Check out this terrific article at the New Atlantis entitled "Sucker-Me Elmo." I am a bit old-fashioned in many ways, but every year, I've bugged Amy to move over into the educational toy aisle, where things don't need batteries, and they don't give me headaches. Bigger than that, though, I think they do a better job of facilitating learning. Well, this article argues the same thing. Just say no! HT: LD