Parents Surf Net, Watch TV Eight Times as Much as They Read to Their Children

New LeapFrog Reading Campaign Encourages Parents to Make Time for Shared Reading

EMERYVILLE, Calif., March 16 /PRNewswire/ -- In conjunction with National Reading Month, a LeapFrog Enterprises, Inc.-commissioned Harris Interactive(R) survey reveals that nearly all parents(1) (98 per cent) asked agree that reading to children from a young age is very important. That priority may get lost in the shuffle, though, as parents spend more time online or watching TV than reading with their kids. Promoting the importance of families' bonding and learning through shared reading, LeapFrog, a pioneer in the learn-to-read category, has unveiled a reading program to inspire parents, teachers and kids to pledge to read one million hours during the month of March (leapfrog.com/readingmonth).

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Balancing chaotic schedules is a challenge for most families, and nearly three-fourths (72 per cent) of parents said they wished they had more time to read to or with their child. However, they also reported spending an average of about 59 minutes a day watching TV with their child, 83 minutes a day watching TV by themselves or with their partner and another 67 minutes per day browsing the Web for non-work-related purposes.

While the majority of parents (83 percent) do read to their child daily, those who do spend an average of about 32 minutes reading, compared with a total of 209 minutes (approximately 31/2 hours) a day watching TV and browsing the Web.

"The good news is that parents value reading and enjoy that special time with their children," said Craig Hendrickson, senior vice president of product marketing for LeapFrog. "Shared reading sets the stage for kids to develop a lifelong love of books that will help them become fluent, independent readers. Although everyone today is busy, we encourage parents -- all of us here at LeapFrog, included! -- to take a look at how they are spending their free time and use some of the minutes during which they may typically be online or watching TV to read with their children, sharing stories and books."

One Million Hours of Reading

In celebration of National Reading Month, LeapFrog's million hours reading initiative (leapfrog.com/readingmonth) also includes access to online resources to help foster more family reading, as well as valuable product discounts, coupons and a chance to win a Tag(TM) Reading System and ten Tag books in the Love of Reading Sweepstakes co-sponsored by Scholastic.

Once the 1 million hours goal is reached, LeapFrog will donate $50,000 worth of its Ready, Set, Leap!(TM) Pre-K literacy products to the Books for Kids Foundation, whose mission is to promote literacy among all children, with a special emphasis on low-income and at-risk preschool-aged children.

Building Reading Confidence and Fun

The best-selling Tag reader from LeapFrog is the first handheld learn-to-read system that works with real books to encourage a love of reading in kids. By simply touching the Tag reader anywhere on a Tag-enabled book, children can bring their favorite stories to life, hearing an entire story, individual words or fun sound effects embedded in the pictures, as well as playing fun learning games. Building early confidence in reading, the Tag handheld lets kids set the pace for their own reading experience.

In the first eight months of domestic availability, LeapFrog's library of Tag books sold more than 1.2 million copies, including several children's titles that have sold more than 100,000 copies each. Currently the Tag library comprises 21 books--including The Cat in the Hat, The Little Engine That Could and Miss Spider's Tea Party -- and new releases will increase the library to more than 30 books by the end of 2009.

About the Survey

This Reading to Children survey was conducted online within the United States by Harris Interactive on behalf of LeapFrog from March 3-5, 2009 among 2,235 adults ages 18 and older, of whom, 438 are parents or legal guardians of children (ages 0-12 years old) living at home with them. This online survey is not based on a probability sample and therefore no estimates of theoretical sampling error can be calculated. For complete survey methodology, including weighting variables, please contact Mischa Dunton (mdunton@leapfrog.com; 510-596-5441)

About LeapFrog

LeapFrog Enterprises, Inc., is a leading designer, developer and marketer of innovative, technology-based educational products that make learning fun. With more than 120 million educational platforms, books and games in homes worldwide, and multisensory technology in more than 100,000 US classrooms, the LeapFrog learning brand is trusted by parents, valued by teachers and loved by children. Many of LeapFrog's newest learning products connect to the Internet, for rich, offline/online experiences that parents and children can personalize.

About Harris Interactive(R)

Harris Interactive is a global leader in custom market research. With a long and rich history in multimodal research, powered by our science and technology, we assist clients in achieving business results. Harris Interactive serves clients globally through our North American, European and Asian offices and a network of independent market research firms. For more information, please visit www.harrisinteractive.com.

About Books for Kids Foundation

Books for Kids Foundation's mission is to promote literacy among all children, with a special emphasis on low-income and at-risk preschool-aged children, by creating libraries, donating books and partnering with literacy programs to help young children develop critical early literacy skills. In addition to its national office, which serves the greater New York City area and communities throughout the US, Books for Kids operates libraries in Connecticut, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, New Jersey, New York, Pennsylvania and Washington, DC, as well as chapters in the Erie, PA, South Bend, IN and Flagstaff, AZ areas. Books for Kids has since its founding provided children with more than 5 million books and created 56 libraries.

(1) For the purposes of this survey, we have defined "parents" as U.S. adults ages 18 + who are the parents/legal guardians of a child/children ages 0-12 years old who live in their home (n= 438).

    Media contacts
    Mischa Dunton
    LeapFrog Enterprises, Inc.
    510-596-5441
    mdunton@leapfrog.com

    Blair Decembrele
    KAPLOW
    212-221-1713
    bdecembrele@kaplowpr.com