If you are going bananas trying to find new, interesting family travel attractions in New England, may we suggest The Curious George Store in Cambridge, Mass.?

This delightful Harvard Square store is the world’s only brick-and-mortar retail store that sells everything Curious George.  Curious George books and DVDs, toys, stuffed animals, clothing, greeting cards, home decor, mugs, totes and party goods saturate the colorful, one-of-a-kind store at every step. Curious, the Man with the Yellow Hat, Professor Wiseman, Allie, The Doorman, Mr. and Mrs. Quint, Chef Pisghetti and Netti, Jumpy Squirrel, Hundley, Compass and a host of other Curious George characters show up in one merchandising form or another here!

Owners Adam and Jamie Hirsch have clearly evolutionized the mom and pop store concept withs if Curious George Store while paying great love and respect to the original authors. Hans Augusto (H.A.) and Margaret Rey created the Curious George character while living in Paris. After escaping Nazi controlled Europe, the Reys lived in several places over many years. Fortunately, the Reys brought their Curious George manuscripts with them and in 1941 Houghton Mifflin published the first Curious George book. The Reys finally settled in Cambridge in 1963, thus bringing the Curious George empire to this wonderful city (the home of Harvard University and Massachusetts Institute of Technology) just outside Boston.

There actually was a Curious George-themed children’s bookstore in Harvard Square for many years, but that closed in 2011. Fortunately, the Hirsch’s opened The Curious George Store in April 2012, and the response has been overwhelmingly good. At any time of the day, crowds can be seen, and everyone seems to enjoy being there — that includes well chosen, enthusiastic hired staff.

For you budget travelers that follow our blog, we are happy to report that The Curious George Store features many affordable items for sale. Visitors from all different income levels can come out of here with something compatible with their budgets!

Kudos to the Hirsch family for preserving and celebrating the Curious George culture with The Curious George Store. Young families will especially like the store, but anyone with even just a slight admiration for Curious George will enjoy this unique travel destination.

The Curious George Store is located at 1 John F. Kennedy St., Cambridge MA. Tel. (617) 547-4500