8 May 2012

Review: Abigail The Interactive Story Buddy


Well a bunny should be for life and not just for Easter, so I'm glad to say Logan still loves his little Abigail Interactive Story Buddy he kindly received from Hallmark to test and review. My son is more into his books now than ever, constantly shoving a book in Mummy or Daddies face at every given opportunity so to have a companion to read along with is great.

Basically an interactive story buddy is just what it says it should be. A cuddly friendly toy who interacts at different points in the story book along the way. There are several different story buddies to choose from and each one comes with it's own special story book. Ofcourse there are other books you can purchase for each individual story buddy but you get one book to start with. When you read the book allowed there are certain key sentences which are highlighted in colour and your story buddy will react to them. For example in Abigail bunnies book you say "Abigail loved doing grown-up things!" and she responds by saying "Grown-ups have all the fun!". It's all very clever and quite cute although some family members found it rather creepy! Each to their own though. To start Abigail all you have to do is press the little on/off switch under her ear and your away.

Abigail is dressed from head to toe in pink with what looks like a gymnasts outfit and her story is entitled "Abigail and The Balance Beam" so you pretty much know the theme before you've started reading. My son really enjoyed having story time with Abigail bunny and although she is aimed at girls along with her book my son is only 2 so doesn't really care or know the difference. A story is a story to him and if the talking soft toy wants to read along then fantastic as far as he's concerned. The books themselves are quite long so maybe not suited to younger children as Logan did lose interest a few times but I have to say the interactive story buddy did help hold his attention and draw him back in. Waiting for Abigail bunny to speak definitely kept him interested most of the time.

At the start of the year we tested out Cooper the Bear, who is also an interactive story buddy, and one of the major problems I had was getting Cooper to speak back when he was supposed to. I didn't know what I was doing wrong. I was speaking clearly and within a good distance but it just didn't work too well for us. I think it may possibly have been my Scottish accent! I'm delighted to say Abigail was completely different. Almost every time she responded when she was supposed to and only on the odd occasion she didn't, mostly because I wasn't facing her or speaking directly to her which was my fault.

I'm sure Abigail or any of the story buddies would make a great and unusual present for any little boy or girl and they can be purchased from all Hallmark stores or online at www.hallmark.co.uk for RRP £19.99.

Overall myself and my son are really happy with Abigail bunny and apart from the odd time she doesn't respond it makes story time much more exciting. The story buddies are priced fairly I feel as you get the toy plus a book for only £19.99, some cuddly toys on their own without any technology cost £10-£15!

Mummies rating - 8/10
Logan's rating - 9/10

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