Henry Bear’s Park has been in Cambridge for a long time! The (mostly) children’s store was opened by Sally Lesser on Huron Avenue in 1976, named after a kid’s book published the same year. There’s now 10 branches, all in the Boston area, and still one in Cambridge with a wide range of plush toys and puppets, toy cars and tractors, Legos, Hula-Hoops, jacks, Bananagrams, dress-up clothes, coloring books, fidget toys, science kits, matching games, night lights – I could go on. Happily, it also has a very friendly staff who will help you find the right thing if you get overwhelmed.
Squish toys are a trend that started maybe 10 years ago and are still incredibly popular. Henry Bear has lots: squishy-squeezy bananas, Oreo cookies, butter sticks, balls and more. Staff told me they’ve had to put limits on certain very popular kinds – for example, only a few NeeDoh, by the North Andover company Schylling, are allowed per customer. (Even so, they were completely sold out when I visited.) Another item staff finds difficult to keep in stock is a little button labeled “30 Second Dance Party.” When pressed, it plays 30 seconds of one of its six tunes. It’s very fun.
And there are lots of engaging children’s books. In its previous space, two doors from the old Porter Square Books, the store’s lease specified it could not sell books; owners were happy to bring them back when it moved to its current location in May 2025.
The front of the store has shelves of stuffed toys, cats, dogs and teddy bears, of course, as well as octopuses, capybaras and some of the ever-popular English Jellycat line. The front also features a kid’s table with colored pencils and designs on paper for coloring, good if you want to distract a kid when you’re buying them a present.
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More Jellycat stuffed toys at Henry Bear’s Park. (Photo: Marc Levy) -
Henry Bear’s Park has been able to sell books since a move in 2025. (Photo: Marc Levy) -
NeeDoh squish toy sales are limited per customer. (Photo: Marc Levy)
I described Henry Bear’s as a “mostly” children’s store, because it stocks lots of things adults would like – including a few I sold at my former store, Joie de Vivre. Lava lamps in many colors and sizes, Magic 8 Balls, some really difficult puzzles and brain-teasers. Adults also like to do things with their hands, and the store carries Speks, a line of sophisticated fidgets not necessarily appropriate for younger kids. My favorite was a “Disco Decision Ball,” a glittery version of the Magic 8 Ball.
As I was bidding the staff goodbye, they asked me my birthday. I’d just had one. They urged me to write my name on the August birthday bulletin board and whipped out a glass “birthday bowl” filled with little animals in plastic bubbles to choose from. Now I have a tiny white cat watching me write this. Henry Bear’s Park is a very nice place.
Henry Bear’s Park, 1957 Massachusetts Ave., Porter Square, Cambridge. The store is open seven days a week. It also offer gift wrapping.
