March 2009 Notable Toys — Books

Surfs up and Moo is ready to spend the day at the beach making cowpals and building the perfect sand castle!

In this starter package, You get a cow, a story-book "Meet Moo" -- the story of Moo's life and a starter journal "My Mooments with Moo" to scrapbook your photos aka moomeries. Hopefully, Moo’s storybooks will inspire your child to cowtinue her tales with her Moo Cow.

Join Moo Cow as she experiences another adventure in her book series! Moo's first birthday party! Moo invites her friends and family over to help share in her first birthday party! Moo shows off her hostess skills.

Moo enjoys her first Christmas Season with a trip to the city to meet Santa, holiday cookies, decorations and, of course, holiday gifts! Grab a holiday cookie and read all about Moo's holiday fun!

The Handstand Kids Chinese Cookbook kit features easy-to-learn recipes, such as The Great Wall of Chicken Lettuce Wraps, while teaching about the Great Wall of China; and Kung Pow! (Kung Pao Tofu), which shows characters doing karate. The Handstand Kids Chinese Cookbook introduces readers to the Mandarin language and comes in an adorable takeout box with a pair of child-friendly chopsticks. "The Chinese Cookbook introduces kids to the language, culture, and food of China in a delicious and healthy way! Children learn about new countries while gaining cooking skills that will assist them in being healthy and interested in the world around them," Yvette Garfield, creator of Handstand Kids, told TDmonthly. Launch date: May 2009.

Teddy, bib, pacifier, sheep: The charming illustratedpictures fuarantee first watching and reading fun. In these handy books children will discover lots of familir objects and will learn to name and read!

Suitable for children in grades K through 4, this activity book covers basic geometry through exercises that include drawing shapes of animals and more advanced practice in shape analysis and logic.

This 18" play doll has a soft, cloth body, brown eyes and beautiful dark brown hair. She wears a bright tunic, matching flats and stylish denim knickers, and comes with a "Friends" paperback book.

This activity book is designed to hold children’s interest and they build fine motor skills, and features more than 200 age-appropriate learning activities and 284 stickers.

This activity book is designed to hold children’s interest and they build fine motor skills, and features more than 200 age-appropriate learning activities and 284 stickers.

Press a song button on the guitar and sing along to popular children’s songs. Lyrics are printed in the book. Roll the bar on the guitar to play the melody note by note. Includes five song triggers.

Kids help Thomas take photos from around Sodor. “Digital camera” module includes buttons for five spread animations with sound effects, a flash snapshot button, and a slideshow button. Kids watch the LED animation and press the snapshot button to capture a still ‘photo’ that they can then view by pressing the slideshow button. Each spread animation can have six ‘photos’ and each ‘photo’ is accompanied by a sound effect.

Children will love using the real working flashlight included with this book to cast shadows on the book and the pop-ups that are on each spread. The flashlight includes five fun sounds. 

Children can sing along with their favorite characters using their own detachable digital MP3 player! Each book spread features the lyrics of four songs, each with its own icon. The child can select the corresponding icon on their MP3 player to hear the song. The MP3 player includes Play, Shuffle, and Stop buttons. On the LCD screen, a simple animated icon – one for each of the 20 songs – is also displayed.

Steering Wheel books feature a steering wheel mounted on a telescoping base that raises and locks into place. Sound triggers, including the horn button on the wheel, make realistic vehicle sounds to accompany the story. Each spread features the story with illustration on the left-hand page, while the right-hand page shows what the child sees through the “windshield” at a particular point in the story.

Trigger 25 magic moments including sound, character voice, and melodies by touching the “magic” spots on the page with the magic wand. Or wave the wand in the air to hear sparkly magic wand sounds.

Box set includes a storybook that makes three fun sounds and a plush toy of the character in the story.

Welcome to the Pit Crew! The Tool Box book helps readers join the team by letting them use three tools while reading the story. Hear the click-clack, tap-tap, and ratchet sounds by interacting with the shaped buttons. Press the illustrated buttons to hear Lightning’s engine rev and other race day sounds.

Created with the help of developmental education experts, My First Story Reader® is the younger sibling of the bestselling Story Reader®. It is geared towards beginning readers and features a smaller design that is friendly to little hands. Place one of the included sturdy board books into the reader and plug in the story cartridge to let the fun begin. Activities include first steps to reading, sound identification, matching, shapes, and colors. The reader features three big light-up buttons that play silly sounds.  Available storybooks feature favorite characters.

The bestselling and award-winning Story Reader® is a book that reads itself. It makes reading a fun experience and lets kids learn to love to read at their own pace. As each page of the book is turned, a narrator reads the page, while Story Reader® adds effects and music. Story Reader® is easy to use: parents or children simply insert the story cartridge, insert the book, and turn the page to let the adventure begin. Story Reader® boasts an ever-growing range of titles featuring favorite characters.

Gisela sat dreaming of her special costume. She could hardly wait for the great procession to begin in the village. All Hallows Day was a great holy day and Gisela was ready for a feast!

As Nana Star continues her journey to bring the baby star back home to the heavens, her new friend Blue Wolf shows her that she can do anything she sets her mind to as long as she has the courage to believe in herself. Storytime and sing-along CD included. Launch date: February 2009.

At home or away, little adventurers will enjoy engaging in wild pastimes with magnetic Sudoku, tangrams and other games, and venturing on safari in imaginative play scenes. There are 18 games, puzzles and play scenes, more than 100 magnets, a zipper bag for storage, and a handy flip-over magnetic back cover. Launch date: July 2008.