LeapFrog Tag Reading System (32 MB)

by LeapFrog

Product Features

• The amazing touch technology of the Tag Reading System encourages a child's love of reading as words talk, pictures sing and stories live out loud
• The Tag library includes over 30 books and games based on favorite TV, movie and classic tales
• Tag storybooks and learning activities help children build vocabulary
• The Tag reader now holds audio for up to 10 books at a time and comes with the hardcover classic Dr. Seusss The Cat in the Hat
• Parents can connect the Tag Reader online to collect fun rewards
• Includes reading skills such as word recognition, reading comprehension and phonics skills
• Their child has earned and to see their child's play and learning on the LeapFrog Learning Path

Product Details

• Product Dimensions: 2.5 x 11 x 10.5 inches ; 1.8 pounds
• Shipping Weight: 1.8 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Shipping: Currently, item can be shipped only within the U.S. and to APO/FPO addresses. For APO/FPO shipments, please check with the manufacturer regarding warranty and support issues.
• ASIN: B0028Z2O72
• Item model number: 20704
• Manufacturer recommended age: 4 - 8 years
• Batteries: 2 AAA batteries required. (included)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #33,934 in Toys & Games (See Top 100 in Toys & Games)
  • #22 in Toys & Games > Preschool > Pre-Kindergarten Toys > Learning > Reading & Writing
• Average Customer Review: 3.9 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (50 customer reviews)
• Discontinued by manufacturer: Yes

Product Description

Amazon.com Review

The LeapFrog Tag Reading System will change the way your kids experience reading. Combining fun, interactive activities with help for sounding out challenging words, this unique reading system will engage children in the reading process. Recommended for children ages four to eight, the Reading System uses the innovative Tag Reader to bring books to life. A simple touch to the Tag Activity Storybook will prompt the Tag Reader to speak words, ask questions, sing, and engage your child in over 17 learning activities. The Reading System has received over 28 awards in six countries!

Tag Reading System Ages: 4 to 6 years Requires: 2 "AAA" batteries (included)

What We Think Fun factor: Durability: Educational factor: Novelty factor: The Good: The interactive LeapFrog Tag Reading System engages children for hours of reading fun. The Challenging: We wish there was a protective covering for the optical reader tip to store when not in use. In a Nutshell: A creative, award-winning learning tool that can store audio for up to 10 interactive books.

With just a touch, the Tag Reader will read, sing, and ask questions to your child.

Kids can select from a growing library of interactive books and store them on the reader.

Easy for Children to Use
The durable Tag Reader is cleverly shaped like a pen, with the optical reader at the tip. It's easy for children to operate independently and the pen fits well into small fingers. The lightweight Reader has a built-in speaker in the front for clear sound with volume control buttons located below the speaker. The adjustable volume ranges from very soft to loud.

Your child can also use the Reader with headphones (not included). An adult can help pry open the flaps that hide the headphone plug and USB port. There's also a handy audio book feature -- perfect for traveling -- that plays aloud an entire story. The battery is securely placed behind a screw-locked compartment for safety.

Advice to parents: the optical reader is exposed at the tip of the Reader so be sure to keep liquids away from it.

Amazing Response with Every Touch
Your child will instantly gravitate to the entertaining, interactive way the Tag Reading System opens up the world of books. She can touch virtually anywhere on the special Tag Activity Storybook and the Reader will respond with music, sound effects, amusing phrases, and other fun activities related to the book. There are special symbols placed throughout the pages that cause the Reader to read the entire page, play a game, prompt children to answer "yes" or "no" questions, repeat a phrase, or simply stop the Reader from speaking.

When children want to read on their own but need just a little help, simply pointing to a word on the page will let them hear just that word. This feature is perfect for children that are just developing their reading skills but get frustrated when faced with a challenging word. The Reading System will help them gain confidence and enjoy reading. Each TAG Storybook features games and activities that will help develop age-appropriate skills such as building vocabulary, reading comprehension, and other core reading skills.

Store up to 10 Books
The sample full-size book comes conveniently pre-loaded onto the Tag Reader. Additionally, 10 books can be loaded onto the Reader giving children the opportunity to switch back and forth between different books with ease. The Tag Reading system comes with a LeapFrog Connect CD and the Reader can easily connect to a computer with the USB cable (included).

