- Allows children to read along with a story
- Offers an option for kids to read the story themselves
- Controls are easy for children to use
- Product works well with a majority of home theater systems
- Not a huge variety of stories available, and none of those available are classics
- The animation is of somewhat degraded quality
- Kids can interact with each story page, but the subtle animation movements aren't that exciting
- Additional story cartridges cost money
- Console plugs into TV, VCR or Receiver
- Kids read along and turn the "pages" to the animated story
- Kids can choose to have the story read or to silence the voice and read the story themselves
Telestory puts a new spin on reading, one which will excite kids and encourage them to read more. The console is also easy to use, for kids and their parents, and I even figured it out with our complicated home theater system. Our TV does not have the inputs on the front, which would have made using the product a pain, but luckily the ones on our receiver worked perfectly.
I reviewed the console using the Sponge Bob stories, and I was disappointed in the quality of writing. I will admit to having a bias against Sponge Bob, though, and the spoofs in the Telestory Sponge Bob stories on getting drunk on "ice cream" at a "bar" didn't help.
In looking at the available cartridges for the Telestory console, it appears that most of the stories are adapted from popular television programs or animated movies, but those based on characters such as Dora, Winnie the Pooh, and Thomas the Train would probably offer a better experience for kids. I do think the product would be even more effective with the addition of some classic stories from children's literature though, or at least some stories written with concepts for enhancing early literacy in mind.
