If you're worried about all the recent toy recalls, you might want to consult a new recall guide.

Illinois Attorney General Lisa Madigan recently published a recalled-products guide that details children's products recalled this year, including the product name, manufacturer and the unsafe features.

About 44 million items have been recalled in 2010 so far.

"As consumers' mailboxes fill with holiday catalogs, my Play It Safe Guide is one catalog parents can't afford to miss for their children's sake," Madigan said in a written release. "Parents have enough to monitor without trying to keep track of the more than 600 products recalled this year. This guide provides an easy way for parents to be sure gifts and other products in your home are safe for your children."

The Play It Safe Guide: Subscribe for Safety highlights recalled toys like dart guns, inflatable toys and tricycles. Recalled equipment such as cribs, high chairs and strollers are also included.

The guide also details how parents of newborns can reduce the risk of sudden infant death syndrome that kills 2,100 annually.

A pdf version of the guide is available on the attorney general's website at http://www.illinoisattorneygeneral.gov. Consumers can also request that a printed guide be sent to them for free by calling the attorney general's recall hot line at (888) 414-7678.

To keep pace with the number of recalls happening annually, Madigan also urged consumers to sign up for automatic recall notification. To do so, consumers should visit the Children's Product Safety Commission's website at http://www.cpsc.gov.

Retailers take action to remove recalled products from their shelves, but it also is crucial for consumers to be proactive and educate themselves on the products to avoid, Madigan said.

Toys and other items may already be in children's homes and places they visit, including the homes of grandparents or other relatives and day care centers, posing a significant threat to their safety, she said.

The guide may come in handy for shoppers who go to second-hand stores or shop online. Consumers need to be aware of the possibility that some second-hand sellers may not have kept up with the growing number of recalled items, Madigan said.

Last year, Madigan worked to amend the Illinois Children's Product Safety Act to expand the amount of time to 240 days that retailers are required to post recall notices for products such as strollers, cribs, bassinets and play yards. Increasing that time can ensure more shoppers see the recall notices in stores. Also, a new amendment to the Illinois Lead Poisoning Act requires certain children's products sold in the state to come with a warning label if the product contains even small amounts of lead.