AlphaBit's Letters 'n Lights (also known as MiniBert's Letters 'n Lights in the UK, AlfaBerto Júnior in Spain, and JuniorBerts ABC Baum in Germany) was a toy released in 2001. It is shaped like an apple tree with 29 buttons shaped like apples, and a 5x7 LED matrix that displays letters, numbers, objects, shapes, and symbols.
Activities (US)
- Learn the Letters - This activity teaches the names of the 26 letters of the alphabet and how they look. Press a letter button to hear the letter’s name and an object that begins with that letter. The uppercase and lowercase versions of that letter will be written by the dots in the correct stroke order, and then an animation of the object will appear on the LED screen. If there is no input within 30 seconds, you will be asked to find a specific letter by its name.
- Learn the Sounds - This activity teaches the phonetic sounds of the 26 letters of the alphabet. Press a letter button to hear the letter’s phonetic sound. For the vowels (A, E, I, O, U), you will hear both the short and long sounds. The letter will appear on the LED screen. If there is no input within 30 seconds, you will be asked to find a specific letter by its sound.
- Letter Order - This activity teaches the order of the 26 letters of the alphabet. Press a letter button the first time to hear the letter that comes before it. Press a letter button the second time to hear the letter that comes after it. The letters will appear on the LED screen in the correct order. If there is no input within 30 seconds, you will be asked to find the letter that comes before or after another letter.
- Big 'n Small - This activity teaches uppercase and lowercase letters. A letter (either uppercase or lowercase) will appear on the LED screen and you will have to find the same letter with the opposite case.
- Find It - You will be asked to find a specific letter by its name or sound, or a specific object by its name. When you are asked to find a letter or letter sound, the LED screen will display an image of the object that begins with the letter. When you are asked to find an object, the beginning letter in the word will be displayed in both letter cases.
- Follow Me - This is a memory game. You will be asked to follow AlphaBit by pressing the correct sequence of letters and objects. The letters or objects will appear on the LED screen as he calls them out.
- Mystery Letter - The LED screen will begin writing a letter one dot at a time. You need to try and guess what letter is being made before it has been completed.
- Juke Box - 13 melodies are available for your listening pleasure. Press a letter button to listen to one of them. If there is no input for 30 seconds, a random melody will play. The LED screen will display a character that dances to the melody.
Melody List (US/UK)
- A, N - The Entertainer
- B, O - Sailing, Sailing
- C, P - Take Me Out to the Ballgame
- D, Q - Sing a Song of Sixpence
- E, R - Mexican Hat Dance
- F, S - Funiculi, Funicula
- G, T - Glow Worm
- H, U - Home on the Range
- I, V - Wheels on the Bus
- J, W - Sailor's Hornpipe
- K, X - Daring Young Man on the Flying Trapeze
- L, Y - Chicken Reel
- M, Z - Au clair de la lune
Trivia
- This toy is similar to the Alphabet Apple Tree, sharing features such as the apple tree concept, the bird activity slider and the worm On/Off button.
Goofs
- The US manual lists “Au clair de la lune” as “Alouette”.