What are Zhu Zhu Pets? You may not know, but odds are great that your children do. On the market for about two months now, these interactive toy hamsters are at the top of every kid’s Christmas list as well as being at the top of the Toys R Us Hot Toys of 2009 list. In fact, they are being compared to Cabbage Patch dolls in their incredible popularity as well as in how scare they will be this holiday season.

Interactive toys can be both entertaining and educational. Kids like the entertaining aspect, and parents see their value as educational opportunities. Zhu Zhu pets do not teach your children letters or numbers, but they do teach them how to be responsible for a pet and as so are a good way to gauge how well your child might do with a real hamster. You don’t have to feed them, clean up after them or make sure they have water, but they do encourage loving, nurturing and giving attention to.

There are five of these toy hamsters: Mr. Squiggles, the explorer; Pipsqueak, the daredevil; Chunk the surfer dude; NumNums the food lover; and Patches, who loves flowers. Two are male, and two, female. They actually interact with their environment with cute little sounds when they purr, brush their teeth, or flush the toilet. They have two modes , active and loving. In their active mode, they scurry across the floor or scamper through their very own fun house. In their loving mode they respond to petting with noises of appreciation, and may even become so relaxed, they yawn and fall asleep.

Using track bumps to trigger their artificial intelligence, they move from room to room in their home, run on their hamster wheel, play on a corkscrew slide, roll about in their adventure ball and even mount surfboards and skateboards as they zoom about your living room. At night, they each have their own colorful blanket in which they curl up and sleep in anticipation of the next day’s activities.

Zhu Zhu Pets are disappearing from store shelves even as you read, ready to appear under Christmas trees everywhere this holiday season. Make sure you have at least one of the little guys or gals under your tree. You’ll love the look of excitement on your child’s face as they meet their new hamster friends!

Meet Chunk, Pipsqueak, Mr. Squiggles, Patches, and NumNums, five intelligent hamster “friends” who have landed at the top of the Toys R Us 2009 Hot Toy List. These miniature versions of highly sophisticated interactive robots have their own unique personalities, sounds and, as this Zhu Zhu toy review will show, accessories galore.

Hamsters as clever as Mr. Squiggles, Chunk, Pipsqueak, NumNums and Patches deserve more than an ordinary metal cage. In their own hamster fun house, they interact with their environment in amazing ways by using track bumps to trigger their artificial intelligence. In the bathroom, you’ll hear them flush the toilet and brush their teeth; in the bedroom snoring sounds and the ring of the alarm clock let the little fur balls rise and shine, ready for another day of racing around in exploring mode, or snuggling up to their owner in loving mode. They also spend time in their kitchen and enjoy the ease and accessibility made possible by their tunnel room connector. Lots of openings in the rooms will allow for future add-on modular components, which attach to the main fun house, as well as accessories tailor-made for each of the little guys’ and gals’ own, unique personalities.

The add-ons and accessories in the Zhu Zhu Pet toy review include: a hamster wheel which attaches to the fun house (each of the hamster quintet can get on and off the wheel all by themselves and make appreciative sounds as they run), a sporty blue Hamstermobile convertible in which they will zoom around when they are tired of running on their own four feet, a snug little garage for the car, an adventure ball which is great fun to roll about in, and a ramp and slide with a cork screw twist. Beach hamster Chunk travels in search of the perfect wave with his own surfboard and sleep dome. Adventure-loving Mr. Squiggles loves to go to the hamster skate park U-turn add-on and race across the floor on his own skateboard.

The top-selling add-ons or accessories with the highest fun ratio as determined by kids and parents, are the funhouse, the adventure ball, and the hamster wheel.

Rounding out the Zhu Zhu Pet toy review are each hamster’s colorful blankets and pet carriers. After all, when their fun-filled day of loving and exploring, rolling and chattering, sliding and skating and surfing are over, they need to rest up for the next morning when the ring of the alarm clock signals a brand new day.