NBK, Ltd., the parent company of The Literate Bear, was originally founded in 1996 as an upscale, custom gift basket business. Every gift basket designed was a one of a kind gift basket created with an exceptional attention to detail and the highest level of personalized customer service.

In 2005, NBK, Ltd. expanded to create The Literate Bear, featuring upscale gifts for children with an emphasis on encouraging Children's Reading Literacy. Recently, The Literate Bear shifted away from retail sales to focus on supporting and promoting reading programs for children. Our upscale baby gifts will periodically be featured at local craft shows and expos. R.B. The Reading Bear, and Tanya The Reading Dog, 2 very happy, warm, and friendly kid-safe animated characters, were designed exclusively for The Literate Bear to help encourage children to practice their reading skills and to help them feel comfortable about reading. Our Tanya character was inspired by a beautiful, happy and friendly Golden Retriever named Dichi Serious Frivolity (CGC, TDIA), a certified therapy dog that absolutely adores children and thinks that reading is serious fun! Please be sure to visit our Reading Dog Programs page to learn more about how dogs are helping children learn to read.

In 2009, NBK, Ltd. launched The Literate Dog, featuring a Gourmet Dog Bakery serving Illinois customers. Our Dog Bakery uses only the finest vegetarian certified Organic and Natural ingredients and all Gourmet Dog Treats are hand rolled, hand cut and baked fresh for each order. The Literate Dog Gourmet Dog Bakery specializes in custom/personalized imprinted Gourmet Dog Treats and custom party packages to cater your special canine event. Promote your business with an imprinted promotional gourmet dog treat - a great promotional item for upscale hotels with dog friendly menus, pet hotels, animal hospitals, grooming businesses, doggie day care facilities and more.

The Literate Dog is licensed with the Illinois Department of Agriculture as a Feed Distribution and Manufacturing Facility (Reg. # 7406-0). All of our Gourmet Dog Treats are registered with the Illinois Department of Agriculture. Our dog bakery is committed to producing top-quality, healthy and flavorful Gourmet Dog Treats. All of our Gourmet Dog Treats are 100% satisfaction and freshness guaranteed. Each order is fresh baked when the order is received to ensure maximum freshness and shelf life for our customers.