One of the top items this Christmas is going to be the Parrot Minikit Slim Limited Edition.  If you need a handsfree speakerphone for your car, this is the one you should get.  Granted if you want something that looks a little less girly, don’t the limited edition.  The other ones are just black, but work just as good.  This sleek speakerphone works great in your car.  You can easily put it on the visor of your car and forget about it.  It easily adapts to your environment and can even easily fit into your pocket.  Now, this is so easy to use.  As long as your phone as bluetooth, the Parrot will automatically synchronize its phonebook with your mobile phone.  Now, it has an awesome text to speech function which allows you to just say who you want to call.  You don’t even need to train it!  If there are several numbers for that person, you just need to specify by saying home, mobile, etc.  You can even record a shortcut for your contacts, so you can call them even quicker.  I love that it is extremely hard to tell where the microphone is, and it doesn’t have any speakers!  The sound from this is awesome.  The other really cool thing is that you can use up to 5 phones with this, and it has multi speaker voice recognition.

If you know anyone without a bluetooth handsfree speakerphone, you have to buy them this for Christmas.  It is so much easier to use than a headset and it looks nice too.

Wipe Clean Letters is a must have book for any preschool aged children you have in your house.  This book comes with its own dry erase marker (and a place to keep it too!).  The book is made of cardboard, and you are able to wipe clean any work your children do in the book.  Each page has a litter of the alphabet on it.  it also has words that start with that letter or have that letter in it (example:  for s, you would see sinks on the page.) It has the uppercase and the lowercase letters on each page to trace.  Some of the pages even have a small activity to do on them.  Madison can spend hours with this book.  I love that it is teaching her picture and word recognition, and that it is still fun for her.  If you want a great interactive book, this is what you should get!

Brighter Minds Media has now introduced Bob The Builder Can Do Zoo. It has already been awarded three awards — that’s how good it is!  I let my greatest kid tester in my house try it out — that would be Madison who is 4.  Since we have gotten the game in the mail (thanks Family Review Network!), Madison goes around singing “Bob the Builder . . . We can do it  . . . Bob the Builder . . .  Yes we can”.  That has been my house for a week now.  However, I don’t actually mind all the much, because we really like this game.  As soon as I found out the Diner Dash (my favorite computer game ever) was behind this, I knew we had a winner.

Bob The Builder Can Do Zoo has 3 modes of play - Story, Free Play, and Sticker Book.  There is also 6 animal habitats to build,  7 unique learning activities, and hundreds of stickers to collect for building achievements.  There are three levels, so it is quite easy to pick the level that is best for your kids.  You are able to play in both English and Spanish.  There are also many skills taught through this game - problem solving, critical thinking, object classification, planning and time sequencing, pattern, size, and spatial recognition, and shape and color identification.

Why is this game a winner in my house?  That is actually pretty easy.  First, this game works on our desktop that is 8 years old.  Most games won’t work on there, and we actually consider that Madison’s computer.  When a game works on there, we all cheer for joy.  The second thing that I loved was that she was actually learning something while playing.  There are a lot of games out there that are just mindless, and I would much rather have her playing games like this.  Next, the price is right.  It should retail around $19.95 which is very cheap and affordable for a computer game.  Lastly, Madison can play this herself.  I didn’t have to help her at all.  She is only four, but that say a lot about this game.  It is truly simple and age appropriate.  Nothing is more frustrating than to get a game for her, and I have to play it because it is too hard to do and/or navigate.

If you are looking for a great Christmas or birthday present, I highly recommend Bob The Builder Can Do Zoo.  It was a big hit in my house and will be in yours too!

The Puppy Who Lost His Bark is a great book for a young reader.  It contains only 61 words which helps with word recognition for the young reader at your house.  The book is about a puppy who seems to lose everything from her ball to her bag.  I am surprised she didn’t lose her Manolo Blahniks shoes! Instead, the puppy lost her bark, so her friends must help her find it.  They look all over, but finds it in the park!  This is a short book that any little one will like.