When I was a kid, I was in 4-H. Throughout my 4-H years, I recited that pledge so many times that it became ingrained into my subconscious. To this day, I can still spit it out without missing a single beat. There are a lot of things in our lives that we hear so much that our brains can process them in their original form. Singing 867-5309, hearing the little old lady's voice squeaking "Where's the beef?" or even some educational tidbit that one of our teachers pushed at us every single class... I had an economics professor in college who insisted we know who the chairman of the Federal Reserve was so it was a daily question and showed up on every quiz or test.
When I became a mom, that process took an entirely different turn. My brain found itself cluttered with children's songs and stories ad infinitum. It's fun to be able to sing along with the kids, but when you read the same book for the thousandth time, you just want to scream. "Sorry, honey. I'm not sure where that book went. Are you sure you put it back on the shelf last night?" Knowing good and well that I've accidentally misplaced it in a really good hiding spot. Don't shake your head at me... you know exactly what I'm talking about.
Thankfully, I had the opportunity to try out Poingo
, a new product from Publications International, LTD. Our last excursion into this type of reader gadget was with the LittleTouch LeapPad that I thought we would use more than we really did. It was hard enough to keep track of the booklet, but worrying about the cartridge and the booklet was a pain. (Which would explain why it was the last time we purchased something like this.) Anyway, the girls are older and needing things that encourage independent play and the Poingo fits this to a T. Their motto is "Fun right out of the box" and it's very accurate. When the package arrived, Miss K was on hand to check it out. 
I literally opened it up and sat down on the couch with her to show her how it worked. From the very first time I turned it on, she impatiently awaited her turn repeatedly stating "I can do it, Mom." and "I can do it myself." So I handed it over to her and the rest is history. At least it was until Miss M showed up and wanted to try it too. Then it became a battle of "My turn!" comments., a new product from Publications International, LTD. Our last excursion into this type of reader gadget was with the LittleTouch LeapPad that I thought we would use more than we really did. It was hard enough to keep track of the booklet, but worrying about the cartridge and the booklet was a pain. (Which would explain why it was the last time we purchased something like this.) Anyway, the girls are older and needing things that encourage independent play and the Poingo fits this to a T. Their motto is "Fun right out of the box" and it's very accurate. When the package arrived, Miss K was on hand to check it out. 
Oh, I haven't told you what it does. It's a book and a pen. NOT CONNECTED to each other. There are a variety of books, including Cars and Finding Nemo that come with the box set. Other titles sold independently are Cinderella, Sleeping Beauty and soon to be released High School Musical and Hannah Montana. The pen already has several programs in it's memory so once you purchase a new book, you can just open it and go. For newer stuff, there's a download feature, doing away with the concerns of keeping track of related cartridges. The pen uses a mini-scanner to "read" microscopic symbols on the pages of the Poingo-enabled books. Touch the box containing the story and it recites the story. Touch the underlined words and it gives a definition of them. Tap the pictures of the page and be surprised by music, trivia related to what was just recited, general trivia related to items or characters in the story and even interactive games.
To be completely balanced, I need to explain that this IS NOT a word recognition program. It tells the story out loud, but isn't actually reading the specific words on the page. You can't click on a word and it tell you what it is - unless it's underlined. So for beginning reader, Miss M, she kept resetting it while following along. Whenever the pen would near an underlined word or a sound box, it would start over at the beginning of that story box. She finally got the hang of it and now manages to follow along without bumping those. And she really enjoys the interactive question/answer sections.
Poingo can be purchased for around $34.99 and is currently being sold at Target, Walmart, Sam’s Club, Toys R’ Us, Costco and BJ’s Wholesale Clubs. Individual books are available for $9.99 each. But if you really, really want to try it out... here's your chance to win one!
The Prize
One Poingo Reading System-2-book Set (approx value $34.99).
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Rules:Participants -
...must provide an email in the first comment, email me directly with an email address or have email accessible from their profile. Winner has 72 hours from posting/notification to respond. If winner cannot be contacted, I will move on to the second random selection. Seriously, I hate having to move on to the runner-up and since I haven't gotten the PrizeyWinners thing to work, please make sure that you provide an email somehow.
Sometime on November 25th, a winner will be chosen at random (using random.org) from all comments left. Although I would love to say that I'll be using PRIZEYWinners, I can't be sure since I haven't been able to figure out how to do it yet! (Honestly, I'm about to throw in the towel.)
How to enter:
For the first entry -
(1) Check out Publications International or Discover Poingo.
(2) Come back here and mention which Poingo book your child would love OR what other Publications International product would make a great Christmas present for someone on your list.
For additional entries -
(a) Earn three additional entries by adding my button to your sidebar. Come back here and leave a comment stating that you did so.
(b) Link to one of Publications International's websites Discover Poingo, Publications International, or Books for the Holidays. Come back here and leave an additional comment stating that you did so.
