 Evaluation Summary - Category Ratings
Category ratings based on scale from 1 to 5 [3] = Meets Passing Criteria [4] = Excellent [5] = Outstanding / Best
( Only scores of 3 or higher are published. )
Product and service final rating is averaged from the sum of all evaluation category scores.
( With a total of 323 evaluation categories, only 6 of the applicable evaluation categories are featured for public view. )
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Content Quality |
Critical Skill Development |
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Response Level |
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| Critical Evaluation Information These icons represent important attributes with which this product / service
is associated, contributes to, or encourages development of.
Select any of the unique icons below to learn more about the specific attribute it represents.
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 Safety / Quality Classifications |
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CE Marked | UL Approved | JPMA Certified | | (Not Applicable) | (Not Applicable) | | | | ASTM Compliant | eco-Friendly | eco-Conscious | | (Not Applicable) |  | |
| CPSIA Compliant | Independent Lab Tested | Independent Lab Name | | (Not Applicable) |
| | LeadSafe™ - Surface Coatings/Paint
(Complies with 16 CFR 1303/CPSIA 101) | LeadSafe™ - Content / Substrates
(Complies with CPSIA 101) | PhthalatesSafe™
(Complies with CPSIA 108) | | (Not Applicable) | | (Not Applicable) | |
| BPASafe™ (Complies with CPSI EN71) | Soluble Heavy Metals
(Complies with ASTM F963/CPSIA 106) | Mechanical/Physical (Complies with ASTM F963/CPSIA 106) | | (Not Applicable) | (Not Applicable) | | | Flammability - Solids/Textiles (Complies with 16 CFR 1500.44/CFR 1610) | Labeling of Hazardous Art Materials (Complies with ASTM-4236/16 CFR 1500.14(b)(8) ) | iWatchDog™ Approved (Complies with ICCS™ Certification Standards) | | (Not Applicable) | | |
| UPC | Manufacturer SKU | Age Grading | | | | |
| Manufactured In | Safety Hazard/Warnings | | U.S.A. | NA |
Introducing "Meet the Feeling Friends" Audio CD
Meet the Feeling Friends audio CD is a companion to thirteen books in the Feeling Friends series co-created by Karen Cuthrell (a.k.a. KK). Designed for pre-K to beginning-readers, the compilation audio CD and book transports children to Feeling Free Island, a magical place where children are free to express their feelings in a world as vibrant as their own imaginations. The audio CD can be used alone, yet when combined with the book itself, it creates an exciting new experience for a child.
Author Karen Cuthrell (KK) co-created the Feeling Friends 15 years ago as a response to her young daughter's challenges with expressing her feelings openly and honestly. What began as an interactive puppet show for preschoolers in the Metro DC area, soon developed into a 13 book series and audio CD, the very CD you are reading about right now. KK and the Feeling Friends provides kids with the tools they'll need to survive the big, wide world of unidentified and unexpressed feelings.
More Than Just Another Audio CD
The Meet the Feeling Friends audio CD alone is a powerful mix of synthesized music and vocal communication that will create a relaxed atmosphere which will stimulate a child's creative imagination like you never before imagined. Tracks 1-16 contain a story line narrated periodically by KK as her Feeling Friends introduce themselves on each track and your child learns more about who they are, envisioning them in an imaginary world created in their minds from the audio CD.
What is especially interesting about the Meet the Feeling Friends audio CD, each track is not just a small variance in style of music being played. Rather, it is a unique collection of Jazz, Rhythm & Blues, Rap, and New Age/Classical styles of music which helps to create a greater definition of how a child will envision the character being introduced and the message they convey. The vocals of each character are quite clear and will stir the emotions of a child.
Tracks 17-31 are a unique collection of Jazz, Rhythm & Blues, Rap, and New Age/Classical styles of music with no vocals in any of these tracks. Each style of music creates an entirely new mood through its style and flow which will encourage your child to feel and respond to each one, learning to recognize new emotions and feelings perhaps not experienced or recognized in the past.
Now just imagine combining the two sets of audio tracks and you have the Meet the Feeling Friends audio CD. This is an audio CD that is so seriously needed in society today with the clamor or emotions and expression which has such an impact upon children today.
Qualified Industry Professionals Have Their Say
Obtaining An Independent Perspective...
In this section we will cover the "Meet the Feeling Friends audio CD" from a top level professional point of view. To accomplish that task we have called upon the assistance of two well known industry professionals who have the credentials to provide us with the highest level of independent evaluation we are looking for.
