Sabu & Me

by:  Rev. James G.W. Fisher - Product Evaluation Specialist / Editor

Product Evaluation Summary Date:  03/15/2010

SABU & ME is a perfect example of what occurs when parents give their children the attention they deserve and recognition to their developing skills. Written by Maura herself, the book is a re-telling of her earliest memories with her best friend, her dog Sabu.

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   Evaluation Summary - Category Ratings

	Trade Industry Sales Types Wholesale  Retail  Reseller  Online

	Safety / Quality Classifications

CE Marked	UL Approved	JPMA Certified
(Not Applicable)	(Not Applicable)	(Not Applicable)
ASTM Compliant	eco-Friendly	eco-Conscious
(Not Applicable)

CPSIA Compliant	Independent Lab Tested	Independent Lab Name
Compliant	(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)	(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)	(Not Applicable)

* SUMMARY CODES: SN - Special Needs ECD - Early Childhood Development

The wisdom of a child...not often something which we are prone to think about yet Sabu & Me delivers a startling as well as welcome example of the wisdom and creative talent of a child; in this case, Maura.

What is so startling about this book you might ask? Sabu & Me is more than just a simple book for children. Sabu & Me is a perfect example of what occurs when parents give their children the attention they deserve, recognition of their developing skills and encouragement to apply those same skills in actual application.

According to Jeffrey Markowitz, father of Maura as well as the one who assisted her in publishing her book, "Sabu & Me is the story of Maura and her dog Sabu and the wonderful times they spent together during Maura’s early life. Written by Maura herself, the book is a re-telling of her earliest memories with her best friend."

Sabu & Me is quite unique in that it is not written by an adult trying to create content which they assume a child would see as enjoyable. You can try and emulate the conceptual writing of a child yet no matter which way you look at it, only a child can truly produce the real thing. With the assistance of her father, Maura has broken what children see as virtual boundaries of thought processes and created her own path which others are sure to follow.

As you can see from the image at left, you can see two of the pages from Sabu & Me which are being used as an illustration of her work. Sabu & Me is an outstanding example for other children to see. An example which will inspire them to use their own imagination and exercise their own talents to create a masterpiece of their own creative expression. With Sabu & Me, children are taken into a world of recognition and relation with which they can identify. This experience will act as a catalyst to get their creative thinking gears turning in overdrive. Add a sprinkle of parental TLC and you have the perfect recipe for positive developmental growth.

Simple, and easy to read, Sabu and Me provides a magnificent illustration of Maura's relationship with Sabu, her own interpretation of how she sees her life through the eyes of a 10 year old, and wealth of vivid and colorful imagery which touch the hearts and minds of many.

What we feel is one of the most notable points to cover about Sabu & Me is it's application with SN children. For these children education is a far more challenging as well as rewarding experience with proper attention and tools used. With the assistance of a physical therapist we work with for evaluation of some products with SN children, we were enabled to develop some excellent study results using Sabu & Me as part of the study.

According to Ms. Meyers, "Several of my kids took a strong interest in the book. With one of the kids especially, I noted a measurable improvement in his response levels while working with me in therapy incorporating the Sabu & Me book. The results were based upon a comparison between first contact with the book and response levels at end of therapy study over a 5 session period.

Each of my kids were completely enthralled with the colorful drawings. The short and simple sentences on each page served as a tool in my therapy with each of my kids, helping some of them to learn to sequence their reading the words out loud more effectively. This helped them develop a sense of accomplishment in their own unique way which helped build a greater level of self-esteem and sense of security."

Independent Evaluator Reports

Obtaining An Independent Perspective...

PRODUCT: National Finger Football - Alabama TARGET AGE GROUP: 13 years+ MSRP: $29.95 USD APPLICABLE USE: Hybrid-Use™ for recreational activity in home, educational, community, or retirement facility

ECD Learning Specialist (Board Certified)

"Sabu & Me is a book I found to be quite delightful. We need to remember that children hold volumes of compendiums of information and imagination. Imaginative, succinct, and most important of all...simple. Sabu & Me serves as an impressive example which substantiates that fact.

The book is a wonderful piece of work which is without a doubt so perfectly suited to the age group of its author. For a child, life experience is one of the most prevalent topics of their conscious as well as sub-conscious thought. Sabu & Me takes a segment of the author's life experience puts it into print for others to read and relate.

