Well, having been bitten by the Strawberry Shortcake bug over the last few months (hey, I'm a geek. The "this is a girls' toy" thing doesn't apply in the name of technology), my mouth foamed when I saw this item - "I definately mus have it, the technology sounds so cool". However, like the Fisher-Price Laugh and Learn Learning Puppy, this toy wasn't available in Malaysia either (in fact, the only toys I ever saw are those little collectible dolls, and a few other plushes which I regretted not buying. Nothing else. And those have disappeared as of late too). So, I swallowed my pride and got it off eBay too. A little under RM200 and 3 weeks later, the doll arrived. Now, I have not saw any of these review when I bought mine, but the toy arrived fine, with working pen and all (tried replacing the battery?). So, all systems go. Time to see this baby sing.

My first complaint about the doll is that the book has an activity that states to scan the dots in order to hear the entire song. Perhaps they should've said "the song replayed" instead, because that certainly isn't the whole song I hear (having watched "Meet Strawberry Shortcake" and heard the songs in their full, completed glory). I absolutely loved "Friendship Grows Like a Flower", and was dismayed when the song wasn't played to completion. Neither was "Strawberry Girl in Strawberry World", a.k.a "Jump and Clap and Turn Around". Or the other songs for that matter. Maybe there's some demo tab that must be removed. But there's nothing on it on the manual. Box? I foolishly thrown out the box before I had a chance to fully check it. Ouch. Another thing is that one of the buttons on the first activity states to scan to find out "who is baking a delicious treat". Scanning it reveals the phrase "have a delicious day" instead. Did Angel Cake gain the nickname "Delicious Day" sometime?

Other notes on the toy is better. The pen is kinda interesting to me, although the activities offered are kinda so-and-so, but the pen... well, it scans a surface for a particular color. Different color = different reaction. Interesting technology. And the backpack to keep the pen in when not in use. Ingenious and prevents the danger of leaving the pen and cabling exposed. Another thing I've taken to like about the doll is the "You're My Berry Best Friend" music clip. Although short, I actually liked it so much that I devised a method to play the song without scanning the book at all (scan a nearby Good-Luck Bear plush's clover to activate the mode, then carefully scan Strawberry's hat. With any luck the clip would start playing). Other things? Well, the book looks kinda sturdy (to my standard), and pressing her right hand makes her talk, but you already knew that. She says a couple of phrases which seems to come at random order, but that's fine by me.

In a nutshell, it's a nice toy, although it doesn't sing the entire song.

My daughter loves Strawberry Shortcake. This interactive doll and book are uninteresting and do not work together very well. The book has to be on a flat surface and then still does not work well. The doll and book quickly became seperate toys and neither are played with very often.

We got this as a birthday gift. I don't know why no one else seems to know how to work it, but we are enjoying this toy. My 2 year old has figured it out and we're having a blast. Our magic pencil works just fine. I would definately recommend. My daughter loves hearing the songs and playing with her "cake" as she calls Strawberry Shortcake.

I agree with the other people who wrote a review...can't figure out the sequence of events or maybe stylus does not work. Child not happy and tired of hearing Shortcake say the same thing over and over. Save your money and buy a good book for your kid!!!

My 3 year old daughter got this doll as a Chirstmas present. It has not worked correctly since the first day. I would not recommed this for anyone. Every time she tries to use the doll with the book I just get frustrated and tell her to just play pretend with the doll. The doll it's self is very cute. It is a shame that the technology is so poor.