Our evaluators will form their own opinions and produce detailed, in-depth reports connected with their study and evaluation of "Meet the Feeling Friends audio CD". The information to follow is comprised of excerpts from those same reports which have been paraphrased so that the information being conveyed by these professionals is more easily read. This approach provides a completely independent perspective in the evaluation of the "Meet the Feeling Friends audio CD".
PLEASE NOTE: The names of our independent evaluators are not disclosed to protect the privacy of these individuals upon their request. Their labors are provided at no charge to assist us in providing a well-balanced and qualified product evaluation summary. Their title is provided to clarify for our readers the specific type of specialist from which the information provided has been included in each product evaluation summary.
ECD Learning Specialist (Board Certified)
"This CD is a different type of product to be evaluating for ECD from what I have evaluated for you in the past. I must say I was not surprised in the slightest of measure with the excellent collection of music and learning methodology contained on the CD. As far as the children who were used as part of our evaluation are concerned, I could never possibly express the level of enjoyment experienced from seeing the strong response from the children while listening to the CD.
The behavioral analyst who was visiting with us at the time we were evaluating the book and companion audio CD or vice versa, made a number of compliments. The compliments with the book were focused on the response level with the children as our interns read the book aloud to them. She expressed how it hastened as well as ensured proper sensory stimulation and development which is so vital to children of this age group. Critical skill development is a primary facet of a child's development and this CD contributes substantially to that same facet as well as providing a sense of betterment of one's self for a child via communication and open expression.
What we found most interesting was what occurred when we had our activity time. On day #1, we had the children play with their toys and other materials as usual. On day #2, we did the same, but played the Meet the Feeling Friends CD during their activity time. To our surprise, the amount of Play with the children decreased significantly because they were sitting or laying on the play area carpet, listening to the CD! Several of the children asked questions about some of the characters as well as asked us to play the CD again when it was completed.
While this CD may not be a title you generally see at the education, department, and music stores to buy, it by no means that it is of any less value. This is a product we will now incorporate into use in our behavioral studies classes for our intern students studying at our facility.
Consumer Hands-On Product Evaluation Feedback
Consumer feedback is like precious gold...literally invaluable. Honest feedback from hands-on evaluation of products we bring to a location or locations, assists us in seeing virtually all sides of the picture when it comes to product evaluation.
 | For the Meet the Feeling Friends audio CD we performed consumer hands-on evaluation in a public mall along with several other products. Having several products available for consumer evaluation all at once, it allows us to also get feedback from the consumers in regard to which 10 products they liked best in addition to their initial evaluation. I am sure you are eager to see the results from the consumers feedback of the Meet the Feeling Friends audio CD so let's go!
The Meet the Feeling Friends audio CD had an advantage to some extent because it was one of only 3 CD/DVD's we brought to a public indoor mall in California along with numerous other products for evaluation. What set it apart was that we had a desktop PC setup with a 32" screen setup to demo the PC products! You can rest assured that drew attention.
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The Meet the Feeling Friends audio CD also posed a unique situation for us to consider. The Meet the Feeling Friends audio CD is a companion to a Meet the Feeling Friends hard cover book which we had available for evaluation at the mall. With the assistance of one of the stores in the mall we had not just the 32" LCD screen to use, but a young lady from the store who was a staff member of the store. She demoed the Meet the Feeling Friends audio CD as she was reading from the book to groups of kids every hour, on the hour.
It was so amazing to see children so captivated with the music and the story being told by the young lady. While a limited few of the parents were busy yawning during all of this, most of the parents were interacting with their children as they listened to the storyteller and the music. It was so moving to watch the children and see the various expressions on their faces as the storyteller continued reading from the book with the music going on in the background.
Eventually, everything had to draw to a close, all of the feedback forms from the evaluation participants had to be collected, and we had to begin packing up while two of our volunteers recorded the results from the feedback forms. Just as we were about packed up, we got the results on which products were judged by the consumers to be chosen as one of the top 10 products we brought for evaluation...The Meet the Feeling Friends audio CD was #6! Granted it wasn't #1, but it was not only in the top 10, but one digit away from being in the top 5 products as well!
The Meet the Feeling Friends audio CD was viewed by the parents and kids as an amazing thing they hadn't seen before and really enjoyed having their kids be a part of the evaluation of both the audio CD and book. The Meet the Feeling Friends audio CD pulled through this segment of our evaluation with no negative downside.
A Sampling Of The Evaluation Summary Category Ratings
A small sampling of applicable category titles and the individual rating assigned to each for this product's evaluation are featured here. The categories which have been selected to be featured in this product evaluation summary for public view, specify some of the primary points of how and why that specific rating score was reached.
