If you’re a parent or you’re new here and came for the giveaway, go ahead and scroll down. My regular readers and I need a moment…
I really dragged my feet on doing this. It’s been less than a week since I unveiled the new shopping blog for women and explained all of the reasons why I would not be doing mommy reviews. I got all huffy and indignant about marketers seeing women as moms to small children – and I stand by that indignation.
Of course, as fate (and possibly karma) would have it, that SAME DAY I got an email from a lovely woman who writes the Family Internet site on About.com, letting me know I had been chosen as one of ten bloggers to host a giveaway for LeapFrog.
Crap, crap, crap, crap CRAP! I kind of panicked internally. My reputation and integrity is very important to me and, dang it, I meant what I said about being a voice for women who are not moms at all or not just moms.
But, my word is also important to me. And although I’m not getting paid anything from anyone – I had said it was OK for Christy to add me to the list of bloggers to be considered when she emailed me and I agreed to host the giveaway if I was selected. Granted, I figured the odds of that were very, very slim (surely these people check out if the blogs are accepted by Evil Panera IT Department before choosing!) – but still. I said I would do something, and I’m going to do it. Even if the timing is not so great. And people will say that I don’t owe anyone an explanation and it’s my blog and blah blah blah – but I hope you guys know that I feel like we – me and you, the people who come here every day – are in this together. You’re a hell of a lot more than another pageview or subscriber to me and I don’t ever want you to doubt for a minute that I’m anything less than honest with you or that the promises I make to you – though few and far between – don’t mean something to me.
I’m not ashamed to admit that your respect is important to me, because I know you guys. And you’re people whose respect deserves to be earned and cherished. I hope you’ll be able to respect that doing what I say I’m going to do is important to me.
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LeapFrog Tag Giveaway
The prize for this contest is ideal for kids who are learning to read or are learning to appreciate books. (My daughter is 4 and I’m not expecting her to be able to read aloud to me yet, but she is starting to pick up words because she gets read to a lot. She’d be perfect for this.)
Jack, tell them what they’re playing for!
The Prize:
(Photos provided by LeapFrog)
LeapFrog is giving away ten LeapFrog Tag Reading System Bundles – and one of them can be won right here. This bundle comes with Cat in the Hat, Green Eggs and Ham (possibly my favorite Dr. Seuss story ever, second only to Oh The Places You’ll Go) and Ozzie & Mack (which comes with all LeapFrog Tag Reading Systems.
What the heck is a LeapFrog Tag Reading System?
I’m glad you asked! Basically, it’s a pen that can read books to your kids. This doesn’t replace you reading to your kids, but it can help them read a word, an entire sentence, or a book all on their own. Independent play is good for kids, too.
The Nitty Gritty – How you can win:
This contest requires a little more work than most of the other giveaways we do here. It’s a two step process – but I think you can handle it.
1. Read the review of the LeapFrog Tag Reading System on About.com
2. Come back HERE and leave a comment telling me 1 product feature that you like or don’t like. Use a valid email when you comment, because that’s how you’ll be notified if you win.
Other Official Stuff:
1. This contest is sponsored by LeapFrog – which is good news for you because I almost always forget to mail out prizes if I’m the one in charge of that.
2. This contest is part of LeapFrog’s 1 Million Reading Hours Pledge. You can go there to win lots of stuff too!
3. This contest (on this blog) runs from today (March 14th) through Saturday March 21st. You have until Midnight on March 21st to leave a comment here to enter.
4. Winners will be chosen at random by me and notified at the email address used to comment.
5. I am totally awesome, but don’t normally run parent giveaways here. Just so you know. So I won’t be offended if you don’t declare you’re undying love for me.
6. You really should though. Because I’m awesome. My mom told me so.
Ready, set, go!
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Posted in Sponsored Posts - PR, ads, reviews, sponsored giveaways Tagged: books, contests, disclaimers, giveaways, integrity, LeapFrog, LeapFrog Tag Reading System, reputation
The option to turn on full frontal nudity is awesome.
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Others may hate this part, but I *like* that it uses AA batteries, because I personally have a ton of rechargeable AA batteries for stuff like cameras and other digital items. When something comes with a built-in rechargeable battery, a lot of times it’s not replaceable, which automatically makes it have and end-of-life in 1-3 years.
Using normal AA’s mean I’ll never have to deal with an un-chargeable battery.