There are currently over 30 books in the Tag Reading System library and it will continue to grow as LeapFrog constantly adds new books. Books range from classic children's books to contemporary, cartoon-based adventures, so there's something for every child. They also range in varying reading and skill levels allowing parents to tailor the books to their child's individual needs.

What's in the Box
One Tag Reader, one full-size Tag Activity Storybook, USB Cable, LeapFrog Connect CD, 2 "AAA" batteries.

Product Description

Inspire a love of reading with Tag, the amazing touch reading system that brings stories to life like never before! As children touch the Tag Reader to the pages of specially printed storybooks, words talk, pictures sing and stories live out loud, engaging children's senses to make reading a rich, fulfilling experience. And, with more than 30 books and games based on favorite TV, movie and classic tales, the Tag library has something for every reader! Simply connect the Tag Reader to your computer with the included USB cable, download the audio for your Tag books and drag-and-drop up to 10 of your child's favorite stories onto your Tag Reader. While online, you can also discover your children's favorite books and activities, learn about the skills they are exploring and share in their accomplishments by creating a free LeapFrog Learning Path at leapfrog.com.

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

155 of 156 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars An eBook for kids - amazing!, December 2, 2009

By 

Beedrew "Book addict" (Lebanon, Ohio) - See all my reviews

= Durability:4.0 out of 5 stars  = Fun:5.0 out of 5 stars  = Educational:5.0 out of 5 stars 

This review is from: LeapFrog Tag Reading System (32 MB) (Toy)

We bought the Tag for our four-year-old's birthday, and she loves it! Her attention span for any kind of toy isn't the longest, but she has no trouble "reading" the story to herself with the Tag "pen." (And for those who are wondering, she still wants us to read to her at bedtime.) It remains to be seen whether the Tag can help her learn to sight read earlier than usual, but for now keeping her interested in books and interacting with them on her own, is enough for me. I will update my review after she has been using it for awhile.

A few details about how the Tag works, since that is not obvious from the product description or pictures. First, you NEED a computer with a USB port, CD drive, and Internet connection in order to use the Tag. The Tag unit is a pen-shaped device that has a speaker which actually outputs the "sound" of the story (with headphone jack and volume controls), and some internal memory for the electronic books that you will download from LeapFrog's site. Depending on which Tag you buy, it might hold 16 megabytes (about 5 books) or 32 megabytes (about 10 books). Only one hardcover book, in our case The Cat in the Hat, was included in the box with its audio preloaded onto the Tag unit.

It's worth noting that the Tag is NOT a scanner! You can't use any old picture book with it and have it read the words. You must buy Leap's special hardcover books to go with it. These look and feel like regular books, but there must be something embedded in the paper that lets the Tag "read" the book to your child. The books range from $10-$14 and there are over 25 of them in the Tag library, with more being published all the time.

Getting started is really easy if you're fairly proficient with your PC. The process is much like adding and removing photos from your digital camera. You put the AAA batteries into the Tag unit and load the software from the included CD onto your PC. The software tells you to connect the Tag to your computer via USB, and power it on. The software then analyzes your Tag to see what books are already there. It allows you to download the audio for any Tag book onto your PC; select which books to add or remove from the Tag unit; and then "synchronize" the PC and the Tag. There is no charge for downloading the books. You could download ALL of them and put as many as will fit on your Tag, since the audio is not really useful without the Tag hardback book to go with it. And those, of course, you must pay for.

Once you have put the audio on the Tag, "reading" a book is very easy: Just turn on the Tag, and lightly tap various spots in the hardcover book, as directed in the book. Tag reads entire pages or just words, and if you tap the pictures in the book, the characters (or objects) speak in "their own" voices. My daughter loves that feature.

I do wish there were a cap or cover for the business end of the Tag, to protect the plastic stylus if the Tag gets dropped. I think I will buy the carrying case and teach my daughter to put the Tag away when she isn't using it. The Tag hardcover books seem as durable as any other book.

