December 2011 New Specialty Toys — Electronics

These walkie-talkies with cool LEGO styling stay connected up to a mile away. They are easy to use - one channel, simple push-to-talk-button and volume control.
— As of 10/26/2011 this product had 3.9 out of 5 stars from 37 reviews on Amazon.com. Pros: Easy to use; fun design. Cons: Batteries run out quickly.

TeeGee is a fully interactive, customizable stuffed animal capable of telling stories, singing songs, and playing games with children. TeeGee is able to interact with the world through smart accessories, speech recognition, and other modes of communication. Parents can customize TeeGee's behavior by downloading age-appropriate apps from our online app store or the iTunes app store. Launch date: August 2011.

AnyBook Reader is a reading enhancement and reinforcement tool enabling language and reading enjoyment and improvement. This flexible record and playback tool with 60 hours of recording time enables read-out-loud record and playback by parent and/or child, building experience, confidence and reading ability. By recording their own reading voice the child can reinforce their own reading performance and the ability to record and playback any book or text tailors the reading and learning experience to the individual child. With ease parents can “read” to their child whenever he or she desires. The AnyBook Reader uses a simple touch, record, playback process that allows users to record the words on any page of any book so they can read to their children or grandchildren even when they’re not there. The AnyBook Reader comes with a selection of AnyBook Reader stickers. Each sticker uses a unique code which allows users to associate different recordings with every page of the book. These stickers use special glue that won’t damage the book so they can be removed and re-used at any time.
— As of 10/25/2011 this product had 4.8 out of 5 stars from 6 reviews on Amazon.com. Pros:  A great way for distant family members to stay connected with kids; can be used with any book; stickers are reusable. Cons: Takes a little while to set up.

AnyBook Reader is a reading enhancement and reinforcement tool enabling language and reading enjoyment and improvement. This flexible record and playback tool with 15 hours of recording time enables read-out-loud record and playback by parent and/or child, building experience, confidence and reading ability. By recording their own reading voice the child can reinforce their own reading performance and the ability to record and playback any book or text tailors the reading and learning experience to the individual child. With ease parents can “read” to their child whenever he or she desires. The AnyBook Reader uses a simple touch, record, playback process that allows users to record the words on any page of any book so they can read to their children or grandchildren even when they’re not there. The AnyBook Reader comes with a selection of AnyBook Reader stickers. Each sticker uses a unique code which allows users to associate different recordings with every page of the book. These stickers use special glue that won’t damage the book so they can be removed and re-used at any time.
— As of 10/25/2011 this product had 5 out of 5 stars from 2 reviews on Amazon.com. Pros: Easy to use; Can be used with any book; a good way for parents and family members who live far away to connect with children.

A fun way to discover 100 everyday sounds. Children will be delighted to hear sounds that come to life when bar codes are scanned by using the Smart Pen.  Crystal clear technology teaches animals, musical instruments, vehicles, machinery and nature sounds. The sounds are recorded in high fidelity and are very realistic. 50 double sided learning cards are included for hours of learning fun. Launch date: July 2011.
Awards: 2011 Creative Child Toy of the Year