The GeoSafari line of educational toys by Educational Insights is really one of the best lines around. After Tedco Toys’ line of Ein-O Science Kits and the SmartLab books and kits, the Geosafari line is probably one of my favorites. I tried out this one a couple of months ago (and the Talking Globe Jr.) and was pleasantly surprised with how much fun I had learning about the world. I was afraid the sound quality wouldn’t be very good (as is often the case with electronic toys that try to synthesize the human voice), but in this case it was actually very good.

One of my favorite points about the GeoSafari Talking Globe is the trivia game. It claims to have over 10,000 questions, but to be honest, I didn’t play with it long enough to hear but maybe a few dozen. But the ones I did try to answer were pretty clever and really made me think. Another great thing about this one is the cool sound effects and lights. I can see kids playing with this one for hours at a time, for days and even weeks, and not even realize how much they’re learning.

Overall, I’ll give this toy two thumbs up, even with the steep price tag of about $80 US. In my opinion, it’s well worth it.