My son saw the new Learn Through Music system on display at our local K-Mart and fell in love. He played with it for a long, long time in the store. In fact, with its rather loud volume, I was afraid that a store employee was going to ask us to leave because we were disturbing the other shoppers. Because my boy loved it so much, and because it was a cool new educational toy, we went home with one that day.

What is the Learn Through Music System?

I think of the Learn Through Music System as Fisher Price's answer to Leap Frog's popular LeapPad line of toys -- all of which enable your child to interact with the special books. The Learn Through Music system is for younger kids (ages 18 months and up), whereas Fisher Price's new Power Touch Learning System is for older kids (ages 3 and up). The biggest difference between the LeapPad line and the Fisher Price toys is that the Fisher Price ones are activated by touch -- there are no special pens required. The special touch-sensitive light-up screen can be activated with just fingers alone -- perfect for younger kids!

The Learn Through Music system is attractively covered with musically-themed details, and is shaped like a lyre. The books/cartridges are inserted into the top and lock into place on either side (meaning that your little ones will probably have trouble removing the books themselves -- which is fine with me because that's an activity that should require parental guidance). The screen where the book is displayed measures roughly 5 inches wide by 4 inches tall and contains a grid of lights (that show up behind the pictures to draw attention to certain things). The grid contains 6 lights across and 5 lights down. An on/off switch is located on the back of the unit. On the front are left/right buttons for changing pages, a button to replay the song for the current page, and a button that plays questions concerning the current page. There is a handle at the top so your tot can carry it with ease. Another nice touch: the system is angled so that when the system is lying flat the screen is still angled toward your child.

A microphone is also attached to one side of the unit. It is cute and chunky with a large red button that, when pressed, amplifies your child's voice through the system's speaker. It is meant to encourage your child to sing along with the songs (but my son just likes shouting through it).

If the toy isn't played with for more than 10 seconds, it will prompt your child to press something. If you child doesn't touch anything for another 10 seconds, it will automatically shut off to preserve the batteries.

The Learn Through Music system requires 3 "C" batteries (included at time of purchase). It is recommended for children ages 18 months and up.

The Books & How to Play:

Currently there are 4 books available for the Learn Through Music system, with more to follow shortly. The books all feature popular children's show characters (Blue's Clues, Dora the Explorer, Barney, and Sesame Street).

Note: Be careful when making your purchase -- not every system comes with the same book. The book in the "display" system my son was playing with in the store contained a few pages from each of the 4 books currently available, which led me to believe that there was a single book that each Learn Through Music system came with, then you needed to purchase the character-based books separately. This is not the case! You have 4 options when purchasing the system -- each Learn Through Music system comes with ONE of the 4 available books. Because my son is a big Blue's Clues fan I initially grabbed the Blue's Clues book along with a system at random, then I noticed that I could purchase a system that already came with the Blue's Clues book.

The books themselves are like little scrolls. Your child uses right & left buttons on the system to change the pages. There are both pros and cons to this style -- the main pro being that younger children cannot destroy the paper pages (which is a possibility with the My First LeapPad). The biggest con is that you cannot get directly to a particular page (something that bothers my 2 year old, because he does indeed have a "favorite", and to get to it he must scroll through half of the book).

Each book has 15 pages/play-screens. As you move to a screen, a song will play. After the song, the characters will talk (continuing the story for that book). Your child can interact by touching the screen. The lights behind the screen illuminate what your child has pressed, or play in little dancing patterns whenever a song is played. They also sometimes illuminate things that pertain to the song that is playing (for example, when the song mentions "yellow" the lights illuminate something yellow on the screen). When the question mark button is pressed a character will ask a question concerning something on the page (be it finding something that begins with a given letter, or finding something that is a particular color, etc). Pressing the note button will re-play the song for that page.

After you reach the last page, pressing the forward button will rewind the book to the first page. If your child doesn't press anything for a while and the system goes into "sleep mode", it will rewind to the first page before it shuts itself off.

Each of the available books teach a different theme. The Sesame Street book teaches letters, the Blue's Clues book teaches colors, the Dora book teaches bi-lingual language and problem solving, and the Barney book teaches emotions & manners.

Specifics on the Blue's Clues Book:

The Blue's Clues book features Joe and Blue. Its main focus is on teaching colors. The story is basically the same as seen on the episode "Colors Everywhere". Joe (as played by Donovan Patton) does the narration/story-telling, and a song from the episode itself (the "Colors, Colors Everywhere" song) is also included on one of the pages.

Now, the whole idea behind "Blue's Clues" is that Blue, the puppy, leaves blue paw-prints on items to mark them as clues, then the clues are put together to solve the question of the episode. At first I was a bit dismayed to see that there were no blue paw-prints marking clues in the Learn Through Music book. Instead, when you reach a page with a clue on it, after the other dialog is done a child's voice yells "A clue! A clue!" then a light flashes behind the item as Joe identifies it. I wasn't happy with this new twist, because my son LOVES finding blue paw-printed clues, but after a few sessions with the Learn Through Music system I understood why they changed up the game. The reason is, the game is different each time! The question posed in the book, "What does Blue want to add to her painting?", has a different answer each time you play -- sometimes it's Green Puppy, other times its Purple Kangaroo, or Orange Kitten. If the clues were visible the game wouldn't be able to change each time you play. I love the fact that it is different every time, further extending the playability of the book!

