Review on GeoSafari Learning: Exploring the World with Educational Insights by Steven Lane

Let me start by saying that this globe would get 5 stars if it was $30-$40 but for over $100 it is not enough. I have a very intelligent homeschooled 4.5 year old and a 2 year old whom I have been trying to teach geography to. We have several world maps and a timeline geography game, and regularly send/receive stuff from pen pals around the world. We also eat unique foods from different countries every week and talk about the country each dish comes from. I needed a way to show my kids the 3D nature of the world so I ordered this globe. The price is a bit disappointing. The quality of the globe itself is good. It's a durable plastic with bright, shiny colors. It's light enough for my 4.5 year old to move it on his own, and the globe rotates freely on both axes, which is nice. The stylus is well stored in the base and everything to use was easy and intuitive. My daughter has no problem using it herself. The stylus (where the speaker is located) has multiple volume levels, which is nice too, although there's no headphone option, which would be nice. The variety of information types and quizzes is okay, but the information on specific areas is odd. Sometimes it makes sense and sometimes it doesn't. Click on the puffin picture for information about the Loch Ness Monster. (You can find out about puffins in Wales by clicking on London, which doesn't make much sense). Clicking on a creature that looks like a hedgehog (or any land next to a hedgehog) doesn't give you any information about hedgehogs. This upset my kids. Information about some animals is more complete than about others. For example, it tells you how big the giant Pacific octopus is and how it can change color, but for puffins it just tells you that they have a triangular, colorful beak. Country information is slightly better. The distances between the cities are interesting, but they are not particularly connected. (For example, according to Globe, a flight from Portland, Oregon to San Francisco, California takes 2 hours, which isn't bad, but not particularly interesting and has nothing to do with kids who have never flown). The story is narrated by Bindi Irwin (daughter of Steve Irwin) and an unknown male narrator. It's clear and easy to understand, although my daughter wondered why he seemed to switch between voices at random and my husband had a little trouble understanding Bindi's Australian pronunciation at times. For the price of a tablet I expected more. More information, more variety and more accuracy. (It would also be nice if they included batteries for the pen). Maybe future versions or a pen update could solve this problem? I do not know. Overall, I wanted to like it more than me. But it's definitely a nice globe and the kids love it, so points for that!