The thing I love about Tag, versus earlier book readers from LeapFrog, is that you no longer need a cartridge to go with each book. Yes, you have to go online to download the audio and that is a bit of hassle, but I much prefer it over buying Leap books and then losing the (small) cartridges, so the books become useless. People without high speed Internet might feel differently, but for me this way is much better. I did open the Tag box and do all the setup and installation before we gave it to my daughter, so she was ready to go with three books when she got it.

As of this writing in December 2009, there is a $10 off coupon for the Tag reader good through the end of the year. Just search for "LeapFrog Tag coupon" on Google and it will direct you to a PDF file which you can download and print. I am not sure how it can be used to buy from Amazon, but maybe there is a way.

UPDATE: I have just learned that the Tag can read Tag Junior books, too. These are board books designed to go with the Tag Junior device, which works just like the Tag except that it is shaped for the smaller hands of 2-4 year olds. The reverse is not true, however; the Tag Junior device cannot read Tag books. Also, the Tag will not read individual words out of Tag Junior books, only whole pages.

56 of 57 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A great toy!, November 9, 2009

By 

MomCeo "trantortwinmom" (New York, USA) - See all my reviews

= Durability:4.0 out of 5 stars  = Fun:5.0 out of 5 stars  = Educational:5.0 out of 5 stars 

This review is from: LeapFrog Tag Reading System (32 MB) (Toy)

My twin 5-year olds have had this toy since last Christmas. They love it. We have (I think) a prior version with less memory-we're only able to store about five books on the pen (as opposed to 10, as the review indicates).

The TAG was very helpful for my girls as they began to read stories and recognize words by sight. Leapfrog has an extensive library of books, so there's lots of variety to choose from, with characters the kids recognize (Dora, Diego, Spongebob, etc), as well as kid's classics like "Cat In The Hat" and "Chicka Chicka Boom Boom". We purchased the carrying cases as well, which provides handy storage for several books and the TAG pen. We take the TAG books and pens on long car rides - keeps the kids busy for a good long while.

I also appreciate that there are many "levels" of exploration with this toy. The child can use the pen alone, and listen to all of the audio for all stories downloaded to the pen just by pressing a button. The TAG will cycle through all of the stories. The books themselves are also multi-dimensional: You can just read the story, or you can play the games embedded in the books and earn rewards on the Leap Path website. My girls also like to explore the books, and place the pen on the pictures of the characters themselves - Leapfrog has embedded some cute dialog as well. For instance, when reading the Spongebob book, if you place your pen on Spongebob's face, he'll say something funny related to the story.

The LeapPath website allows parents to drill down into each book the child has read, total minutes the child spent exploring the story, and cool info on what skills the child is building.

CONS: The TAG EATS batteries. Be sure to have a supply of AAA batteries on hand. The volume could use a boost; my daughters are sometimes holding the pen to their ears in order to hear the narrative (they're not too fond of earphones, so that's not an option for us). Downloading new stories to the TAG pen can take a little while; its not a horrific wait, but it can seem like forever with an impatient child jumping up and down in front of you, waiting to read a story and use his pen.

All in all though, an awesome toy.

32 of 34 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars LOVE it!!, November 6, 2009

By 

Eco-Chic Mama "Heather O" (Alaska) - See all my reviews

= Durability:5.0 out of 5 stars  = Fun:5.0 out of 5 stars  = Educational:5.0 out of 5 stars 

This review is from: LeapFrog Tag Reading System (32 MB) (Toy)

My daughter has been using the Tag Reader (normal, not jr) since Christmas 2008, 3 months before her 3rd birthday. She LOVES it!! I prefer to keep computer games out of her hands, so this is a great alternative! This interactive book helps teach kids how to read and recognize words. They can use it anytime & anywhere---excellent for travel (especially if you get some headphones). The higher-capacity reader is a great upgrade since she can have all her books programmed in instead of just 5 of them. All kids should have a Tag Reader :)

UPDATE on 03/26/10: She just turned 5 and is reading at about a 3rd grade level. Reads paragraphs easily and smoothly. We know it is because she has this interactive reader that she can use anytime. (And we read other books to her, of course) We got her the Tag USA Map for her birthday, so now she is learning about all the states, too! She LOVES it.