Book breakdown:
The first page introduces the story, then the next 3 pages focus on the primary colors (red, yellow, and blue). The next page deals with mixing the colors to create a third color (red & yellow make orange, etc). The next page is a color game dealing with the primary and secondary colors. The next 3 pages are dedicated to exploring the secondary colors (orange, purple, and green). The next few pages deal with mixing of other colors (to make "tertiary" colors: aquamarine, chartreuse, marigold, violet, magenta, and vermillion). The 13th page is another color game, using all 12 colors taught so far. The 14th page has Joe using the three clues to solve Blue's Clues, and the final page is a celebration of Blue's completed painting. There is also a small picture of Joe's notebook and a Blue Paw print at the bottom corners of each page -- they re-announce any clues present when pressed.

Note: Although we purchased our system with the Blue's Clues book, the exact same book is available for purchase separately (should you purchase a system with a different book initially).

Our Experiences:

My 2 year old son absolutely loves his Learn Through Music system. I am not exaggerating at all when I say that he spent a full hour with it when we first brought it home. That is an incredibly long amount of time for my active two year old! He really is nuts over this thing.

The fact that the books contain characters that he knows and loves is a big reason why he's willing to spend so much time with the system. He is a huge Blue's Clues fan, and being able to easily interact with Blue and Joe holds big appeal for him.

My son also has a My First LeapPad that he's loved since he received it at his first birthday party. Because he was so used to his LeapPad, he initially thought that he was supposed to use the microphone to touch the screen (like he uses the pen on his LeapPad). While I still love our LeapPad, I would say that the Learn Through Music system does have some advantages. Being able to use your fingers to interact with the pages does indeed seem more natural than using a pen. The other thing with the LeapPad is that you must touch the green "Go Circle" to tell the book what page you are on. My son is pretty good about doing this, but sometimes he forgets, and other times he accidentally touches a part of the page that makes the LeapPad think that he is on a different page. This isn't an issue with the Learn Through Music system (or the Power Touch Learning System) -- it always knows exactly what page you are on, so the sounds and lights always match-up with the image on the screen. Also, because the book's pages are actually a part of the cartridge, you don't have the problem of getting the books and cartridges mixed up (my son has a habit of removing the cartridge from his LeapPad, then when he tries to interact the responses are all wrong). Another advantage is the fact that the books all contain characters that are very popular with the target audience. So far I'm very impressed. The microphone is another really great addition. My son already had a music toy with a built-in microphone (his Blue's Clues Sing Along Radio) that he has loved for a long time now. Back when he was learning to talk, we often used the microphone to encourage him to speak. Fisher Price really did some great things on this toy.

I do have some complaints, of course. My biggest is that there is NO VOLUME CONTROL!!! I find it almost criminal that such a great toy would be lacking in such a common-sense area. Not only is there no volume control, but the volume is LOUD. Louder than I would like. Someone really should kick Fisher Price for making such a silly omission!
UPDATE 11/03/2004
Apparently Fisher Price realized the error of their ways -- we were browsing our 2004 Fisher Price Christmas Catalog and see that the newer Learn Through Music Systems (which are colored slightly differently than the one pictured above) do indeed come with a volume control. It's about time! I only wish they had included it from the get-go, so ours would have one as well.
End of Update

A much more minor complaint is that we frequently get feedback when my boy uses the microphone. I realize that Fisher Price needed to keep the cord short so as to not present a strangling hazard, however it is so short that you often get too close to the speaker with it. It's gotten to the point that my son tries to copy the horrible noise (squealing in his highest-pitched voice) in an effort to copy the feedback when it happens. It is a bit amusing, but also annoying.

Concerning the book that came with ours (the Blue's Clues book), I absolutely love the fact that my little guy can interact with Joe and Blue and even participate in games with them. Again, although I'm pleased overall, I do have some complaints. One complaint is that they frequently use the tune from the Alphabet Song/Twinkle Twinkle Little Star to sing about the colors. I love the fact that my 2 year old can sing the Alphabet Song to recite his letters, and I was initially concerned that hearing so many alternate lyrics to the same tune might make him forget his alphabet. So far that hasn't been the case, but it may concern parents who are in the process of teaching their kids that alphabet-version of the song. The book does indeed do an excellent job of teaching colors, but I find myself wishing that instead of just saying "red" when my boy touches a red toy car, it would say "red car". My boy already knows his primary and secondary colors, so I think he would get more out of the book if it identified both the color and the object's name. Sometimes is does do both, but usually it just identifies the color.

Quickie Summary:
Pros:
+) On/Off switch
+) Touch sensitive
+) Choose your favorite book to go along with your initial system purchase
+) Additional books available
+) Books feature popular children's show characters
+) Attached microphone encourages your kids to sing along
+) Book & cartridge are one piece, so they cannot get out of sync
+) Built-in handle
+) Angled surface (so screen is angled toward your child)
+) Scrollable book mean that your tot cannot destroy delicate pages
+) Lights behind the view-screen illuminate objects, highlight what your child touched, or flash in designs and patterns across the screen
+) In the Blue's Clues book - a different game of Blue's Clues is played each time
Cons:
-) No volume control -- and it is loud!
-) Feedback
-) In the Blue's Clues book - overuse of the alphabet song's melody

Final Thoughts:

I really love this toy, and so does my son. It is obviously well thought out and makes education fun for toddlers. My biggest complaint is the lack of a volume control, which is a really big deal for me. I would have given it 5 big stars and two thumbs up if only I could turn the sound down a little bit. I still highly recommend the toy though -- you simply cannot get much more easy-to-use and full of educational fun than this!

For a small image of my son playing with his Learn Through Music system, check out my profile page here

Related Reviews:
Elmo's Savenger Hunt Book/Software for the Learn Through Music system

Recommended: Yes

Amount Paid (US$): 34.99
Type of Toy: Educational