Earlier this year we reviewed Birde, an Australian designed smart speaker for children that utterly charmed me from the moment I unboxed it. The speaker chirps when you power it on, and takes just a minute to set up. Even the USB charger, that most boring and ubiquitous technology, is colourful and cute.

Looking like a triangular UE Boom, the original Birde was a tough, kid-proof speaker that sat atop a wireless charging mat for $299. A newer model charges directly via USB, and is a much more palatable $199. Both come with a six-pack of "Birde Seeds": Pog-like NFC discs that trigger the device to stream and download stories and music. All up, there’s around five hours of songs from The Wiggles, Play School and some lesser known preschool entertainers included with the speaker.

Additional Birde Seeds retail for between $12 and $30 dollars, and there’s a good range of content available, including classic audiobooks like The Muddle Headed Wombat, Hairy Maclary and Guess How Much I Love You. And if you’re worried your child will lose the seeds, the app registers the content from each seed as you tap them, so you can still play your purchases from the parent app with no seed needed.

Our three-year-old daughter is pretty comfortable with technology and already knows her way around a Google Home smart speaker. I know a few parents think we’re crazy for allowing a listening device in our child’s room, and for them Birde may seem the safer alternative, but I just love hearing her whisper “hey Google, volume up” when it’s supposed to be bedtime, before slowly turning the volume back down on my phone.