Bedtime dreams.

After 16 years of providing the public relations firepower for children's hits such as Yu-Gi-Oh, Pokemon and Bob the Builder, Steve Syatt has turned his talents toward his own dreams of licensed kiddie-toy stardom.

The Encino-based youth marketing specialist created a world of bedtime stories called Shushybye for his son, and now hopes to hit it big with a book, DVD program and other media avenues.

On tap is a short radio show for a children's channel on XM Satellite Radio. The company already has a distribution deal with the video unit of public television production giant WGBH Boston. Another company is creating a subscription-based audio service that will call a child at home with messages from the Shushies. And a variety of licensed products are scheduled to launch this spring, all by companies with whom Syatt had developed a relationship over the years as head of SSA Public Relations.

"The thing that's important in marketing is not to miss a trick in getting your message out there in whatever media you can--you can't wait for people to come to you," said Syatt, founder of Shushybye Co.

Syatt built a cult following with Internet sales and live events at regional Borders book stores featuring the adventures of Snoozles, Dozie and Zeez, characters whose intent is to motivate children to go to bed and fall asleep.

The bedtime strategy works like this: the vaguely Smurf-like Shushies, living in villages like Nap Valley and Snore Shore, spend their days creating wonderful dreams for children. The dreams are poured into boxes and loaded on a magic train steered by Conductor McCloud. Conductor McCloud delivers only to children who are in bed and asleep when he arrives.

Multimedia content includes lively tunes composed by Syatt to drive home the message to kids during the day and lullabies to calm them at night. Syatt composed and recorded the songs in his home studio, and called upon contacts in the publishing, music and animation industries to polish the productions, which include live-action costumed characters and CGI animation.

The Shushybye series has recently gained an endorsement from Family Magazine Group, publisher of the free-distribution Los Angeles Family Magazine. Last month, the publisher honored "Shushybye Dream Band Live on Tour" DVD as a 2005 Family Choice Awards winner in the preschool category.

"Products get into the home in a couple of ways: kids saying,

'Mommy I want this and I'm going to hold my breath until I get it,' and parents seeing something that's educational and has value for the child and saying, 'Sammy, I'm getting this for you whether you want it or not,'" Syatt said. "I wanted to create a product that appeals both ways. The road is filled with thrown-out kid stuff. And I don't want to be on that road."