"Twinkle twinkle little star
This is the most tedious toy by far…"
Well, ok, I would never make a living out of writing nursery rhymes, but this has got to be the most irritating piece of kit in my son's toy box. It's not a toy, as such, but a nursery rhyme book designed for babies over ... Read review
Six popular nursery rhymes in a hard page book with lights and sounds! This adorable ... more
Nursery Rhymes Book from VTech features 6 beautifully illustrated pages with 6 popular nursery rhymes to read and sing along to including - Hey Diddle Diddle, Humpt...
Postage & Packaging: £4.87 Availability: Usually dispatched within 1-2 business days...
Classic, best selling nursery rhymes book featuring 6 popular nursery rhymes, including ... more
Hey Diddle Diddle, Humpty Dumpty and London Bridge. 6 pages feature beautifully illustrated popular nursery rhymes to read and sing along to. Fun sound effects, phr...
Postage & Packaging: £3.50 Availability: Usually dispatched within 1-2 business days...
Advantages: Teaches babies nursery rhymes; bright and colourful Disadvantages: Temperamental
...
I spotted the Vtech Nursery Rhymes Book and decided to show it to my son who seemed to love it straight away. So that was it. Decision made - we were having it!
*** Description ***
This is no ordinary book. Oh no. It is made of a nice glossy plastic which can be wiped clean, which in my opinion is crucial if you have a young baby. Sticky finger marks, drool and who knows what else ends up on everything, so for ... ...parent of a child prodigy, Vtech are being a little optimistic to expect this, but they do rate their product from six months onwards. In fairness, though, I think the parents are expected to do the singing and the child will learn in that way.
The arrows I mentioned earlier in the review come into use when the nursery rhymes are playing. Basically, when you turn the pages, these rotate around the spine so the arrows are visible whatever ... more
"Twinkle twinkle little star This is the most tedious toy by far…"
Well, ok, I would never make a living out of writing nursery rhymes, but this has got to be the most irritating piece of kit in my son's toy box. It's not a toy, as such, but a nursery rhyme book designed for babies over six months old.
I had been looking for a suitable book for my six month old son for a while but nothing really caught my attention. He had been given a few very simple books as presents, which were great, but I was looking for something a little different. Then one Sunday morning, I was doing the weekly Tesco shop (as you do) and took my usual detour through the baby and toy department.
I spotted the Vtech Nursery Rhymes Book and decided to show it to my son who seemed to love it straight away. So that was it. Decision made - we were having it!
*** Description ***
This is no ordinary book. Oh no. It is made of a nice glossy plastic which can be wiped clean, which in my opinion is crucial if you have a young baby. Sticky finger marks, drool and who knows what else ends up on everything, so for cleanliness reasons alone, this is an ideal design. Now, when I say it is made of plastic, I mean EVERYTHING is plastic, so there are no flimsy pages which baby can rip
The 'spine' of the book is basically a tube with four squiggly holes where the sound comes out of. (Hmm - I will explain about the sound later in the review).
There are also two arrows down the spine - one red and one green - and again, I will explain these later in the review.
The front cover of the book is extremely bright and colourful and very pleasing to a child's eye. It contains scenes from all the nursery rhymes contained within the book.
There are six nursery rhymes, and therefore six pages in the book. These are divided into three sections of two pages each, and separated by two dividers - one yellow and one green.
*** Contents ***
Each page contains a nursery rhyme and a picture of that same rhyme. Only the first four lines of each nursery rhyme is contained within the book but it gives children the general idea of how to learn the rhyme and eventually read.
The six nursery rhymes in the book are as follows:-
Hey diddle diddle Humpty Dumpty London Bridge is Falling Down Ring-a-ring o'Roses Twinkle twinkle little star The wheels on the bus
Now this book is interactive, whether you want it to be or not. So for anyone wondering how a book can be interactive, I will explain all. There is a woman hidden inside it with the most irritating voice you have ever heard. For ease of reference, let's call her Betty. I kept expecting Betty to tell me that 'I had mail' each time the book was opened. Anyway, Betty's role in this book is to sing the first two lines of each nursery rhyme.
When you open the book, Betty sings to you "It's nursery rhyme time".
The idea of the book is that the child will listen to the first two lines being sung, and then the background music to that rhyme will begin and the child is expected to sing along on their own. Incidentally, does anyone know a six month old who can sing along to a nursery rhyme? Unless you are the parent of a child prodigy, Vtech are being a little optimistic to expect this, but they do rate their product from six months onwards. In fairness, though, I think the parents are expected to do the singing and the child will learn in that way.
The arrows I mentioned earlier in the review come into use when the nursery rhymes are playing. Basically, when you turn the pages, these rotate around the spine so the arrows are visible whatever page you are looking at. When the book is open, there is a nursery rhyme on either side of the spine. The red arrow points to the left and the green arrow points to the right. It doesn't take a rocket scientist to work out that you press the red left arrow to play the rhyme on the left, and the green right arrow to play the rhyme on the right.
It stands to sense that, when you eventually close the book, Betty will tell you it's "The End".
And that's basically all there is to the book.
*** The bad points ***
This book has one major problem. It starts up whenever it wants. For Betty to tell you that it's nursery rhyme time, the book doesn't have to be open. You can easily catch one of the arrows on the book's spine, and Betty thinks you want her to sing to you.
There have been a number of occasions where my son has gone to bed, all his toys are away in the toy box, we are watching t.v. and the house is all nice and quiet. And then you hear a little voice from the toy box - "It's story time". Yes - IT'S BETTY TRYING TO MAKE A BID FOR FREEDOM!!!