(c) Earn three additional entries if you publish a post regarding this contest and link back to it. Come back here and leave a comment providing the link to your post.
(d) Leave an extra comment if you subscribe to my feed.
(e) Follow me using the Blogger feature at the top of the next column. Of course, don't forget to leave a comment.
I want to thank Publications International for a wonderful product that pushes the envelope in children's edutainment. Moms (and dads) everywhere will be thanking you for providing a product that allows kids to read these stories by themselves!
Be sure to stay tuned - I have some great giveaways still to come!
My daughter would LOVE the princess books- she is really in that stage right now. This would be awesome for us.
Your button is on my sidebar
My daughter would love the Cinderella book.
ttbabe08@gmail.com
What a wonderful giveaway prize!
My sons would love "The Lion King" book a a lot. Please enter my name in your drawing. Many thanks, Cindi
jchoppes[at]hotmail[dot]com
I am subscribed to your feed via my Yahoo Reader Page. Thanks, Cindi
jchoppes[at]hotmail[dot]com
My son would love the Cars book
Omg, my daughter would love any of the princess books!
bootyemo@yahoo.com
My daughter is just starting to read and loves Princesses! Can Canadians enter?
My daughter is a big Sleeping Beauty fan, so I'd love that book!
Put your button on my sidebar ~ http://momcontests.blogspot.com/
I blogged ~ http://momcontests.blogspot.com/2008/11/one-poingo-reading-system-2-book-set.html
I'm following your blog.
My daughter would love the Cinderella book. Thanks for the giveaway!
my son has one of these on his Christmas list, so to win it would be wonderful! he loves Disney Cars.
talonsmom731 at gmail dot com
I've never seen this before, but looks great! My son would love the Cars book the best; thanks for the chance!
Cars or Finding Nemo would definitely be the pick for my little guy!
preppymama@gmail.com
I'm a subscriber through bloglines!
preppymama@gmail.com
I added your button to my blog.
"PreppyMama.blogspot.com"
preppymama@gmail.com
The Princess book is our choice!
My nephew and son would love to read the Cars book! My e-mail is in my profile. Thanks!
the cars book looks like so much fun
meatlesschulent gmail
Definitely the Nemo book!
livlifelov at yahoo dot com
My son would love Nemo or cars. Thanks for the chance to enter!
princess3sah(at)cs(dot)com
I'm following your blog!
princess3sah(at)cs(dot)com
And I have your button up, thanks!
princess3sah(at)cs(dot)com
My son would love the Cars book.
I put your button on my blog.
My little guy would love the Lion king book
My nephew (and my son!) would love the Cars book. Thanks for the giveaway!
My son would LOVE the Cars one!! These look so fun!! He's super in to books, but gets very frustrated that he can't read them himself yet.
libby_design(at)yahoo(dot)com
My daughter would love the Princess books or the Finding Nemo book. She would be super excited to get this, and I would too (yup I have hid the books too!) Thanks for the chance to win.
mandee220(at)aol(dot)com
I'm a subscriber :)
mandee220(at)aol(dot)com
My daughter would love Sleeping Beauty or Cinderella. She loves princesses.
And she loves to hear books over and over and over and... well you get the point.
ourhappyhappenings (at) gmail (dot) com
I subscribed.
ourhappyhappenings (at) gmail (dot) come
I'm following you ;)
ourhappyhappenings (at) gmail (dot) com
My daughter would love the Finding Nemo book. Great giveaway, thanks!
I added Poingo to my link list. Thanks!
My son would love the Nemo book.
offthespaceship at myway dot com
I subscribed via email. Thanks!
I am now also following your blog.
My daughter would love, love the Cinderella book -- her favorite character at the moment. Thanks!
Megret
musesofmegret (at) gmail (dot) com
My daughter would love the Cinderella book.
My son would love the Cars or Nemo book, thank you so much.
My son would love this! I checked out Poingo website and this looks really neat, I would like to have the Cars book for my son. Thank you for entering me.
Sara
marriedroses@yahoo.com
My son would LOVE the Cars book. Thanks for the giveaway!
treflea4 at gmail dot com
I suscribed via email! =) Thanks!
treflea4 at gmail dot com
My daughter would love to use the Poingo with a Cinderella book. Great for beginning readers!
Thanks for the giveaway!
foxsquirrelrabbit at gmail dot com
My niece would love the princess books. She was a princess for Halloween and she is all about the princess stuff for now. She would love this for Christmas. Thanks for the giveaway!
Blogged ya:
http://mommyland512.blogspot.com/2008/11/poingo-giveaway-at-sahm-reviews.html
My daughter would definitely love the Nemo book! She loves nemo and loves all things sea related!!
ladeebug224 at hotmail dot com
I have added your button to my sidebar!
ladeebug224 at hotmail dot com
Cinderella and Sleeping Beauty for my two princesses.