Other Official Stuff:
- you misspelled “your”
- it’d be nice if you let people get an extra entry by tweeting this post, but don’t do it this time because, well, that’d be lame.
- lame is the new retarded.
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Really? I’ve had my eye on this baby for a long time… I do worry that it would detract from the time we spend together reading, I feel that this one on one time is just as important as reading. Still. I want it really bad and I cry myself to sleep every night at the thought of the fact that my daughter might not be reading Shakespeare by age 4, so please… enter me in your contest.
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I like the convience of using batteries but would like it to have the option of an AC/DC adapter for car use. Or perhaps when the battery supply has run low!
Being a grandmother trying to raise this sweet little boy after raising two girls and without knowing all the new items available is a daunting task!
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No entry for me — my kids are too young for this, but as a regular reader, I wanted to respond to the other half of this post. You’re right. Women aren’t simply mothers to small children. But for some of us, it’s an integral part of who we are, so you’re not selling out by including products that speak to that part of our beings. So take it as it comes and do what feels best in your gut. But if you could find me the perfect eye cream, that would be great, too.
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Silas needs this. I need this. We have batteries. Even though I LOATHE batteries that I can’t charge up by plugging in.
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Sell out!
Haha – just kidding Seriously. Doesn’t bother me a bit!
But my kid is way past this, so I don’t really need an entry. (But she did love her Leapfrog.)
I just wanted to tease you.
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I like how the pen helps them with words they may have trouble with. My daughter is just learning to read and is doing very well.She is a big fan of the DR her favorite is Fox In Socks.
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My daughter has this and I love it. I still sit and read with her (she’s 4) but when I am cooking dinner or doing something else and she wants to read….she can do it like her big brother…all by herself. I would still like to enter though
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I like that you can click on pictures too and play games. I’m in!
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I like how the Tag system is useful for a number of age groups and how it *grows* with your child. All to many of the toys we buy the boys outgrow very quickly.
We had the leapjr years ago. I can hardly believe how well it held up with my boys using it.
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I like the idea that it uses AA batteries because it means it doesn’t matter where you live, you can still use it!
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I like that it empowers kids to learn the words but helps if they get stuck (pen reads aloud) but the downloading of the stories from the internet is kind of annoying to be perfectly honest. Why don’t they just include the pen pre-set with the book?? At any rate my pre-reader would love it. Kids are way too techno-savvy these days.
K.
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Hi Britt,
I’m not a parent but I do believe that just as being a mom doesn’t make you less of a woman or person, being both of those does not make you less of a mom.
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WAIT! I am not entering the contest…
Sorry -
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i dont like that it only holds one user profile. i would have to buy three of those suckers for my brood, but i still like them
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I’m gonna go with a negative on this one. If you have to pay 7.99 to download additional stories…there definitely should be more memory! It’s like throwing money out the window!
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Dignity not so overrated after all huh? A giveaway like this only days after the #edenfantasys extravaganza?!
Just kidding- its your blog, you do what you want!
Jessica
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okay – so my kids are beyond this…but my nephews aren’t. So I want to enter the contest…because then I’d be the wonderful aunt who gave them a “toy” that requires batteries!
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I like how the LeapFrog system uses AA batteries… which I think is the exact same that the Eden Fantasy Massager uses. This way they’re interchangeable!!!
Please give my entry to WHALL… since I have zero use of this item.
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Sounds like a decent product. It would be nice if the pen was rechargeable, but rechargeable batteries would be almost as good.
It’s pretty pricey though, it would be great if each kid had their own pen…fewer squabbles to referee. I would buy them for my two youngest grand kids, but when my kids were little they definitely would have had to share one.
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My 5 year old would love this. It is a bummer that the pens can only hold one profile, but since the 8 year old can read, I guess it is a non-issue.
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single drunk woman with no childrean commenting. BUT, i have awesome little relatives who would lvoe that this fucker “can read a page of the story, the entire story, or just one word at a time.”
seriously, don’t apologize for offering a great prize.. just coz i don’t have kids doesn’t mean thast i don’t know kids./
hell, i took a kid to the st. patrick;s day parade today. stayed sobver for the parade, i promise.
well, not promise. his mom was there. and sober. doing the driving. i go to do the drinking. yaaaaaaaaaay for designated drivers. who have kids. that would love this priaze. give it tome.
wait. to. me. not one word.
dammit.
does a drunk entry count as an entry?
