If you are looking for a very affordable gift for kids ages 3 – 7, then you must get the Poingo.  With the Poingo, you are able to touch pictures and/or the text, the their favorite characters are brought to life with either music, sounds, and words.  The best part is that the Poingo starter kit is $34.99 and is available at Target, Toys R Us, Walmart, Costco, Sam’s Club, and BJ’s Wholesale Clubs.  It comes with the pen shaped Poingo and two large hardcover interactive storybooks.  This is definitely affordable, and the starter kit is awesome.  You don’t have to automatically buy another $100 worth of books right off the bat.  You have a working system right from the start.  The book choices are excellent.  The books that came with ours are Cars and Finding Nemo, so it was definitely right up my kids alley.  These movies are favorites in our house, so my kids had a definite interest in the books.   They also have Sleeping Beauty, Cinderella, and Winnie The Pooh.  The pen itself is simple to use.  All you have to do is click it on the part of the book with the words, and it will read that whole section.  You can also click on the images and for sound effects.  There are words that are highlighted also, and you get a definition of the word.  You can also click on images and find out what they are or get a cool sound effect.  Madison is actually able to take this and read the book by herself.  She loves having that kind of independence.  My kids love to read, so this is really a naturally progression for them.

This is one of the best affordable educational toys on the market for kids.  I recommend checking it out — you can even try a demo here.

Ever watch WordWorld on PBS? If so, this word magnet set makes perfect sense. If you have never seen the show, the best way I can describe it is that is a cartoon.  The characters in the this cartoon look like what they are like a bee.  However, their body spells what they are.  You can see what I mean by looking at the image on the right.  This is for kids three and up.  However, I found that my 18 month old loves it too (I just need to keep an eye on him, so he doesn’t try to eat the pieces)!  You get 7 3D word magnets, 5 flat magnets, and a 2 sided fold and go play mat.  The kids love the magnet aspect of it.  I love that this doesn’t require batteries.  It requires my kids to use their imaginations and make up stories.  I also love that it has its own carrying case, and that the magnets have their own spot in the play map.  This has been a hit in my house, and I can definitely see it being a hit in yours.

Tim and Sallys Vegetable Garden is another great children’s book.  This book is about two siblings learning how to plant their garden.  We learn about how and when to plant different seeds, what tools are needed, and how to tend to the garden as the vegetables grow.  The book is written in verse, so the lines rhyme which is a skill we are currenlty working on with Madison.  She noticed the the lines rhymed right away, and we are glad to reinforce something we have been working on.  The illustrations in Tim and Sallys Vegetable Garden definitely compliment the story too.  There is also a word list at the end of the book that we also have been working on with Madison.  There is a picture of each item that was in the garden and then what it is is listed underneath.  Lastly, at the very end of the book, there is a Garden Journal, where your little ones can put down their own thoughts about their garden.

Right now is not gardening season here.  However, I have a feeling we will be reading this book a lot more come spring!  Every time we read this now, Madison wants to know when we are planting our garden!

Another great children’s book to get this holiday season is Tim and Sallys Beach Adventure. The first thing you will notice that the lines in the his book rhyme. I think that helps keep my kids attention, because they really like this book. Madison is always talking about going to the beach, so reading about the beach was right up her alley.  This is not a long book.  However, it is broken up into sections such as “They Get Started” and “They Are In Sight of The Beach”, so you can easily break down this story into several sections (and several nights of reading).  You get to read about swimming in the ocean, the animals that inhabit the beach, the tide, and sandcastle just to name a few things.  I really like the word list at the end of the book.  It has a pictures of key things in the story like bathing suits and crabs.  Then underneath the picture they have the word.  Since we are working with Madison with reading and sounding out, this is perfect for us.  It makes it a lot easier for her to sound out the word if she has a clue what the word is.

If you want a great story, Tim And Sallys Beach Adventure is a book you need to get at your house.  Mom and dad will enjoy it just as much at the kids.

I See Me! are some the best personalized books out there on the market.  I was able to look at a couple of samples, and I am impressed.  My kids love the sample books, so I am seriously considering getting them their own.  There have several different books to pick from, but I am just going to review the two that I received.

The first thing that jumps out at you is the illustrations in this book.  They are some of the most detailed I have seen in a kids book ever.  My Very Own Name has each page spelling out your child’s name. They also have a cute saying to go with it.  Being that we are working on letter sounds and spelling with Madison, this is something very helpful to us.  When you get to the end of the book, your child’s name will be completely spelled out (first and last).  There also is an animal encyclopedia.  It tells you about each animal in the book.  For example, an elephant can weigh up to 13,000 lbs and a daddy emus sit on the eggs to keep them warm! This book also includes your child’s birthday and a dedication from the sender. This is definitely for both boys and girls from 0 – 8 years old.

My Very Own Fairy Tale is for girls ages 0 – 12 years old. This book has fairies spelling your little girls first and last name in rhyme.  The illustrations in this book too are awesome.  You just don’t see this in kids books.  At the end of this book, there is “The Fairy Patch”.  It is a listing of all the fairies in the book.  Each fairy is named after a plant, so they is also a little bit about each plant.  For example, we learned that growers harvest cranberries by flooding their fields with water and iris is the Greek word for rainbow.  This too has a personal dedication in it from the sender.

Both of these books are a hit in my house.  This is definitely a great gift for not only your children, but for that kid in your life that seems to have everything.  These books have already gotten hours of use at  my house.