This house loves the Disney Princess' so either Cinderella or Sleeping Beauty would be a hit here.
Subscriber
Just added your button
We would love to check out Lion King!
This looks great and my kids would love the CARS book.
i think my toddler is going to like cars and finding nemo!
charm32 [@] ymail [.] com
please find your button in my sidebar at http://www.lifescharm.net/blog
i'm a new subscriber thru google reader
i have linked Discover Poingo in my sidebar at http://www.lifesacharm.net/blog
i have blogged this giveaway
http://www.lifesacharm.net/blog/?p=354
My son would love the Cars book!
nicolerenae(at)gmail(dot)com
My son would really love the Cars book. Great teaching tool!
penguinchick@comcast.net
My daughter would love the princess books. I swear, the princess-ing is being attempted by my sister-in-law and her daughters...and it's working! LOL
hematopoiesis at hotmail dot com
My son would love the Cars book. He would also like the Lion King and Finding Nemo books. He will be 5 on Dec.23rd. This would be a great gift for him. Thanks for the chance!!!
hottmomma_03@yahoo dot com
I can say, without a doubt, that the Cars book would be the big hit around here! Thanks for doing such a detailed review, I knew that the Poingo was cool, but it's nice to hear what it actually does and how it really works (from a person, not the site).
When the High School Musical books come out, those will be my daughters' fave@
Cars, Sleeping Beauty or Cinderella would all be hits here. My kids have a Leap Pad and I sure would love to retire it!
Ooo...either Nemo or Pooh would be so great for the kiddies! :)
Blogged ya for an extra entry:
http://ourhappyhappenings.com/2008/11/giveaways-everyday-thursday-edition/
ourhappyhappenings (at) gmail (dot) com
I also linked to Discover Poingo.
ourhappyhappenings (at) gmail (dot) com
My son would love the Pooh's Wishful Thinking, heck they are mostly Disney, he loves all of their characters!
phillipsonlygirl at gmail dot com
Your button is on my blog!
We are email subscribers
We follow!
This would be amazing! I think he'd really like nemo and cars!
THANK You soo much for the chance!
entry 1 for adding your button...
entry 2 for adding your button...
and entry 3 for adding your button
I'm following your blog now!
HS Musical Yearbook
jceko77@yahoo.com
I subscribed
jceko77@yahoo.com
We would like the Finding Nemo book or the Lion King. What a great giveaway!
Thanks!
ericbrooks75(at)yahoo(dot)com
Cars would be an excellent book to start off with. Great product I know my grandson would just love.
tamben7996(at)aol(dot)com
I am a subscriber.
tamben7996(at)aol(dot)com
I published a post including this giveaway.
http://kristiesnotes.blogspot.com/2008/11/giveaways-for-tech-savvy-kids.html
khmorgan_00 [at] yahoo [dot] com
I linked to Poingo's wesite here:
http://kristiesnotes.blogspot.com/2008/11/giveaways-for-tech-savvy-kids.html
khmorgan_00 [at] yahoo [dot] com
I follow your blog!
khmorgan_00 [at] yahoo [dot] com
My daughter would LOVE the Paper Doll Scrapbook Portfolio!!
hmwmail@yahoo.com
i blogged about your giveaway
check it out
http://2ndchance2bsil.blogspot.com/
we have the story reader and love it. This would be perfect for my niece or nephew also
added your button to my blog
blogged here! http://bloggysweeps.blogspot.com/2008/11/sahm-reivew-and-poingo.html
linked to Poingo in the giveaway post:
http://bloggysweeps.blogspot.com/2008/11/sahm-reivew-and-poingo.htmle
i subscribed via google reader
also my email address is in my profile
i am now a follower!
I love this concept! I'd like Cars...
My daughter would love the sleeping beauty book!
My granddaughter would just love the Cinderella book. This would be so wonderful. Thank you so much!
judybrittle at aol dot com
I just subscribed through Google reader.
judybrittle at aol dot com
My kids would love the Cars book!! My email is mama4joy at hotmail dot com :)
Lion King -- my little boy would love it!
tvollowitz at aol dot com
lily would love ANY disney princess book!
kerrygibson76 @ hotmail.com
i became a follower!...
My daughters would love the Cinderella book or even the Finding Nemo one. Great product thanks for the chance.
Your button is in my Great Blogs section
I subscribe via google reader
I follow your blogs
My daughter is a big Winnie the Pooh fan, she'd be very excited about the Pooh's Wishful Thinking book.
Thanks!
xpsundell(at)gmail(dot)com
My ds would just love the LION KING!!! POINGO is amazing in that it brings these stories to life in the most creative of ways!!!
Thanks so much for this fabulous give~away! : )))
leahita[at]gmail[dot]com
I'm also a subscriber! : )))
leahita[at]gmail[dot]com
Pooh for my son
jasonncaryn at yahoo dot com