The Playskool magic screen handheld learning aid is an educational toy designed to help young children learn and develop their skills. It features a screen that allows children to draw pictures, practice writing, and play interactive games, all while learning important concepts like numbers, letters, shapes, and colors. The magic screen is easy to use, with a stylus that children can use to write on the screen and buttons that allow them to select different games and activities. The toy is also portable and lightweight, making it perfect for on-the-go learning. The Playskool magic screen handheld learning aid is a fun and engaging tool that helps children develop important skills while having fun..
I can’t actually believe how good this book is and Egmont have done a great job by making these a good size for small hands, a slim hardback that will happily sit side by side with popular illustrated early chapter books- it’s just a crying shame so few people know about them!
The illustrations are so whimsical and spooky with gorgeous swirly and scratchy details and clever playful alternating of colour block, white space and detailed backgrounds. The writing is thoughtfully created with use of close repetition of possibly new, longer or harder words such as frowned or banister to give children the opportunity to build their confidence.
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Dorrie and the vlue witch
Dorrie and the Blue Witch (Dorrie the Little Witch #2)
by Patricia Coombs
Date: 1964
Publisher: Lothrop, Lee and Shepard
Reading level: C
Book type: picture book
Pages: 48
Format: e-book
Source: Open Library
When Dorrie is left home alone by the Big Witch, she decides to have a tea party with Gink. There is a knock on the door. Expecting Cook to arrive any minute, Dorrie opens the door. Instead of Cook, she finds the bad Blue Witch. Dorrie scours Cook’s magic cabinet, uses its contents to capture the Blue Witch and receives a gold cauldron for her efforts.
I was a big fan of Dorrie the Little Witch when I was a kid. Now, decades later, I didn't even remember why I loved the books so much. So when a Goodreads friend reminded me about this series, I went in search of some of the books.
I'm not sure if Dorrie and the Blue Witch was one I read as a child or not (I have a feeling I'm going to be drawing a blank on most of them), but I can see why I enjoyed them. The story here is cute and empowering. Dorrie has to figure out how to deal with a potentially nasty witch who wants to steal her away. So she thinks and comes up with a rather clever solution to the problem. (Her mother eventually completes the solution, but that wouldn't have been possible without Dorrie's help in the first place.) This book is over fifty years old, but it doesn't really feel like it. In this case, anyway, the story doesn't really have any elements that make it seem dated.
As a voracious young reader, I probably loved the fact that there's a lot of text. Technically, I guess these are picture books, but there are some pages that are most or all text. So they're definitely not for the earliest readers (unless someone reads the books to them), but kids who are getting more proficient at reading and who'd like something a little more challenging than a picture book could potentially gobble these up.
The pictures are charming. They're black and white with a touch of colour (blue, in this case. of course; I suspect other titles may have their own specific colours to punch up the monochromatic colour scheme).
Overall, I'm glad I took this trip down memory lane. Dorrie is just as fun as I remember.
Quotable moment:
Premise: 4/5
Meter: n/a
Writing: 4/5
Illustrations: 4/5
Originality: 4/5
Overall: 4 out of 5
What do you like about it? I lived across the street from the library as a child. I can remember being FASCINATED by this book enough to read it while I was there and then check it out again and again and again and again. I think the thing that pulled me in was Dorrie. She just looked cute and a little lost and I loved her cat. Also loved the fact that she wore mismatched socks. And that she was a little magic herself.
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Reviews for "The Playskool Magic Screen: An Inclusive Learning Tool for Children with Disabilities"
- Sarah - 2/5 stars - I was not impressed with the Playskool magic screen handheld learning aid. The screen was too small and the graphics were very pixelated. It was difficult for my child to see and interact with the activities. Additionally, I found the sound quality to be quite poor. Overall, I would not recommend this product.
- David - 1/5 stars - I found the Playskool magic screen handheld learning aid to be very disappointing. The activities were not engaging and my child quickly lost interest. The buttons were also very stiff and difficult for a young child to press. I expected better quality from a brand like Playskool and would not purchase this product again.
- Jessica - 2/5 stars - I had high hopes for the Playskool magic screen handheld learning aid, but it fell short of my expectations. The screen was too dark and made it hard for my child to see the activities. The learning games were also not as educational as I had hoped, and my child quickly became bored. I would not recommend this product.