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dear leap frog people,
i don’t normallly drink this much. irish girl loves her st. patrickk’s day. still love me?
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I love the fact that there are no cartridges to lose and I also have a couple of sets of re-chargeable batteries for cameras, wireless mice, and x-box controllers. So those things are covered.
What I dislike is the fact that it only holds five or so books. Thats like only having five different dvd movies to watch or only listening to five songs on your Ipod.
It is a huge step up from the large notebook that they started out with, no doubt : )
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I like that it helps struggling readers to enjoy reading. If I win, I will use this with my beginning readers. Great contest, Britt.
J.
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I love that it can read the entire page or a single word. My daughter would love this.
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Hey Britt, no flames from me. I’m not a mommy, so I hear you about blogging on other aspects of our life and not getting stuck in that rut of only seeing ourselves through the parenthood lense.
On the other hand, I’m an aunt, and I’m a consumer who is responsible for getting gifts for the niece and nephew, so winning something like this would fulfill one of my roles in life!
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I see no problems with reviewing and/or promoting products for kids on occasion. it just makes you well blended.
I wasn’t really thrilled with the storage limitations on the pen. Only five books? Really? I can imagine those five stories getting old really fast.
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I also do not like that it only holds 5 books at a time. I wonder how easy is it to change the books out?
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My son was reading when he was 4 years old. My grandson can’t read a word at four. BAAAAWWW…something is wrong with my grandson. Know what would help him? A Leapfrog!
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It would really help me out here… my son wouldn’t grow up to be illiterate. Being as we live in the South, this would be a huge plus.
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As my husband says, “my word defines my character. If I say something, I have to stick with it.” But, I think that goes for everyone but me! LOL
Great contest, but my daughter is six and just read Green Eggs and Ham, all by herself! Which I think is cool because that was the first book my son ever read by himself, too.
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What I love about this system is it’s portability. We have an old LeapPad that my 7&8 year old used but it was heavy and cumbersome to drag around. The 2&4 year olds will love this!
And your mom is right, you are awesome!
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I love that you can update the unit via the internet! Great!
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I personally don’t see any problems with giving away something like this. So it is a bit more “mommy blogger” oriented, but this sort of thing doesn’t necessarily need to be used just by mommy bloggers. Some bloggers are teachers or aunts or grandmothers or sisters or whatever that can use this for their students, nephews/nieces, grandkids, or brothers/sisters. And if they don’t, well, they don’t have to enter.
I want it because it has Cat in the Hat and I love Dr. Seuss. But I’ll hold off for someone who would have a more immediate use for it. However, if there was Green Eggs & Ham, I’d be all over it!
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i like that it holds 5 books at a time, but I don’t like the fact that it’s only 1 user profile. Maybe I’m just weird like that.
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Going from sex toys to LeapFrog. Hey wait, isn’t Leap Frog a sexual term? lol
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I like the fact that stories are downloadable off the internet. With having a laptop and WiFi capabiities, I could download new stories for my kids anywhere if necessary. It sucks a bit that the pen only holds 5 stories at a time; however, if you can save them to your hard drive and switch them out when the whim hits your kids, then I don’t see a problem with that.
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I like that it uses AAA batteries instead of watch batteries.
Also? I don’t judge you for what you do here or at your review site. I will admit that I only run contests or whatever over at my review blog (with a link from my personal blog) to maintain a modicum of separation.
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I teach kindergarten and I want one for my classroom. For me, the pen only holding 1 user profile would be a bummer. But I know that the students who are struggling would benefit greatly from using it.
MJ~~a poor public school teacher in the rural South
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Not in love with the idea of all of that updating, but it does sound like a great tool for helping kids crack the code of language.
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I enjoyed the about.com article. The “cons” helped me assess if this would be something I’d wnat to buy for my child. I hope LeapFrog reads the article and takes it’s advice about developing a better pen. Thanks for this giveaway and GLTA!
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I pledge to rad 20 minutes each day to my little ones.
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You are wonderful for hosting this giveaway because you care for the person that asked you to! I like the feature that allows the reading system to read one word, one page or the entire book to a child. Many thanks for the chance to win this for my two sons. Cindi
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I like that there is a headphone jack in the pen (something that my daughter gets very excited about!) Thanks for the chance!