I am sure that to some teachers of creative writing, the format of this book may not meet the structure they impress upon their students to adopt, but let's get realistic, the teachers aren't 10 years of age, thus they have no possible way to interpret the creative imaginations of a child being conveyed accurately."

"The author of Sabu & Me has provided an outstanding example of learning. It is a commonly known fact that creative writing incites an urge to continue to write even more for a child. With each piece they compose, they stimulate multiple developmental skills which are a vital part of their overall development, especially learning skills."

"As I have referenced in previous evaluations of books submitted, ECD age children are vulnerable and are experiencing what seems to them like a never-ending onslaught of new feelings and experiences which they are neither familiar with or in full understanding of, if having any understanding at all. By a child doing as Maura has, she is delivering a brief glimpse to her parents of her feelings and her own private interpretation of her life experience with her companion, Sabu."

"Critical skill development is a primary facet of a child's development and this book contributes substantially to that very primary developmental focus. In addition, it provides a sense of betterment of one's self for a child via communication and open expression of their feelings. After completion of my evaluation of Sabu & Me, I have determined that Sabu & Me provides a most powerful life experience story which could prove quite useful in behavioral studies as well as a perfect fit in retail book stores."

Professor of Educational Studies, Ed.

"Children have a determinate skill of telling their personal story of their life through their actions, writing, and emotional responses.  Although there was assistance by the father of the child to publish the book, this young lady was still conveying a story, a learning experience with her closest companion, Sabu. From this very same learning experience, other children of this young age can identify and learn, perhaps being stimulated to share their own."

"The book itself was well done with a simple and progressive flow which will draw other children to read the book from cover to cover. The colourful drawings were simple yet draw a strong response from the merging of the text to the imagery in that order."

"The most intriguing portion of our evaluation of Sabu & Me was our test group of children Pre-K level to 12 years.  The following results were the primary points of interest;

• All of the children described the book in their own manner as a creative/fun book.
• All of the children went through the book repeatedly either reading, browsing, or both.
• All of the children were eager to give their feedback on the book.
• All of the children expressed in their feedback that they were stimulated in some manner to create their own stories or creative drawing.

"It was quite easy to conclude that Sabu & Me was targeted for a specific age group yet created a strong interest all the same across the entire range of age levels in the study group."

"When we added some additional participants ages 15 years of age to adult, there was a dramatic drop in response level and interest.  This creates a desire to use this book in the future to investigate the behavioral changes and establish what the catalyst is which separates those who had strong response levels against those who did not."

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Consumer Hands-On Evaluation

Nothing is more powerful than hands-on experience by a consumer with a product when it is being evaluated. Based upon that fact we put every single product we evaluate at the mercy of consumers in a hands-on evaluation where anything goes. Shall we see how "Sabu & Me" was seen with consumers?

Sabu & Me proved its full value in our spontaneous, hands-on consumer evaluation. In going over our feedback forms, there were two factors which stood out the most in the feedback from the consumers.

The first was the fact of the book having been authored by a 10 year old little girl. The second was the response level which both parents and teachers alike witnessed as they saw the children reading the book. For the participants who were teachers, they were literally overwhelmed how each child took the book and was literally absorbing every word and image, going over the book cover to cover repeatedly.

For the parents, the second main point of interest was how that nearly all of the children were "...not easily persuaded to let go of the book so that other children could also have a chance to 'experience' it." Of all of the products at this consumer eval., Sabu and Me was one of the top rivals for the most popular product.

In our reviewing of the consumer hands-on feedback forms which the participants filled out, and examining our video tapes, it was a sure thing that Sabu & Me was one of the two top favorite products in the Books, CD, and DVD's category, and the top two products over all. Sabu & Me finished well in this evaluation category for spontaneous hands-on consumer evaluation.

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A Sampling Of Category Ratings

A small sampling of the individual category titles & rating scores from the complete product review itself for this product 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.
• When a score has been assigned to a category rating, it has been through a thorough validation process to ensure accuracy and no inflection of bias.
• If a product scores an overall category evaluation rating average of [2] Stars or lower from the complete review results, 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.
  

AGE COMPATIBILITY: Rating Level - [5]

Sabu & Me was a sure win as far as AGE COMPATIBILITY is concerned. The results compiled from our independent evaluators, in-house staff, and consumers, Sabu & Me could not have been more age compatible.  As a matter of distinct fact, it went well beyond the target age compatibility, it proved to be of interest for a very wide span of age levels. Sabu & Me pulls a perfect score of [5] Stars in this category for AGE COMPATIBILITY.

