Dr. Toy's Suggestions:
Smart Play for Reading Readiness


My First Puppets Soft Book, Folkmanis®  (6-24 mos.) $35.00 (800) 654-8922  
This new soft book features four spreads each with a hand puppet and matching finger puppet. It emphasizes discovery tools such as color, texture, shape, movement, sounds and surprise to stimulate development.  Folkmanis, Inc., the expression of Judy Folkmanis' active imagination, sewing  wizardry, and love of nature, began 25 years ago and has grown to become the premier manufacturer of plush puppets worldwide.


Little Golden Book® Classics, Golden Books  (24 mos.-5 yrs.) $2.99 (888) 317-4314  
Classic books of dearly loved tales: The Little Red Hen, The Fire Engine Book,The Good Humor Man, Animal Orchestra, Richard Scarry's Good Night, Little Bear, and The Lion's Paw, offer today's young readers quality books that have been enjoyed for generations.  Ever since 1942, Little Golden Books have been providing young readers with wonderful stories that encourage reading and sharing. Golden Books is an imprint of the Random House Children's Books division, whose parent company is Bertelsmann AG.


Play With Letters Desk®, Fisher-Price (3-7 yrs.) $29.99 800) 432-5437
When a child rolls a letter on the desk, the desk magically knows which letter was rolled and rewards the child with a fun response. Children can see and hear the letters and also trace them with their fingers. By incorporating all the senses, sight, sound and touch, this learning toy teaches pre-reading skills including letter identification, word association, spelling, and more. 3 AA batteries. Fisher-Price, Inc., a wholly-owned subsidiary of Mattel, Inc., is the leading brand of infant and preschool toys in the world.

Alphabert and Sprocket -The Ready to Read Robots, VTech® (4-7 yrs.) $39.99 800) 521-2010
These Ready to Read Robots bring reading skills to life with 16 different learning activities and animatronic movements to engage a child by interacting with each other to teach letters, phonetic sounds and blends. For the last 25 years, VTech® has been creating and perfecting a full line of products that help young minds develop. All VTech products incorporate compelling, exciting technology with age-appropriate features and activities for kids from birth through pre-teen. Uses 3 AA batteries (included).