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I was so totally ready to jump in here before I’d even read the review, because I’m so not digging the reading homework to boy gets, and neither does he.
So what if it Requires Internet access to download audio for new books – we’re all about the modern age here, the boy even knows how to get onto his favourite sites, so a little more internet usage round this place is hardly a biggie.
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I should start leaving comments on a regular basis
I subscribe to your site and love it, but I’m a lurker. Sorry!
I have a daughter in Kindergarten. She’s just learning how to read, and she’s struggling with it. I think that this would benefit her greatly, because she does love stories. However, the internet being required is kind of a bummer if you want to take it somewhere where you won’t have internet access. But overall, I think it would be nice to have.
Thanks for posting this! I don’t think you’re selling out… who doesn’t like a good giveaway if it’s a product you want?
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One of the things I don’t like about this product is that you can only have one user profile on the pen. I have 4 nephews, 3 of which are at the perfect age to be interested in this product, but since i can only store one childs profile it makes it harder (well, impossible) to share. I do like, however, that even though you can only store 5 books at a time, that there aren’t any cartridges or memory cards to pull out and put into the pen.
Thanks for this post and free giveaway!
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I like that the pen will interact with the pictures, too, because that will make it more fun for the kids to read.
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Having only one child, the fact that the pen can track only one user profile is no problem for me, tough I can see how irritating it would be for a parent of multiple children.
I do like the fact that you can “cyber stalk” your children and find out how long they are spending with a story. It will help identify thier interests as well as thier struggles if thwy are not learning quickly.
Regardless of what I do and don’t like, just pick me because you are AWSOME Britt!
Does your random generator search for all caps or the words “you are AWSOME Britt”? If not, it should!
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dear britt,
the thing i like most is that it features Dr Suess stories .my children adored them . but then i moved to england 25 years ago, and now have grandchildren who have never heard of Dr SEUSS, and it would be terrific to introduce this wonderful author to a whole new country!! well some of it anyway!while keeping a tradition alive.
thankyou for letting me share,
jan x
clearwater florida
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I totally LOVE that you can use the pen with the pictures and to play reading comprehension games!! That makes it even more awesome!!!
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The limited storage. My son loves to read, so he would need space for way more books than 5. Oh well, we’ll get over it.
luvdamall[at]aol[dot]com
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I love that it allows you to see what your child is learning and how they are progressing.
I dislike that it only holds one reader profile. With four grandchildren who are regulars in my home this could become a problem. But should I be special enough to win I will just load it with my profile and they can share. LOL
Thanks!
dbkagrayson2002 at gmail dot com
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One feature I like is that it tracks data so you can see how your child is doing with a particular book.
talonsmom731 at gmail dot com
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I like that it has a headphone jack. I don’t like that it only holds books and can’t read my mind.
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Well, I wish it had capacity for more than one user. Seriously, pairs of kids are going to hate that.
That being said, please enter me in the contest!
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i did try,to reply obviously not a goer dear britt,
i would love to be considered as i want to take this to the u.k. and introduce DR SEUSS to the grandkids on our return and other children there.
a heritage thing.
bless you poppet,
jan uk/clearwater fla.
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I like that it can read to the child. My nephew is three, and he also has autism, so I could see this as being a valuable toy for him.
But seriously? Five books? It needs more books.
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I dislike the long process to install a new story, but love everything else about it!
) Thanks for hosting the giveaway – even if you didn’t really want to! ;o)
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I really like this idea-I just hope there is a big variety of book they can use it with.
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This isn’t an entry to the contest. What Britt fails to mention is that the contest participation came with the honor of being selected as one of Family Computing @ About.com’s 10 “must read” mom blogs. Britt, you can blame the contest on me!
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I like that it can read individual words. What a great way to encourage independent reading!
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I like many things but I don’t like that each pen holds only. one user profile. I’d still like to win it though.
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I agree with the headphone jack in the pen thing. Anything that can keep my little one entertained without me having to listen to obnoxious toy sounds gets a thumbs up from me. Thanks!
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I saw this product advertised on TV and immediately wondered how teachers would weigh in on this learning tool. After reading the product review, it appears that it encourages and reinforces reading skills, tracks how long a book takes to read, etc. Appears to be worth the investment. Found your website immediately by “googling;” Thanks for the information and the opportunity. My granddaughter is in first grade, and reading isn’t at the top of her list. I hope that this will change that!
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