* If a product is inducted, a product evaluation summary of the complete review is published for public view.
* If a product scores an overall category evaluation rating average of [2] or lower, it fails the evaluation and is not inducted.
* Information for products which do not pass our evaluation is confidential and is shared only with the company submitting the product.
The Featured Category Ratings for this Product Evaluation Summary are listed below.
CONTENT QUALITY: Rating Level - [5] 
The content quality of the Meet the Feeling Friends audio CD was nothing but great! The flow of the storyline which is in the first 16 tracks of the CD was simple and easy to understand for a child. It was also very well matched for the target age group intended. The remaining tracks of the CD, (17-31), was a absolutely well done. It was an excellent combination of various styles of rhythm and so much more which is quite beneficial to a child. The Meet the Feeling Friends audio CD pulls a perfect score in this category.
CRITICAL SKILL DEVELOPMENT: Rating Level - [5]
The Meet the Feeling Friends audio CD is an excellent learning tool that provides a contribution to critical skill development which is nothing short of impressive. The CD has the necessary elements to stimulate critical skill development in a child in a very subtle, yet solid and consistent manner. As a child progresses through the storyline of the CD and the various tracks of music on the CD, greater self-esteem and so much more is established and re-enforced. The Meet the Feeling Friends audio CD pulls a perfect score in this category.
EDUCATIONAL VALUE: Rating Level - [4] 
In our consumer hands-on evaluation in addition to independent professional evaluation, the The Meet the Feeling Friends audio CD was seen as a "...a soothing and positive toned collection of voice, good moral standing, and sound." The CD delivers a very strong educational message for the specific target age it is geared for. The Meet the Feeling Friends audio CD pulls a score well above average in this category yet falls short of a perfect score by a single digit.
MARKETING VALUE: Rating Level - [5]
The marketing value with The Meet the Feeling Friends audio CD posed an interesting challenge to determine. First, we had to determine where the CD stands on its own as far as marketing value, then combined that determination with a consideration of the trend for current demand and probable demand in the future. Considering the reports from every category in the evaluation of this CD it was determined that it delivers a well balanced combination of vocal, melodic, learning, and personal growth improvement results which takes it to the top. The Meet the Feeling Friends audio CD pulls the maximum score available in this category.
RESPONSE LEVEL: Rating Level - [5]
For determination of the response level with the Meet the Feeling Friends audio CD, you need not be a rocket scientist to figure it out. The well structured CD content draws the attention of children and many parents as well. The response level in all hands-on evaluations by children and family members were well beyond the norm and constant. The children were quite enthralled by the story line and the characters which were introduced by the narrator, who guides them through the CD, introducing KK's friends who are now friends to the children. The Meet the Feeling Friends audio CD pulls a perfect score in this category.
VISUAL APPEAL: Rating Level -
[5]
The visual appeal for the Meet the Feeling Friends audio CD is outstanding in regard to visual appeal. The CD packaging is a very well thought out introduction of characters from the storyline and imagery from the book series to which it is a companion.
The families at our hands-on consumer evaluation made repeated remarks of compliment about the visual appeal of The Meet the Feeling Friends audio CD. The Meet the Feeling Friends audio CD pulls a perfect score in this category for visual appeal.
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| Seal of Approval:
Approved |
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| eco-Recognition™
Seal:
Not Eligible |
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| Award of Excellence:
Approved
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THE TOY MAN® PRODUCT GUIDE AWARDS
"The globally recognized awards that are received by a limited few...
and give a product the well earned recognition it deserves!" |
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The
products and online services which become recipients of "The Toy Man® Award of Excellence" acheived an evaluation category rating average of [5] Stars, the highest level of rating available on a 1-5 scale evaluation model. The average is based upon the overall average from all applicable evaluation categories, not just the 6 evaluation categories featured in this summary. |
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"The
Toy Man®  Award serves as an emblem of recognition for products & online services that contribute substantially to positive skill growth and/or productivity. |
| ( This includes books, CD's, DVD's, consumer electronics & accessories, recreational games and equipment, home furnishings, juvenile, software, toys and specialty. ) |
This distinguished award is exclusive as well as unique, with the editor's signature which represents a product being selected as an  . |
PLEASE NOTE: The eChoice™ Award images which were used from 1971-1984, 1984-2007, 2007-April 2010 have been retired. Although the former versions of the eChoice™ Award have been retired, they still remain valid. |
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