We do occasionally take Betty's - sorry, the book's - batteries out. Incidentally, this is one of the few toys that my son has which does not require a Philips screwdriver to remove the batteries - it just requires a normal screwdriver.
I also personally think that the six month age recommendation is a little young. My son wasn't really bothered by it and has only now just started to play with it at one year old - when I say play with it, it usually means throwing it across the room.
*** Batteries ***
The book runs off 2 x AAA batteries. Now with most baby's toys, the batteries run out quite quickly. With this book, they don't run out quickly enough!
*** My overall opinion ***
In principle, this book is a great idea. In practice, it can be very irritating. The idea of the child learning a nursery rhyme by example (i.e. someone singing the first couple of lines first) is excellent, but this book has one very big drawback. The least little knock starts it going and there is no on/off switch or volume control.
*** Price ***
I paid £9.99 at Tesco for the V-tech Nursery Rhyme Book. This was during the summertime so you may get a bargain on e-bay or similar.
...was designed as part of Vtech "Smart Step" programme which encourages children to develop reading, writing, speech and hand and eye coordination. My daughter received it when she was 14 months but it is suitable from 6 months onwards.
The book is made out of plastic and looks some what like a personal organiser. The plastic is very tough and has taken many batterings and has not been wounded yet!! The book is very bright and fun looking with bold ... ...book is specifically aimed at babies from 6 months old so the pages of the book are very easy to turn with colour tabs to help your child to turn the pages themselves.
As the book is made out of plastic it has been extremly easy to clean as you just wipe any mess off. Unlike many of my daughters other plastic toys such as bumbling bees and keyboards this book has no nasty corners or gaps to hide crumbs and dirt in. It is also very useful that batteries ...
emilyo 13.03.2004
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Ciao members have rated this review on average: very helpful Review of VTech Nursery Rhymes Book
Advantages: Tough, bright, fun Disadvantages: THAT voice
My son owns many Vtech toys and I have always found them to be fun and hard wearing. This nursery rhymes book is no exception. I bought it for my son for his first Christmas more than 2 years ago and his little brother aged 8 months is now getting plenty of enjoyment from it.
Vtech specialise in electronic learning toys, and that can only mean one thing: batteries. This book needs two 1.5V “AAA” batteries, which insert down the spine of the book. ... ...is also, unusually for a Vtech product, no volume control!
The book is made from colourful, rigid plastic “pages” attached to a large round spine and measures 7 inches x 5.5 inches. As well as the front and back covers, there are two central pages, which both have a chunky tab attached to help your child to turn the page. The book is aimed at children from around 6 months old, but in my experience, your child will need you to help them handle it ...
Ali1000 10.03.2005
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Ciao members have rated this review on average: very helpful Review of VTech Nursery Rhymes Book
Advantages: sturdy Disadvantages: the pages can be a little stiff to turn
...is one of the few Vtech products that I like and he still uses it to this very day if he can fight it off Elijah! The toy is basically a book that is made of plastic and when you turn each page it plays the song that is relevant to the picture. The rhymes are written clearly at the bottom in black text so the parent can sing along too. The six rhymes that feature in the book are Mary had a little lamb, Pat a cake, This little piggy went to market, ... ...star. This book is very sturdy and although it's been thrown around, there isn't a mark on it. The pages are made of the same thick plastic which makes it easy for little fingers to get hold of and turn with ease. It's also very bright and colourful which makes it extremely engaging for the young ones. I really like the fact that the rhymes are 'well known' so I could sing along with them from the start. Since we have had the book I haven't had to ...
claribella 19.09.2009
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Ciao members have rated this review on average: very helpful Review of VTech Nursery Rhymes Book
Advantages: Plays musical nursery rhymes, brightly coloured and talks Disadvantages: takes batteries
...It is made by VTECH and is part of the smart start series, these have been designed especially for encouraging children to learn and discover.
**** Design of book *****
It basically looks like a filofax, it is the same shape and size and has a multi coloured spine ( red, blue, yellow and green ) , and it is made of plastic. On the spine is 2 arrows 1 pointing left and the other pointing right, I will explain what these are for in a moment. It`s ... ...around £10 from most toy places depending on where you look.
****** Extra info ******
If you want more info you can visit there website at www.vtechuk.com and also find out about other products in the vtech range.
Thank you for reading my review
x Sarah ...
saznant 29.12.2003
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Ciao members have rated this review on average: very helpful Review of VTech Nursery Rhymes Book
Advantages: Hard wearing and educational Disadvantages: Like a lot of musical toys can be a bit annoying!
I was bought the Vtech Nursery Rhymes Book for my son for Christmas when he was 5 months old and was really pleased as I love Vtech toys as they are hardwearing and educational. This book is suitable for ages 6 months and over so for the first month I had to play it on my own, but once he was able to play with it he loved it.
****What is it?****
The Nursery Rhymes Book is a musical book for babies and toddlers, it is made of a hard red plastic ... ...the front it reads: vtech Nursery Rhymes Book and has a picture of a cow jumping over a moon.
***Description**** As you open the book it says “story time!” and as you close it, it says “the end”. There are 6 nursery rhymes throughout the book that are played when you press the button by them. They are:
1 - Mary Had A Little Lamb on a red page with the number 1 in the corner. There is a picture of some children playing with a lamb and the words ...
jens25 20.07.2004 (19.10.2004)
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Ciao members have rated this review on average: very helpful Review of VTech Nursery Rhymes Book
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