My daughter loves books and for this I'm extremely grateful. Except when I have to read her chapter books and can barely keep my eyes open through page 6 of Pippi Longstocking.
Or when she wants to read a book over and over again and she keeps asking me "What does this say, Mommy?"
Thankfully, she has an amazing memory and a wonderful imagination, so what she doesn't know she'll make up. But these days, she realizes that the books are saying something specific and she wants to be able to say it.
Enter LeapFrog Tag, a brand new learning toy (if you want to even call it that) that allows kids to read on their very own -- through the assistance of a battery operated pen that when scanned across special books actually says words out loud.
Sounds complicated, but it really isn't. Insert the batteries, turn the pen on, and touch the buttons in the special books, like Chica Chica Boom Boom, or Kung Fu Panda. The kids can either press a button to hear the entire page or scan over each word to literally hear it read.
The book comes alive with just the press of the pen, including words, games, and other fun things aside from just the actual book text. Thankfully, there's a volume button, and while the pen is a bit heavy, my four-year-old is able to work it.
My only two complaints:
a) More classic books! I love the book selection, don't get me wrong, but I'm not so keen on licensed characters and it would be nice to see more classic books as well.
b) Make the pen point wider! I know that's probably not going to happen, but in order to scan over the words, you've got to be SPOT ON, otherwise it doesn't work. It was a bit frustrating for me, but my daughter didn't seem to mind.
Overall, I think this is a FANTASTIC toy and we've already bought a few extra books to get us through the rest of the summer.
The Tag retails for $49.99 with books starting at around $12.99. You can find them online or at your local Target! And stay tuned for another review from Savvy Source -- that big gigantic widget on my blog. WOO!
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