I Know My Letters for Fisher-Price PowerTouch Baby; A Great Place to Start
Written: Jan 20 '05
|
Product Rating:
|
|
| Durability: |
 |
|
|
Pros: Features capital/lowercase textured letters; colorful, fun illustrations; easily recognizable animals and objects.
Cons: Another cartridge to keep up with; younger children will need help to 'read'.
The Bottom Line: PowerTouch Baby owners will enjoy having a variety of books for play, and I Know My Letters is a fun early introduction to the alphabet.
|
|
|
| krissingene's Full Review: Fisher-Price PowerTouch Baby Book: I Know My Lette... |
This past Christmas, my daughter received from her Gramma the Fisher-Price PowerTouch Baby Learning System, and with it, so many books that we haven't opened them all yet, nearly a month later. Although the system came with one interactive book, Baby Animals, I couldn't wait to open I Know My Letters and see Rachael's reaction.
Like all of the books available for the PowerTouch Baby, I Know My Letters is a thin book made of a coated paper - heavier than normal paper, but I still get the feeling that I could rip it without much effort if I tried. It is sturdy enough to hold up to less-than-gentle turning of pages, but parents should supervise babies when using the books nonetheless. Each page of the book, including the covers, has an indented tab at the top and one or more silver ovals; through contact with a series of oval sensors built into the system tray, these tell the PowerTouch Baby which book is in use, and which page is active.
The book is spiral bound and attached to a sturdy plastic spine, which bears the name of the book on the flat outer edge. The flat portion of the spine fits snugly into the center groove and snaps into place, locking at one point near the top of the book. Once in place, the book fits perfectly in the indented center panel of the PowerTouch Baby, and the pages turn easily on the spiral binding.
Each PowerTouch Baby book comes with a colorful plastic cartridge that must be inserted into the top of the system before play. The corresponding cartridge to this book is light blue in color, with a large sticker on the front that matches the cover of the book itself.
~* The Pictures *~
The front of this book features several colorful illustrations - a mouse eating an apple beside the letter A, another mouse sailing in a boat near the letter B, and a mouse sitting with an orange cat by the letter C. Even the cover of the book is interactive in several areas - a pleasant female voice names each letter and picture when touched, as well as playing several short melodies and sound effects when the mouse is touched (the crunching of an apple, for instance.) Each letter, printed in both capital and lowercase, has a raised texture for baby to explore.
The book opens to six colorful two-page spreads, all featuring the same cartoon mice from the cover with various objects pertaining to each letter of the alphabet. For example, the mouse rides an elephant for the letter E, holds a giant ice cream cone for I and scrubs a pig's back for P. With very few exceptions, the illustrations are of animals or objects that babies and toddlers will easily recognize - only a violin may be a bit foreign to them, and the robot for the letter R (the illustration for which looks suspiciously like Fisher-Price's own Kasey the Kinderbot.)
As on the cover, each series of capital and lowercase letters are textured, and the illustrations throughout are bright and colorful. The alphabet is printed across the bottom of each page in lowercase letters, with the letters featured on the page above highlighted.
~* Let Your Fingers Do the Talking *~
Each item on each page is touch-activated - the letters are all named when touched, as is the picture title appearing underneath (horse, owl, sun, etc.) Each picture is also identified when touched, in several ways - by name, by noise or by a brief sentence ("A tiger is an animal.") The mouse has his own series of sounds when touched - standing beside the tiger, he says "Hey, tiger!", "Isn't he grrrr-eat?", "Mister tiger is my friend!" and plays a short melody. The mouse has several sayings/sounds for each letter/picture combination.
When the alphabet across the bottom of each page is touched, the voice says the two letters appearing on that page, and then plays an instrumental version of the alphabet song.
At the top left corner of each spread is a red circle labeled 'story'. When in story mode, the unit first reads each letter and title on a spread, and then responds to the touch of individual pictures with a short melody, sound or sentence ("Yo-yo begins with Y.")
At the top right corner of the spread are a red circle labeled 'explore' and a green circle labeled 'surprise'. In Explore mode, the toy continues to explain the items that are touched ("Watch begins with W"), along with more commentary by the mouse ("Giddy-up!" while riding on the zebra's back.) In Surprise mode, the unit instructs you to touch something on that two-page spread. Baby is rewarded with an excited "terrific!" or "fantastic!" if the right object is touched; if the wrong object is pointed out, it says "you touched a (whatever it is). Now touch (next object)." I do appreciate that baby isn't reprimanded if the incorrect object is selected, only told what it is that she's touched instead.
Even the back cover of the book, which pictures the other books available for the PowerTouch Baby is interactive - touching the different covers results in the playing of a ten-second or so melody (I thought Old McDonald for the Little People Farm book was especially appropriate!)
~* The Good and The Bad *~
With it's fun illustrations and labeling of familiar objects and animals, I Know My Letters is a nice first introduction to the alphabet and to reading. However, several features of the PowerTouch Baby in general will make this book somewhat difficult to use for babies on the lower end of the 6-36 month recommended age range. Touching more than one picture at a time, for instance, may result in skipping or garbling of words, although younger users will lack the cognitive and motor skills to touch only item at a time.
Having any system that relies on cartridges for play also presents the challenge of keeping up with them - measuring about 3" across and 1.5" tall, you can see why they might be easily misplaced - and of course, the books won't work without them. Digging around the Fisher-Price website did not unearth any way to replace lost cartridges, and at $15 a pop for book/cartridge combos, they're not something you want to misplace. I keep all of ours (as well as several other types of small toys) in an empty and dried-out wipes container in the toybox, labeled for easy access.
If you have a PowerTouch Baby system, chances are that you'll tire quickly of playing with the same book over and over and want to add to your collection - I Know My Letters is one of the more educational titles available, and I'm sure my daughter will enjoy it more when she's a bit older.
~* Other Books *~
These books (and coordinating cartridges) are also currently available for the PowerTouch Baby:
Cutie Bear's Colors
I Know My Numbers
Little People Farm
My Fuzzy Puppy
~* Contact Information *~
For more information, visit Fisher-Price online at www.fisher-price.com or call 1-800-432-KIDS (1-800-432-5437).
~* Also By Fisher Price *~
Cradle Swing B0639 * Deluxe Take-Along Swing * Kick 'N Play Piano * Laugh & Learn Learning Phone * Laugh & Learn Learning Table * Link-a-doos On-the-Go Goldfish * Link-a-doos Teething Ring * Ocean Wonders Aquarium * Ocean Wonders Aquarium Bouncer * Peek-a-Blocks Barnyard Friends Blocks * PowerTouch Baby Learning System * Sesame Street Light-Up Pet Pals: Ernie * Sparkling Symphony Twinkle Dancer * Swim 'n Spin Fish Rattle
Recommended:
Yes
Amount Paid (US$): 15
Type of Toy: Educational
Age Range of Child: 12 to 36 Months
|
|
|
|
Epinions.com ID:
krissingene
|
 - Top 500 |
|
Member: Kristin
Location: Southern VA
Reviews written: 267
Trusted by: 119 members
About Me:
The strength of Motherhood is greater than Natural Laws. -Barbara Kingsolver
|
|
|
- Add to My Yahoo!: 
- Add to Google Homepage: 
© 1999-2009 Shopping.com, Inc.