Child abuse prevention educational book and accompanying

• US 20060127866A1
• Filed: 08/16/2005
• Published: 06/15/2006
• Est. Priority Date: 12/15/2004
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Cecile Irvine, Celeste Damron, Cynthia Irvine
• Original Assignee: Cecile Irvine, Celeste Damron, Cynthia Irvine
• Inventors: Irvine, Cynthia, Damron, Celeste, Irvine, Cecile
• Granted Patent: US 8,277,221 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 434/236
• CPC Class Codes: G09B 5/062 Combinations of audio and printed presentations, e.g. magnetically striped cards, talking books, magnetic tapes with printed texts thereon

Abstract

Educational book and toy for teaching desired behavioral and psychological patterns is disclosed. Toy may include “voice box” stored inside toy and activated via apparatus such as pull ring or button attached externally to toy. It may have memory capable of storing sounds/words associated with book and microphone-type device providing audible signals enabling sound. Printed dialog of character in book is associated to character embodied by toy and communicates message related to desired behavioral pattem. Books may contain a variety of illustrations and prompts indicating when reader should activate sound. Illustrations preferably typify character which may be personalized, and with whom reader may identify. Interaction between characters in book is purposed to encourage self-awareness in reader encouraging him/her to pull cord or press button (or similar device), thereby reinforcing the learning of desired behavioral pattems.

Claims

1. Story Book

An interactive story book as illustrated in the first article of FIG. 1, and all articles of FIGS. 2, 3, 7 for teaching children desired behavioral and psychological patterns, said story book comprising:

a front cover;

a back cover;

a plurality of pages disposed between said front cover and said back cover, at least one of said plurality of pages having printed matter thereon in the form of text and at least one of said plurality of pages having printed matter thereon in the form of an illustration. Means for binding said front cover, said back cover and said plurality of pages together, and means for binding said front cover, are in a manner that is standard for the binding of conventional books. Said cover page may have printed text in the form of a title and may also have printed matter in the form of an illustration depicting the main and/or secondary characters of said story book.

2. A psychotherapeutic and behavioral device of claim 1 depicting a scene relative to the child, further comprising a plurality of members depicting a like character and wherein each of said members depicts said character displaying a specific different emotion and/or behavior, said members being formed so as to be selectively received, whereby the reader (child) upon viewing the scene and reading it in the light of the story selects to activate the audio sound thereby conveying the emotion felt by the subject and eliciting the appropriate behavioral pattern in the reader.

3. The psychotherapeutic and behavioral device of claim 1, wherein said character depicts a child of like gender to the main character, and wherein the scene depicts a like traumatic event in the child/reader'"'"'s own life or attempts to alleviate the potential of a like traumatic event ever occurring in the child'"'"'s own experience.

4. Through the story book of claim 1, a method for teaching a reader a desired behavioral pattern, specifically with respect to, but not limited to, protecting oneself from a variety of abuses through the practice and use of specific phrases as taught through the associated soft plush toy of claim 8 in the steps of:

Providing a story book having a plurality of pages defined in claim 1 and including a story therein related to a theme of this sort intended to teach a young reader a desired behavioral and psychological pattem. Said book including pictures of at least one, and most likely two, specific figures such as an animal and/or a person, will be contained herein.

5. Said story book of claim 1 may be in the form of a series of books, all relating to a specific genre of themes, specifically, protecting oneself from harm or abuse, with the general target audience being in the range of a young child through adolescence, or it may be a “

stand-alone”

story in that it may never or potentially never, be adapted or become part of a series, other than the fact that it follows the general theme of other stories that may be a part of a series.

6. Said story book of claim 1 may be a specific story, with specific characters and a specific theme and may then be adapted to be written at the appropriate emotional and psychological maturity level and the reading skills of a younger or older reader. That is, the story will be revised and edited and words or paragraphs removed and restructured to be at a specific psychological, emotional and maturity level as well as at a specific reading skill level and additional, more colorful, and/or larger pictures will be added that are appropriate for a younger target age group.

9. An educational soft plush novelty toy of claim 8 in the form of an animal comprising a second article having a pull ring and string or a button which acts as the contact point for the audible signal generator embedded within said first article, the audio device being responsive to an output signal from the audio mechanism to produce a predetermined audio message, and having a corresponding number of associated audio messages thereon each being an audio form of a respective said audio message corresponding to the same message as depicted and displayed in the story book of claim 1 whereby the reader activates the said voice or sound message via the pull ring or button to reinforce the desired behavior.

