The new Tag Reader

Leapfrog has done it again!  Just in time for the 2009 holiday season, they’ve introduced two must-haves for the kid into reading, audio books, or just plain do-it-yourselfing.

• The new Leapfrog Tag Reader has 32 MB of storage — twice as much as the old reader –  which allows it to hold up to ten full-length books, or even more of the delicious new phonics readers.  It still has all of the great features that it had before, including the ability to read a page at a time, a word at a time, and and to uncover new sound effects and dialogue hidden in the illustrations.

And now it comes in purple.  I mention that because that was a key selling point for my little ones, shopping for their cousin who is absolutely crazy about the color purple.  I didn’t find a pink one, but there is a special edition Disney Princess (Ariel) reader out there for those of you with little princesses.  [My boys are fine with just plain green.]

Tag books have always come in classic [Chicka Chicka Boom Boom, Green Eggs and Ham, Olivia] and Disney [Spiderman, Dora, Diego, Kai-lan] type books, but now there are more than ever before.  30 full-length books, to be exact, all with special features in the illustrations that range from sound effects to dialogue that complement the understanding of the text.  Leapfrog has also introduced the new

• Phonics readers, each of which introduce a new sound or two, with multiple-letter sounds highlighted so they are read as a unit.  The phonics books also allow the child to click on a special symbol and then touch a word to hear it spelled.  I didn’t think this would be a big deal for my just-five year old, but within minutes of unpacking the box, he was in his room, reading the book, and spelling out loud, “P-I-G, pig.” 
  

So yeah, they work.  I’m not saying they’re teaching him to read — that’s my job — but these books do serve an important purpose in the path toward learning to read.  The Tag Reader helps my child explore books in a way that goes beyond puzzling out the pictures at this almost-reading age, and helps him slow down and think about the parts of the pictures, the parts of words, and how the pictures complement the story told in the text.

They’re also fantastic for car rides.

The one caution that I would share with you about these activity books is that they are just that — activity books — and that they do not replace reading with your child, reading to your child, or teaching him a single thing.  But they’re a wonderful tv-replacement, or dvd-replacement on those long car rides across the country.  We’ve had ours for a year and a half, and the kids are still jazzed about them.

Edited to add:  Leapfrog’s Cyber Monday specials are now good until Thursday: Free shipping and up to 75% off books, readers, and gift packs.

Disclosure:  Leapfrog sent me a new Tag reader and two sets of phonics books for review.  I was not paid for this post or even asked to blog about it.  [I was so impressed with the new reader that I bought two for my little nieces, and books to go with them, on sale at Target.  Shhh.  Don't tell my nieces before Christmas.]

Shutterfly and VistaPrint

Amazing.  I ordered my Christmas cards from Shutterfly and adorable address labels ($3, including shipping!) from VistaPrint in a fit of nonproductivity (work-wise) on Wednesday, and they arrived Friday.

Two days, people!  Without any rush or special shipping or anything!

The holiday stamps I ordered from the post office, however, still haven’t gotten here.  Luckily I have a little time before anything HAS to be in the mail.

Typically I’m a traditionally day-after-Thanksgiving kind of person, but then I stress and wait for special prints or cards to arrive.  So this is pretty exciting.

Disclosure clause: Shutterfly, Vistaprint, and the U.S. Postal Service did not sponsor and are not even aware of this post.  And I promise not to mail my Christmas cards until the day after Thanksgiving.

 

Visiting Kennedy Space Center

My husband and I have always wanted to go to Kennedy Space Center together.

We wanted to go when we were in college.  We wanted to go when we were in graduate school (but by the time we were married and ready to travel, we were writing our dissertations).  We wanted to go when we worked for NASA (but we worked for NASA, and were way too busy to vacation.  Yes, I know (now) that that’s sad).  We wanted to go when we had children (but we had children, and were way too busy still).  We wanted to go when a mission I’d worked on launched (but, but, but … and we never went).

A couple of weeks ago, we just went.

Spurred by a question from Ellen, I’m writing up the highlights of our trip, here and on related (linked) posts.

The highlights of our trip to Cocoa Beach in October were many, although not all that varied.  We’re space geeks.  Period.  We love space.  And nature.  And space again.  This trip was a dream come true for us.

