CARBONDALE - As a grandmother of three, Rosemary Stratman said she keeps warnings of toy recalls in mind when shopping for the little ones.

This holiday, Stratman is shopping for 190 children, forcing her to be even more cautious of the recent explosion of toy recalls.

"It's always in the back of my mind," Stratman said Wednesday from the toy aisle of a Carbondale retail store.

While Stratman said she wasn't aware of a recall guide the Illinois Attorney General's Office made available last month, she checks the Web site often and recommends other shoppers do the same.

Looking at a list that spanned several pages of a notebook, Stratman said she was shopping as part of an Angel Tree program that provides gifts to children of incarcerated parents.

She had to put a few things back because of the recalls, she said, including the popular Dora the Explorer toy that along with other Fisher-Price toys was recalled in August because of high amounts of lead.

Natalie Bauer, a spokeswoman for the AG's office, said the 91-page Safe Shopping Guide is filled with hundreds of recalls, including toys, jewelry and other items. The guide, which lists items by name, photo and reason for recall, can be downloaded from the AG's Web site at www.illinoisattorneygeneral.gov or picked up from local offices like Carbondale's at 1001 E. Main St.

With the large number of recalls and the holiday shopping season in full swing, Bauer said she urges consumers to sign up to receive e-mail notification of recalled products at www.recalls.gov.

Other resources, Bauer said, include the Consumer Product Safety Commission's Web site at www.cpsc.gov and the AG's product recall hotline at 1-888-414-7678.

bethany.krajelis@thesouthern.com

351-5816