PowerTouch Learning System Book and Cartridge: Franklin Goes to School

Story line is simple but these books help the young learner spell words, recognize words, and follow along while the book reads the story

The story.

Being a Franklin fan, I jumped and bought this title as soon as I saw it hanging from a rack last year. Of course, I didn't have a PowerTouch system then, I just wanted it because, hey, it's Franklin! So, when I finally got my hands on a PowerTouch system yesterday, this was the first book I inserted into the system.The entire story in the book is told in rhyme, just like in the other Franklin books. I have still yet to confirm if the voice actors in the TV series are the ones who did the voices in the book, but they sound close enough.Music is there, but... slightly lacking. There is ambient music, but most of them only come up after you let the reader idle a bit. Others will only play once activated through a special touch area. Music doesn't play in background like in some of the other books for the player, but then again, it would be a little distracting, considering the fact that the audio output isn't really top notch even with the Sony headphones I used with my reader. In any case tho, when there's music in the book, it's usually well done.The illustrations on the book is closer to those on the TV series than those in the books. The characters themselves doesn't look airbrushed, but nontheless are still pleasant to look at.And then, we get to the games. They're pretty short but nontheless fun, and well, if you have a short attention span, you wouldn't want to play them for extended periods of time anyway.A word of warning on how to store the book tho: do not keep it in a bended position for an extended period of time. The book itself may become bent and the player will go ballistic due to mis-sensing of the pages when you put it in. That's what happened to me when I first got my book out of the storage after leaving it unchecked in my drawer for a few months. The player returned to normal after I left the book on a flat surface and placed a couple of videocassettes on it to flatten it. Also, you should check to see if the cartridge is inserted securely before powering the player on. I also made that mistake and the player went ballistic as well and bombarded me with broken sentences and other erratic behavior.All in all, it's a nice product for a Franklin fan who has access to a PowerTouch reader. I won't say it would keep them occupied for over long periods of time, but it's nice enough to keep those who're excessively bored occupied for a while.