10. An educational toy of claim 8 wherein the first article comprises a book, as described in detail in claim 1, whereby a page or pages may have a said visual, printed message and the associated prompt for the child to pull the string or press the button on the toy to elicit the specific voice or sound message via the audio mechanism of claim 14.

11. An educational and psychologically oriented voice of the toy as claimed in claim 8 that is meant to be soft, gentle and nurturing implying a sense of safety and serenity from the toy, including a voice activator or sound activator via an audio mechanism imbedded within the soft plush toy. The words and phrases of said toy are meant to engender the child'"'"'s trust and alliance with the “

safe”

toy wherein the reader of the story book of claim 1 will emulate the strength and courage of said toy and become able to practice with the toy and audio device to begin to protect him or herself from negative influences or people that may desire to cause physical, psychological or emotional harm to the child.

12. An educational toy as claimed in claim 8 wherein the audio mechanism is comprised of a device such as a microprocessor contained therein and part of the Audible Signal Generator of claim 14.

14. Audible Signal Generator

The soft plush toy, also known as the novelty device of claim 8 and assembly of claim 1 wherein the audible signal generator as illustrated in FIGS. 4-6 is activated through a contact point in the form of a button or pull ring and is attached to an interior portion of the soft plush toy novelty device of claim 8 including a power source, wherein the power source may be a safe and reliable source of energy including, but limited to, a removable and replaceable battery.

15. The novelty device of claim 1 wherein a page may display a printed and distinct message associated to an audio message stored within the microchip of the audible signal generator of claim 14.

16. The novelty device of claim 8 wherein the audible signal generator of claim 14 resides includes a speaker device meant to transmit a voice-like, animal-like or actual human voice quality sound loud and clear enough for a person of a young age to hear and comprehend readily and easily.

17. The novelty device of claim 8 wherein the audible signal generator of claim 14 having a memory to store data sufficient to house any number of distinct and separate sayings or phrases that will be elicited when the reader pulls the string or presses the button on the soft plush toy of claim 8 and a speaker to provide an audible signal, that which having a housing in which the memory and speaker are located.

18. The novelty device of claim 8 wherein the audible signal generator of claim 14 being activated via a contact on the soft plush toy of claim 8 is capable of being detected by the audio signal generator of claim 14, and retrieving data from the memory corresponding to the printed information of the selected page of the story book of claim 1 and converting the data into an audible signal which is then transmitted via the speaker and seeming to come from “

within”

the soft plush toy of claim 8 such that the reader “

believes”

the voice to be emanating from the life-like toy.

19. The novelty device of claim 8 wherein the audio signal generator of claim 14 may include an oscillator and a voice chip that may also include a lookup table.

7. Each story book of claim I is intended to follow a general theme and emotional process that is deemed psychologically sound based upon generally accepted psychological practices, and appropriate for each targeted age or maturation group of said readers, regardless of whether it is adapted for age, part of a series or a stand-alone story of this nature.

8. Soft Plush Toy (Novelty Device)

An educational soft plush novelty toy comprising the second article as illustrated in FIGS. 1, and 7 and an apparatus with an enclosure portion for the audio apparatus. The toy includes (in the example of a horse), a body portion, hoof-like portions, a tail portion, and a head portion attached thereto. The toy may be in other animal-like forms such as a fish, turtle, dog, cat, etc. and is not limited to a specific type of mammal group, being or entity. It could be a magical It is meant to be an entity to which a child will find it easy to bond and trust. It is preferably of a soft and pliable construction and may be of a stuffed animal type construction and can have a soft “

furry”

surface. It may also have adornments and additional features such as a saddle, bridle, and/or blanket that might typically be worn by a mythical, ancient or magical horse. As illustrated on the toy, there indicates a “

trap door”

that may be accessed via a latch by which to open said door, where the audible signal generator is stored internally within the toy. The audible signal generator may come in a variety of formats, herein shown and activated via a pull ring and a button attached to the toy in any number of configurations.

13. An educational toy as claimed in claim 8, the enclosure portion of which is adapted to hold and protect an audio and/or electronic microchip, speaker and storage devices securely attached within the interior of the plush toy portion, with the housing portion including the opening cover section whereby the enclosure portion may swing open and closed, with a mechanism for securing the enclosure portion closed and is deemed safe for a child of a specific age according to widely accepted standards by manufacturers of like toys containing audio devices within the interior of the soft toy of claim 8.