, so we started with the head. The face is cream plush with beige patches around glossy black eyes, a black nose, pink cheeks and a stitched smile. Thin stitched brows give him that slightly surprised look from the pictures.
The body is brown faux fur. A shock of ginger faux fur sticks up on his head, and his big bushy tail is ginger as well. He wears his striped romper from the books: red and blue panels, one blue strap and a white button. He sits on his own, and his hands have long stitched fingers.
Your book character next
Maybe your child has a bedtime hero who has never had a toy, or only a toy that looks nothing like the book. Send us a few photos of the pages. We'll match the colors, agree on the size with you and send photos of the finished toy before it ships. A character like Bobo starts from $365, and the quote is free.
More characters from books are in Book Character Plushies. Two more from the same shelf: Moomin Mama and Findus the Cat.
We're an independent studio and make fan pieces to order. Not affiliated with the author, the illustrator or the publishers of the Bobo books.
Bobo's body, arms, legs and ears are soft, slightly shaggy brown faux fur. The tuft on his head and his bushy tail are long ginger faux fur, left a bit wild, the way his hair looks in the books.
The face is cream plush. The eyes and nose are glossy black, the brows and smile are stitched, and the cheeks are tinted pink. His romper is velvety plush in bright red and royal blue, with a strap and a white button on the front.
All our materials are premium and hypoallergenic.
- Colors matched to the book pages you send
- Any size you need
- On request: poseable limbs on a wire frame, a sound module or LED lights
A character like Bobo usually takes 2-4 weeks. That includes a few spare days, because handmade work sometimes needs them.
We draw the pattern from the book pictures first, since a drawn character has no back or side view to copy. Then come the body, the romper and the tail. The face goes on last. Move the eyes a few millimeters and Bobo looks sleepy or startled instead, so we take our time there.
Before it ships, you get photos of the finished toy and can ask for changes.
We ship worldwide. Once Bobo leaves the studio, delivery usually takes 7 to 20 business days, depending on your country, the carrier and customs.
Around the holidays the post slows down and parcels can take longer. For a Christmas gift, order by November 1.
A toy of a bedtime hero often comes up for a birthday or a first day at kindergarten. Tell us when it has to arrive, and we'll check that making and shipping fit your date before you pay.
We've made toys to order since 2009. A child who knows a book by heart will spot a wrong stripe or a missing button, so the toy has to match the pages.
You see photos of the finished toy before it's packed, and you can ask for changes. If it arrives and you don't love it, you get a full refund within 14 days, for any reason.
The same promise covers every toy we make, from a picture book dormouse to a copy of a childhood teddy.
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Custom toys start from $350.
A bigger size or extra details can cost more.
Why?
No ready-made pattern. Your photo or drawing doesn’t come with one. Our artist builds the pattern from scratch and turns a flat picture into a 3D toy. It’s the hardest and slowest part.
Materials picked for your toy. The right color, fur length and texture. Sometimes we order fabric just for one project.
Sewn by hand. Every piece is cut, sewn, stuffed and finished by hand. The face takes the most time: move an eye a millimeter and the character changes.
You approve it first. When your toy is ready, we send you photos. Something looks off? We fix it before shipping.
One toy, not a thousand. A factory spreads design costs over thousands of copies. Here, all that work goes into one toy: yours.
That’s why prices start at $350. And on a personal order, if you don’t love your toy, you get a full refund.
