LeapFrog Announces Key Publishing and Licensing Partnerships to Support Its Innovative New Tag(TM) Reading System
Posted on February 17, 2008
Filed Under Gadgets, TechShowWIRE, kids, toys
Next-Generation Reading Product Interacts with Real Books Featuring Classic and Popular Children’s Titles and Characters
NEW YORK, Feb. 17 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ — American International Toy Fair, Booth #1949 — LeapFrog Enterprises, Inc., a leading developer of technology-based learning products, today announced an all-star line-up of publishing and licensing partners to support the launch of its new Tag Reading System (leapfrog.com/tag). Available this summer, the Tag Reading System is the first handheld learn-to-read technology to bring to life the lovable stories and characters of respected children’s authors from notable publishers such as HarperCollins, Penguin, Scholastic, Simon & Schuster and others.
“HarperCollins was delighted to adapt the best-selling Fancy Nancy
series into interactive books,” said publisher Susan Katz. “It is
gratifying to give Nancy a voice and allow kids an opportunity to interact
with her through an extra-fancy new reading technology.”
LeapFrog has been synonymous with learning to read for parents,
teachers and children since the introduction of its award-winning
LeapPad(R) Learning System. Having sold more than 72 million interactive
LeapPad books worldwide, the company is primed to reinvent the
learn-to-read category with the Tag reader and its extensive 21-volume
library of interactive books, activity boards and activity card sets.
The Tag reader brings beloved children’s properties-Fancy Nancy,
Olivia, The Little Engine That Could, Walter the Farting Dog, as well as
Miss Spider and I SPY(TM) from Scholastic, Nickelodeon’s SpongeBob
SquarePants and Diego and Cartoon Network’s Foster’s Home for Imaginary
Friends-to life through its interactive technology that fits in a child’s
hand. Audio for the stories, as well as the fun-filled games and activities
spread throughout the pages, is delivered through an innovative Web-based
application called LeapFrog(R) Connect, offering children an entirely new
and captivating reading experience.
“It is a great medium-it mixes media and it brings the book alive for
kids that otherwise might be watching television or playing video games,”
said Olivia author and artist Ian Falconer. “Ana Gasteyer, the narrator, is
a brilliant interpreter of Olivia’s home life-all parents can relate to the
painful patience required in parenting the overzealous child. And Olivia is
nothing if not overzealous.”
“This is an incredible opportunity to introduce The Little Engine That
Could and Walter the Farting Dog to a new generation of readers,” said Doug
Whiteman, publisher, Penguin Group. “The Tag Reading System is an
innovative way to get kids engaged in reading and we could not be happier
with the way this technology brings our books to life.”
Reading Between the Lines
The Tag handheld works with Tag-enabled books to create an independent
and interactive reading experience for children. By simply touching the
highly responsive Tag reader anywhere on any page of a Tag book, children
can bring their favorite stories to life, easily skipping from page to page
or book to book.
The pocket-sized Tag platform “reads” by using a small, sophisticated
infrared camera that works as an imaging system to recognize letters, words
and symbols printed on the page. Using the PC- and Mac-compatible LeapFrog
Connect Application, parents can download audio for each book in the Tag
library, then manage content the way they manage MP3 or digital camera
files. With 16 MB of on-board flash memory, the Tag reader can hold up to
five books at a time.
All-New Proprietary LeapFrog Learning Path Lets Parents See the
Learning
Launching in tandem with the Tag Reading System is LeapFrog’s
proprietary Learning Path, a free online tool at leapfrog.com that
interfaces with LeapFrog products to show parents what their child is
learning and how their activities or games map back to the Scope and
Sequence of educational skills that the Company has always built into every
product. New online connectivity also allows children to access fun online
rewards for off-line play and learning.
Based on an award-winning LeapFrog School product used by teachers
across the U.S. to assess and instruct students in classrooms nationwide,
the LeapFrog Learning Path allows parents to connect the Tag handheld to
their computer to view details about the books their child has read,
including the skills explored and progress made
(leapfrog.com/learningpath).
AVAILABILITY
SUMMER 2008; AGES 4-8; Tag Reading System MSRP: $49.99; Tag books and
activity boards MSRP: $13.99 each
Kid classics
Chicka Chicka Boom Boom
Click, Clack, Moo: Cows That Type
Fancy Nancy at the Museum
Olivia
The Little Engine That Could
Walter the Farting Dog Goes on a Cruise
Activity storybooks
Disney/Pixar’s Cars: Tractor Tipping
Disney Princess: Adventures Under the Sea
Foster’s Home for Imaginary Friends: The Golden Paddleball
Go Diego Go!: Underwater Mystery
I SPY: Imagine That!
Miss Spider’s Tea Party
Pirates! The Treasure of Turtle Island
SpongeBob SquarePants: The Tour de Bikini Bottom
T. Rex’s Mighty Roar
Activity boards
Tag Funny Phrases
Tag Super Speller
Activity cards (MSRP: $7.99 EACH)
National Geographic Kids Birds and Sea Animals
National Geographic Kids Land Animals
About LeapFrog
LeapFrog Enterprises, Inc. is a leading designer, developer, and
marketer of innovative, technology-based learning products and related
proprietary content, dedicated to making learning effective and engaging
for all ages, at home and in schools, around the world. The company was
founded in 995 and is based in Emeryville, California. LeapFrog has
developed a family of learning platforms that come to life with more than
100 interactive software titles, covering important subjects such as
phonics, reading, writing, math, music, geography, social studies,
spelling, vocabulary, and science. In addition, the company has created a
broad line of stand-alone educational products for children from birth to
16 years. LeapFrog’s award-winning U.S. consumer products are available in
six languages at major retailers in more than 35 countries around the
world. LeapFrog School’s multisensory products currently reach students in
more than 100,000 classrooms across the United States. LeapFrog School is a
business division of LeapFrog Enterprises, Inc.
LEAPFROG, TAG and LEAPPAD are trademarks or registered trademarks of
LeapFrog Enterprises, Inc. (C) 2008 VIACOM. SpongeBob SquarePants created
by Stephen Hillenburg. All other trademarks are properties of their
respective owners. Copyright (C) 2008 LeapFrog Enterprises, Inc. All rights
reserved.
Media contacts:
Erin Nelson Jenna Martin
LeapFrog Enterprises, Inc. Kaplow Communications
510-596-3437 212-221-1713
enelson@leapfrog.com jmartin@kaplowpr.com
SOURCE LeapFrog Enterprises, Inc.
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