CONTENT QUALITY : Rating Level - [5]

Determining an accurate reading of the CONTENT QUALITY was quite challenging for us.  Considering that the book was authored by a 10 year old child, realistically, only a child of that age group can provide a truly accurate answer, yet we managed to achieve our goal all the same.

To resolve our challenge we called upon the help of several professionals who are well versed in what is considered "good content quality" from the publishing industry's perspective, and combined that with the feedback from a group of girls ages 9-11 years of age, and our own evaluation standards results.

The end result was a determination of Sabu & Me being considered well beyond what many other books of similar nature on the market today have in their saddles so to speak.  There is something unique about Sabu & Me which is like a magnet and draws children and others alike to pick the book up and read it.  Sabu & Me pulls a perfect score of [5] Stars in this category for CONTENT QUALITY.

EDUCATIONAL VALUE: Rating Level - [4]

For the average consumer, EDUCATIONAL VALUE is something which may not even cross their mind in regard to looking at Sabu & Me yet for a teacher, that is an entirely different story. Sabu & Me crosses the threshold of many aspects of education with what we refer to as "the experience". 

For many children's books, it's simply a single function and purpose achieved from use of them.  For Sabu & Me it is more of an experience which children can identify with and remains with them long after they have put the book down.  To even try and define the educational value of Sabu & Me would take volumes of text to truly do so. That is what we call one powerful hybrid product! 

After careful evaluation and lengthy periods of study, we finally established Sabu & Me to pull a well above average score of [4] Stars in this category for EDUCATIONAL VALUE.  While the books is well above average in this category, it falls short of a perfect score by a single digit.

MARKETABILITY: Rating Level - [5]

When it comes to MARKETABILITY, Sabu & Me is a smash!  Being a hybrid product which is applicable for use in home, education, and even commercial use, Sabu & Me is not restricted by barriers that many other childrens books often cannot overcome. With all of the proper elements to be a good sell on a shelf for the retail market as well as even be applicable for use with SN children, Sabu & Me pulls a perfect score of [5] Stars in this category for MARKETABILITY.

READING RESPONSE LEVEL: Rating Level - [5]

READING RESPONSE LEVEL plays an important factor in the evaluation of all books that are submitted to us. In our discussion over final scoring in all 56 evaluation categories, reading response was one of the most significant to us for Sabu & Me.  The child who authored this bok created a book which is simple, yet multi-functional and cost-effective.  In all phases of our evaluation, the reading response level was nothing short of the very best in ranking.  Sabu & Me pulls a well deserved perfect score of [5] Stars in this category for READING RESPONSE LEVEL.

VISUAL APPEAL: Rating Level - [4]

Just as in some other evaluation categories, Sabu & Me delivers a most interesting challenge in establishing an accurate scoring in this category for VISUAL APPEAL. The most important part of this segment of the evaluation was to keep a solid balance of perspective from the eyes of a 10 year old while at the same time maintaining a perspective from the corporate buyer or even consumer's standpoint.  This segment took an extensive amount of time to come to a final score which we feel is beyond question of being any higher or any lesser.  After careful evaluation and compiling of all scores, Sabu & Me pulls an average score of [4] Stars in this category for VISUAL APPEAL.

EVALUATION RESULTS - From evaluation for induction into "The Toy Man® Product Guide"
Overall Rating:  5	Seal of Approval: Approved	eco-Recognition™ Seal: Approved	Award of Excellence: Approved	eChoice™ Award: Selected

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	Since 1971 "The Toy Man® Seal of Approval" has served as an emblem and standard for professional recognition of a product or online service having met the globally recognized evaluation standards of The Toy Man® Product Guide.   This emblem was first established in 1971 by the International Parenting Institute™. It is modeled after the "Good Housekeeping Seal of Approval®", an emblem of recognition for products which meet the globally recognized high standards set forth by the Good Housekeeping Institute®.

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	The Toy Man® eco-Recognition Seal™ embodies the highest recognition for products and services which provide a significant contribution to ecological concerns by one or more of the following; Recycled / Recyclable materials are being used primarily or entirely in the manufacturing of the product. Efforts are being made or already established for the product to be available exclusively or primarily online. A substantial effort is being made or is already available to provide a bio-polymer greenProduct™ option. * The eco-Recognition™ Seal is part of The Toy Man® eco-Recognition Project™ to promote greenBusiness™

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!"
	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.

"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.