this message brought to you by the letter P

[Arnold M. Zwicky]

it's one of the Sassy "Play & Say (tm)" toys, "designed to develop
baby's emerging skills."  it's the Sassy Linking Letters.  you can hold
them "in front of your newborn" and then "watch the links as you slowly
move them back and forth."  then, "as baby gets older, offer links to
grasp and hold... and teethe on..."

specifically: "Your Letter Link set contains 7 special letters which
represent baby's first sounds (B, D, G, M, T, C, A). "

i would like to protest on behalf of the letter P.  and N.

to continue: "These letters can be interlinked to spell seven special
rhyming words."

quick!  name those seven rhyming words!  the best i can do is six, and
that takes something of a stretch in the vocabulary: AD, BAD, GAD, MAD,
TAD, CAD.  or AM, BAM, DAM, GAM, TAM, CAM.  or, just barely imaginably,
AB [one abdominal muscle], DAB, GAB, [Queen] MAB, TAB, CAB.  _AT falls
down on DAT, unless you accept the acronym for Digital Audio Tape.  _AG
falls down on CAG, and is dubious on DAG ['dyke', as in BULLDAG] and
the clippings AG and MAG.  _AC is pretty generally hopeless.

and there's more: "Start by creating the word CAT.  Say "CAT".  Change
the "C" to "B" to make BAT.  Say "BAT". Rhyming is a great way to
expose baby to language."

adult suspects baby will be amply exposed to language.

arnold (zwicky at csli.stanford.edu), whose tiny granddaughter has moved
up to
   an intense appreciation of things that are either reflective or
squeaky but is
   not up to enjoying the plastic letters by chewing on them