Advantages: lots of books to add on
Disadvantages: may not suit all children, costs a lot

...The leapfrog leappad is a flat plastic interactive device for teaching children to read, along with other educational benefits. You can buy individual books for the system, along with carry bags etc. The leappad comes with one basic book and many shops also throw in another of your choice for free. Usual price in the region of £35, but be on the look out for money off offers . As this is a popular item it can usually be bought from most good toy shops and department stores. I suggested a family member bought this item for my daughter last xmas. Watching all the adverts, it looked great fun and very interactive. My daughter (4 years old) seemed very interested in the ads to so I just expected her to love it...........but she doesn't! Firstly it is quite a bulky item. Heavy thick plastic which isn't that easy for a small child... Read review

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Advantages: see review
Disadvantages: None

...For christmas we got our little girl a Leappad learning system, She is 4 years old and has every toy you can think of, and with starting full time school just after christmas we wanted to get her something she could play with and which would help her to read. We came across the leappad learning system in Woolworths and thought that it was just the right thing for her, we was right not only does she have the learning side of it but also the play side of it. If you haven't heard of this before I will now tell you abit about it. The leapfrog helps your children learn to read and gain the skills and confidence to become a great learner. It teaches your children ~Reading ~Phonics ~Vocabulary ~Foreign Languages ~Geography ~Science ~Maths ~Music The actual pad is made of a light but very strong pink plastic which features... Read review

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Advantages: Favourite characters in the book, same story as film, great learning games
Disadvantages: If your kid doesn't like the film Disney Pixar ' Cars' don't bother

... My First LeapPad - Disney Pixar Cars Book Out of the tonnes of "Cars" merchandise out there, this was by far one of the best buys I made. It has proved to have long lasting entertainment value unlike some of the models cars which lose their novelty value pretty fast. All of the books for the My First Leap Pad are "two in one" flip books with one story side and one activity side. The cover is fairly thick shiny card and the pages are thinner but still durable. The cartridge has a matching picture of McQueen so easy to find the right one to go with the book. The pictures on and in the 'Cars' book are cartoon-style rather than the flashy pixar computer generated characters from the film which I found a bit disappointing to honest, though all the favorites are here and still very recognisable it just lacks the flashy pixar... Read review

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Advantages: 3 books, cheaper than buying individually
Disadvantages: finding a set with 3 your child will like ?

... Leap Frog My First LeapPad Book - Pack of 3 I purchased this pack of 3 for £19.99 online when I got Boy's Leap pad, and all things considered It was a good buy, to buy the three books I got separately would have cost me more. Recommend shopping around for the best price, would say what I paid is an OK deal. Different combinations of books are available but in my box I got these three: Dora the Explorer - " To the Rescue " Thomas and Friends - " Thomas and the School Trip" Disney Winnie the Pooh - " Pooh's Honey Tree " All of the books for the My First Leap Pad are "two in one" flip books with one story side and one activity side. The covers are fairly thick shiny card and the pages are thinner but still durable. The books I got in my set..... Dora the Explorer - " To the Rescue " Featuring the Dora... Read review

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Advantages: Encourages learning through hearing different words and sounds.
Disadvantages: No disadvantages.

...My daughter, who has only just turned three received a Leappad from Santa at Christmas. Although I was a bit concerned since the item stipulated that it was for children aged 4 plus my worries were short-lived. Since Christmas time she has played with it non-stop and asked if she could purchase further books with money she had received. She bought another two - one about Winnie The Pooh and one about Tigger. The books retail at £12 each which seems rather expensive. When you consider, however, that they provide hours of enjoyment, they are cheap at the price. The concept of the Age 4 plus Leappad is to encourage reading but at an earlier age it can encourage numerous developments as well. As my daughter passes the pen over the words and the computer reads the book I find she is repeating these words. After doing this she can... Read review

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Advantages: Can help with reading
Disadvantages: Additional books are expensive

...My son had just turned five and i was looking for an educational toy for him to buy with his birthday money. We came across the Vtech smart book in Woolworth’s. It was priced at £19.99 and was around £10 cheaper than the LeapFrog LeapPad. It came with 2 books... A Squirrel's Adventure - which is about a squirrel that wants to fly and another book called Watson, Alphabert and the ook worms (no ook isn't a typing mistake !) this books is about an inventor called Watson and his helper Alphabert and some book worms that eat the towns books. Both the story books are good and are packed with load of things to do... counting games, i spy games and mazes. The book works by touching the words or pictures with the pen cursor, it can spell words, say words, sound words or read the complete story. It is very simple and easy to use... Read review

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Advantages: Great for young children who want to read by themselves
Disadvantages: Costs a fortune in batteries

...My three year old son learnt most of his colours,he could count from 1 to 15 and could recognise numbers on a poster from 1 to ten he also recognised most of the letters in the alphabet by the age of two. I decided that maybe it was time for the next step and that is to try and teach him to read so instead of sitting him infront of a normal book i decided to buy him the leappad. The leap pad i bought was aged for 3 to 5 year olds it is blue in colour and has an electonic pen so that you can hear the story being read for you. If you put the pen on a picture it tells you what item you have clicked on and when you put it on a word it tells you what that word is. This product is ideal for young children who want to learn to read as not only does it read for you it is an actual book so not only do they learn what a word sounds like... Read review

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Advantages: lots of learning opportunities,
Disadvantages: books can be easily damaged

...Leapfrog are an expanding company who specialise in children's learning toys from the ages of 3 months where we see the Baby Counting Pal to around the age of 8 for the Leappad Books and the cartridges for the Leapster. They seem to have an excellent idea of what makes learning fun for children between these ages and there are many more toys available from this company than a few years ago. They have a promise which reads:- The Leapfrog promise is to create fresh, engaging, effective learning experiences that inspire and delight kids - over and over again. It goes on to read:- The Leapfrog way is a simple equation: Rigorous, proven learning methodologies plus Compelling, multi-layered content plus Intuitive and invisible technology equals LEARN SOMETHING NEW EVERY DAY! This I feel sums up the products I have... Read review

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Advantages: Good for children's learning & volume control!
Disadvantages: Can't think of any

...I bought my son a leappad at Christmas when he was 3½. It cost around £30 for the actual leappad, and any books are extra. The leappad itself is like a small children's hardback computer. It opens out and in the middle of it you place the book. There is a relevant cartridge to go with each book which is slotted into the side of the leappad. There is also a pen - not a real one, but one that scrolls along the books. The leappads come in two colours -pink or blue. There are a wide variety of books - Toy Story, Cat in the Hat, Finding Nemo, Winnie the Pooh, Scooby Doo, etc. In the books there are a variety of things for children to do, from reading the books with their pens (learning about words), games (fun but learning about words, numbers at the same time), and other activities such as pointing at words for the leappad... Read review

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Advantages: Great educational toy, very easy to use, lots of choice for books
Disadvantages: None

...Can I just say that I am a huge fan of LeapPads -- they are a great educational toy! Along the same line, I think the 'My First LeapPad' is a excellent educational toy. It teaches numbers, letters, shapes, colors,writing and a variety of other simple, toddler-friendly subjects. We bought our 2 girls one last christmas, They were 2.5 and 3.5 years old and they could both manage all aspects of playing with their Leap Pad books with no adult assistance. There is quite a large variety of books you can buy for the leappad and each book comes with a cartridge that just slots into the side. The majority of books that are for the Leappad are educational, which is great because while your child thinks they are playing they are actually learning too. The books clip on to the Leappad with a ring binding mechanism, very easy for your child... Read review

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