The first stop on the Space Coast was the Kennedy Space Center Visitor Center.  The visitor center is actually run by a professional visitor center company, Delaware Parks & Resorts, and it shows.  From the highly organized ticket-buying experience to the metal detectors to the visitor center food, it’s definitely done by someone who knows what they’re doing, and who can manage crowds.

Not that there were crowds when we were there.  It was October in Florida, after all, which I can tell you is a great time to go.  The crowds are thin, the people were relaxed, and the weather was absolutely gorgeous.  (Although the ocean was cold.  Not that we spent much time on the beach.)

We enjoyed the KSC Visitor’s Center immensely, running from the Robotic Exploration exhibit to the Constellation movie to the Rocket Garden, with a stop at the giant playspace full of tunnels, bridges, and slides for the younger set.  We took a tour (included with visitor’s admission), filed in to a shuttle mockup for a trip to space (kids under 48″ have to watch from a gallery — but even that was exciting), walked on the gantry that the Apollo astronauts walked, explored a full-size shuttle, and stood solemnly at the Astronaut Memorial.  We also touched a celestial sphere with the constellations engraved on it, and marveled as it effortlessly spun in the water base at the gentle push of a toddler’s hand.

One of the best parts of the trip was the KSC Then and Now Space History Tour, a three hour tour (not that kind of three hour tour) that took us onto Kennedy Space Center proper and over to Cape Canaveral, where all the Mercury and Gemini rockets were launched back in the 60’s and the unmanned rockets are still launched today.  Highlights for us were a visit to an actual bunkhouse, where we got to see and touch the ancient computers that filled the rooms, sit at a control desk, and stand behind the 12-layered glass where Werner Von Braun once stood.  We also went to the Apollo 1 launch pad, and solemnly put our hands on the launch structure where the capsule caught fire, burning Gus Grissom, Ed White, and Roger Chaffee alive.  This was followed by a quiet ride back to KSC, and a stop at the Saturn V center, where one of the last remaining Saturn V rockets is on display.

Included in our trip to KSC was a stop at the U.S. Astronaut Hall of Fame, next to the old Space Camp dorms.  The Hall of Fame had quite a few other attractions, including hands-on activities and simulators for the kids (that used to belong to Space Camp).  This was a fun stop, and although not a whole day’s destination, it was the perfect way to top off Day #2 at KSC.  (KSC offers a second day free at the Visitor Center and/or the Astronaut Hall of Fame simply by validating your ticket on exit.)

After the Hall of Fame, we were starving, and dropped by Kelsey’s for pizza.  Yum.

Before we left Florida, we happened on another great place to go, this time in Titusville.  The U.S. Space Walk of Fame Museum is for the true history buff and/or space-crazy child or teen.  This unassuming little museum is packed tight with real pieces of history, like the charred I-beam used to advocate for necessary funding increases for the space program back in the 1980’s.  The ragged door from a Mercury capsule that was lost before the manned program began.  Lights, switches, and memorabilia given to retiring astronauts, engineers, and launch directors.  Handprints from dozens of astronauts, that you can lay your hands in for the asking.  An amazing room-sized model of the shuttle launch pad, gantry, and crawler.  Rooms for Mercury, Gemini, Apollo.  A room set up like the bunkhouse that we’d just seen on the tour, but even more child friendly.  Scrapbooks of photos kept by men who made the space program what it is today.

We were led through the museum by retired shuttle launch director (whose name I’ve misplaced), who worked his way up through the Mercury, Gemini, Apollo, and shuttle missions, growing right along with the space program, and it was amazing to hear his stories firsthand.  This museum is free, and well worth any time you spend there.  Go, shake the hands of the men who made it happen.

The Space Walk of Fame itself is a block or two away, by a beautiful stretch of water, and it is a must-visit.  Scattered over the two block area of Space View Park are monuments to the Mercury, Gemini, and Apollo engineers, mechanics, flight directors, and all the people who made it happen.  Not just the astronauts.  Not the astronauts at all, actually, and that was a refreshing change from the astronaut-worship apparent at the KSC Visitor Center.  The Space Walk of Fame celebrates hard work.  Impossible work, really, and that was a lovely place for us to end our trip.

After a trip to Scoops, for freshly churned ice cream and milkshakes, we played in a nearby park and returned home, tired but happy, our trip complete.

