Karaoke Books

Manufacturer: Publications International
Ages: 3 - 7
Suggested Retail Price: $19.99
Launch Date: Fall 2007
Available: Toy and retail stores nationwide as well as online e-commerce sites

Date of Review: October 2007

What It Is

Karaoke Books are hardcover books with printed lyrics and illustrations plus a detachable microphone for children to sing into. Kids choose from 40 different songs to sing by inputting its 3-character code on the book’s right-hand panel. The song will play and LCD's light up with the music so kids can follow along. At the end of the song, one of three judges will be randomly selected to comment.

Why It's Fun

Most kids love to sing and given anything that remotely resembles a microphone, they will pull out all the stops on a performance. Karaoke Books gives kids the mic and also the lyrics so they can sing along and have fun while entertaining the rest of the family. There is even an applause trigger so kids can hear a standing ovation with the push of a button.

Kids will get a real kick out of finishing a song in order to hear the random judges “critiques”. Don’t worry, Simon Cowell has nothing to do with Karaoke Books.

Who's Going To Love It

This is mainly going to appeal to kids ages two through five. After that, most kids are already asking for a video game system of some sort with more hi-tech karaoke games.

What To Be Aware Of

There are currently three Karaoke books in this line, The Wiggles, Disney Princess and Elmo. Each book is themed according to the property with familiar and popular judges.

This is not a TV plug and play toy. The lyrics to the songs are printed in the books and music plays through a speaker also built into the book.