After 20 years in corporate America, Chris Zaccaria stepped away from his full-time job to pursue something more personal: art. Following the loss of his mother and during a time when he was painting in secret, Zaccaria felt a sense of urgency to create something joyful and share it with the world. This feeling eventually led to the birth of Schnerds, a line of campy characters that now come in plush form. In September 2023, Zaccaria was commissioned to create “A Moment of Joy and Happiness,” a mural in Belgrade, Serbia, which features the Schnerds in all their colorful, zany, and welcoming glory, perfectly placed between a school and a playground.
Three months later, the artist quit his job and began working full-time on building the Schnerds brand. “After I painted [the mural], I was still there, and I had this realization… I was like, ‘Why am I so happy?’ What I realized was that until that point, my dreams and my goals had never been aligned. My goal was always to get this job, have this thing. But my dream was to be this creative person who’s a force of good in the universe.” That force is a collection of characters, each based on an emotion or experience, with a focus on communication and loving one another. There are currently five Schnerds in the lineup: Love Yourself Schnerd, Hobart, aka Trash Schnerd; Darlene, aka Blue Schnerd; Juniper, aka Schnerdmarine; and JimBob, aka Schnerdfish. Each Schnerd fosters traits of self-acceptance and resilience and comes with a Certificate of Adoption for kids to sign — a promise “to help this Schnerd navigate the Schnerdiverse in sickness and in health.”
Hobart reminds us to bring light and silliness into daily life. | Source: Schnerds
Zaccaria's mural in Belgrade still stands today. | Source: Zaccaria
Darlene is currently available for purchase. Arg will release during the holiday season. | Source: Schenrds
“I love the idea of these plush toys and characters being things that you can just use your imagination to play with,” Zaccaria says. The Schnerds team is continuing to expand the Schnerdiverse, with plans to develop animated Schnerds-themed shorts. This summer, two books aimed at kids in kindergarten through fourth grade are slated to be released: Darlene Is Going Through It and Hobart’s Sugar Habit. These titles build on Schnerds’ existing book, Schnerds Seek the Something, which targets an older audience and is available to preorder now. For the holidays, fans can welcome a new Schnerd, Arg, who embodies anger. Arg is angry because “he’s from the Gowanus Canal, so his home life is toxic,” Zacarria says. The Gowanus Canal is a polluted waterway in Brooklyn, New York, home to the Schnerds team. “[Arg’s] goofy because there’s an element of ridiculousness in anger…. It’s a reminder, to myself, included, when we act out, we don’t accomplish anything.” With the Schnerds’ stories fully developed and the foundation in place, attention is turning to driving sales and securing retail placement.
Zaccaria wants parents to know that Schnerds can help kids “feel more seen, to feel less alone, and to really understand that there is a place for them in the world.” A defining element of Schnerds is their embrace of neurodiversity, which is something deeply personal to the creator’s heart. “It came from the people in my life who were close to me, and just seeing them being well-intentioned and struggling to communicate what it is they were feeling,” he explains. Witnessing this shaped the brand’s central theme. Schnerds help people feel like they belong, no matter what, because they are “relatable… not aspirational.”
The Schnerds book 'Darlene is Going Through It' is releasing this summer. | Source: Schnerds
'Hobart's Sugar Habit' will also come out this summer and targets a younger audience. | Source: Schnerds
Becoming a part of the toy industry has made Zaccaria feel “significantly more optimistic.” “I always felt like I was a Technicolor person on a black and white background,” he says. “At Toy Fair and in the toy industry, it just feels like things are much brighter.” This year, Schnerds won the Warm Welcome Award, part of Toy Fair New York’s Reimagination Awards, honoring exhibitors with a hospitable booth.
Schnerds encourages everyone to be kind to themselves and to one another. For Zaccaria, art and toys are deeply intertwined, each offering a means of connection, imagination, and comfort. At its heart, Schnerds helps people feel less alone, sending a powerful message to kids and parents that we all belong. Schnerds invites everyone to embrace compassion, celebrate individuality, and ultimately, become a part of the Schnerds Herd. We at The Toy Book already are.
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A version of this feature first appeared in The Toy Book‘s 2026 Specialty Toys & Gifts Issue. Read the full issue here!
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