Had we had more time, we would definitely have visited the Brevard Community College Planetarium, which hosts a rooftop observatory with 12 and 24 inch reflectors, a 6 inch refractor, a planetarium with a dual projection system, a 3 story high screened movie theater, and a space museum. The star show is showing Ring World, a favorite of friends of ours … and each show is just $6. We just ran out of time. We’d also like to see the Merritt Island National Wildlife Refuge, which friends of ours have loved on their trips there.  The Refuge is near the entrance to the Kennedy Space Center, and we’ll definitely make time for that on our next trip.

We can’t wait to go again!

Disclosure:  None of the institutions mentioned or NASA paid for any part of this trip in any way at all, nor are they aware of this post.  I used to work for NASA, and my husband still does, but I think you knew that already.

Hooray for Hands!

There are a lot of books out there for babies.

A lot.  I was never a fan of the one word per page, brightly colored object, or black-and-white pattern books (or mobiles) for kids.  My perspective is that the world is stimulating enough, and books are for stories.  Compelling stories.  Magical stories, even for tots.

I have lived that belief, reading my children wonderful stories by classic authors, with arcs appropriate for their age, but still, full of details and dialogue, characters and conundrums, puzzles for them to solve as soon as they were big enough to ask me, “Why, Mommy?”

But I know that there are different schools of thought on this, and so today I bring you the Begin Smart series from Sterling books.  Sterling recently sent me a box of books including “Animal Faces,” which is indeed a set of animal faces with a single word, “Look Around and Listen,” a book with a single illustration and a single sound on each page, “Baby Says,” a set of cards on a teether ring in the same genre, “How Many Beeps?” a truck book that helps baby count to five, and “Hooray for Hands,” a book aimed at 18-24 month olds with a little more “meat” to it.

Hooray for Hands is a very cute book, with engaging illustrations and a simple message.  It has charming rhymes and wordplay, rhythm and ideas, and positive, empowering messages, the kinds of things that I look for when I’m choosing books for my children, at even the youngest ages.  The emphasis on all the things that hands (and, by extension, toddlers) can do was great, and made my preschooler feel proud of all the things that hands can do.  This board book is a nice, well-thought-out addition to anyone’s gift list for 18-30 month olds.

As for the other ones?  I passed them on immediately to a friend in the blogosphere (and real life) who I know could use them more than me.  Because that’s the way I roll.

Disclosure:  Sterling Books sent me a box of books this fall for possible review. I am never compensated for reviews, nor do publishers, authors, or marketers have any control over what I write.

Wrapped in love scarf

I often get questions about what to do for friends undergoing cancer treatment, tests, or long bouts of recovery.  I’ve put together a page of ideas and links on how to help a friend, and, a year later, that page and the associated posts still get hundreds of hits a month.  It’s important stuff.  Today, I’d like to add to that list a little fun gift idea for friends in chemo, suffering a pregnancy setback or loss, or dealing with other tough stuff that no one should have to go through alone.

One of my new favorite gifts is the dressy wrapped in love scarf,  from Red Envelope.  This scarf is a linen/rayon blend, in baby pink, with the word love printed in varying fonts and sizes.  It’s a beautiful accessory, perfect for reminding those you love how very much you care, and it comes wrapped in the signature red box with bow that makes gifts from Red Envelope seem so special and out of the ordinary.  [Note:  This is the thin, dressy kind of scarf, not the warm and snuggly kind.]  An added bonus is that 10% of the proceeds are donated to the Susan G. Komen for the Cure, so purchases support breast cancer awareness and research.  This isn’t the reason to buy it, though (as pinkwashing never is; a check directly to the organization will do just as well).

The reason I like it?  I can send it to friends who are going through a tough time, and it’s a physical reminder of the fact that I do care, very much, and I wish them well through this difficult time.  This scarf (or a handmade prayer shawl, a quilt, or a sweater, if you’re craftier than I am) is something that can be shared between friends, treasured, and held on to in difficult times.  The only thing I won’t do with this scarf?  Keep it for myself.  It was made to be given away.

Disclosure:  Red Envelope sent me this scarf for possible review. I am never compensated for reviews, nor do publishers, authors, or marketers have any control over what I write.