DreamGear’s $40 Elmo Plush Portfolio for iPad is every kid’s dream and every parent’s nightmare. A dream because I’ve yet to meet a child (my 2-year-old twins included) who doesn’t love Elmo, and a nightmare because once a kid gets a hold of this furry case, good luck getting your iPad back.

An officially licensed Sesame Street accessory, this portfolio case for the original iPad acts very much like Apple’s own iPad Case ( ). You slide the iPad into the case, and it securely holds the iPad in place while providing access to all the ports, buttons, the speaker. The cover protects the front of the iPad well, and secures the device with two strips of Velcro.

With an iPad in it, the case is about twice as thick as Apple’s, but also offers a lot more padding and protection—ideal for the intended audience. Like with Apple’s case, you can fold the cover back and tuck it into a tab on the back to angle the iPad on your desk for an easier typing angle, or to prop it up in either landscape or portrait mode for watching video.

What distinguishes this case from others, of course, is Elmo's smiling Muppet face, and the soft, fuzzy red material on the entire outside of the case. Although the shape is not very Elmo-like, my kids instantly recognized their favorite Sesame Street character.

One downside is that the case covers the ambient light sensor on the front of the iPad, so if you have the Auto-Brightness setting switched on, the iPad’s screen will be darker than it otherwise would be.

(DreamGear also sells a Cookie Monster version of the Plush Portfolio for the same price.)