Reviews (1)

helps learn phonics, high quality reading instruction
First you need to know that the content of this product now titled "LeapPad Phonics Book 2 Tad's Good Night" was previously published as "Leap 1 Phonics Book Tad's Good Night". The products are identical except for the change in title. Actually the revised line of products as "phonics book" numbering from 1 to 14 makes logical sense and is more helpful to parents like me who are trying to figure out the proper sequence to buy and introduce these phonics teaching books and activities to their children.

This is mainly a reader that reinforces the short-a and short-o vowel sounds. This is designed to be used after the child knows these sounds from an earlier LeapPad program or already knows them from another learning source such as Mom and Dad or school. If it is used out of sequence it may cause confusion or frustration. This program acts as one unit in a phonics program, properly isolating certain sounds and reinforcing them with practice actually reading the story. Reading experts in phonics feel that there should be a systematic progression of learning some sounds then practicing them. This program fits right in if you make sure you are following the sequence from beginning to end. All in all there are 14 LeapPad products you would have to buy to follow the entire progression from start to finish, just so you are aware. Inside the package is a chart showing the proper sequence of products; since all are sold separately...otherwise it is quite confusing to try to figure out as a consumer/parent.

This is a short story about the little frog Tad, whose parents go out on a date night together, leaving him and his siblings at home with their grandfather as babysitter. Tad is not happy his parents are leaving him and is upset and even crying. In the end his older brother Leap helps make him happy and he falls asleep before Mom and Dad arrive back home.

I liked that there are several ways to have the story read. If you press the green "go" circle, the story starts being read automatically with different voices for the different characters and the meter, rhythm, inflection and the punctuation is correct. If you touch the pen to the words themselves then it reads off that one word. If you move the pen along the line of the text it reads along the words. The downside is the pen-touching method is the robotic monotone voice that has no regard for punctuation, emotion, etc.

I noticed an improvement in this product over some other programs we have, I was happy that the background music is softer than the spoken word. With some of the older programs, the music is as loud if not seeming louder than the spoken letter sounds, which makes it harder to hear the letter sounds.

There are two 2-page spreads that contain a total of 5 games to play. Each page of the story also has the ability to play one game per page. Every page also has the option by touching a certain button to say the word, spell the word, or sound out the word. I feel that every child will need more practice than this book provides, and highly recommend the extra practice that is found in the "activity book 1" and the other 3 subsequent activity books as a supplement.

Thank goodness Leap Frog has decided to be consistent in providing volume controls for every program. Kudos to Leap Frog for that option! There is a wide range of soft volume to what I consider to be "too loud". Thank you for having volume control! ... Read more

Features

• Interactive book with SpongeBob SquarePants theme
• Teaches early math skills plus prewriting and Spanish practice
• Includes a treasure hunt, surfing and seahorse-riding games
• For use with LeapFrog My First LeapPad system only
• For ages 3 to 4 years

Editorial Review

Kids can mind the store with the Pretend & Play Talking Scanner.The 5-inch red and blue plastic tool rests comfortably in its blueplastic base until it's time for checkout. Then young checkers can scanany of the included 32 price stickers to hear a price and see itdisplayed on the LCD screen. The front button is pressed to receive arandom price quote, or hit the side button to mute the voice. Additionalprice stickers are available from the manufacturer if kids want to gowholesale. --Rob Lightner ... Read more

Reviews (6)

Be sure to read instructions!
My 5 year old has had the cash register that coordinates with this scanner for 3 years and it's WONDERFUL, but when she was old enough to notice the other registers with scanners on the shelf, she was disappointed, so I was elated to find this scanner. I almost didn't buy it after reading the reviews for durability, but I think I now know what went wrong...there is a RESET "button" on the underside of the scanner. It's actually a teeny-tiny hole- I had to unfold a paper clip to slip inside and trigger it. This is explained in the directions for the toy, but we thought it was broken- reading incorrect numbers, displaying jibberish, etc. It works great as long as we reset when needed, and my daughter absolutely loves it. She doesn't use the barcode stickers- it will "scan" anytime you push the button, giving a new price. The only reason I gave it a lower score for educational value is that obviously it can't know the real value of an item, so when she scanned the family dog, the price was something like $ and when she scanned a lollipop, it was $. A little misleading, but that's what us parents are for. This toy is fun and I highly recommend the matching cash register- it's the best I've seen anywhere and will grow with them for years. We even use it during yard sales since it holds real-size money.

Piece of [trash]
I bought this toy for my 8-year old for Christmas. A piece of the scanner was missing (the piece that holds the batteries in). Luckily I opened it up and checked it before wrapping it or he would have been very disappointed. So it is being sent back. Also, I'm not asking to have it replaced because when I put batteries and "scanned" the bar codes I noticed that it does not read the price that is actually on the bar codes. This may do for a 3 or 4 year old child. But my 8-year old would have noticed this right away and that would have been a big dissapointment.

The best toy in the world!!!!!
I bought this toy back in September, and it was the best toy I ever got. I play with it with my register all the time. I really enjoy it so you should get it for your kids because they will love it!!!

It's A terrific toy
This toy is the best. I play with it all the time with my cash register. I recommend this for kids 3-16. It is fun and educational.

Don't waste your money!!
This thing stopped working the day we got it! We put in fresh batteries and it worked for another whole day. Hasn't worked since. ... Read more

Reviews (3)

My 3 year old likes this
My son (6) got this as a gift but his 3 year old sister prefers it for the game to find Pal. The crying baby sound is extremely annoying, but the book is otherwise entertaining although not particularly educational. There are too few Leap Pad books in the collection, we're starting to get desperate to locate acceptable titles.

Not worth the money
I concur with other review. Places too little emphasis on educating, too much on playing a game.

distracts kids to play rather than read
I've been pleased with the other Leap pad books we've bought, but not this one. I was very disturbed that it entices kids to 'touch the balloon to play a game' over and over while they're trying to read. I had to keep telling my son to ignore the voice, or he never would've even looked at the words. The music is very distracting as well. We never got past page 7. ... Read more

Reviews (2)

HORRIBLE HORRIBLE TOY - NOT SAFE!!!!
I had the same problem as the last reviewer...my daughter fell over backwards 3 times and cracked her head because there was no brake going backwards and she pulled the whole thing on top of her and it hit her in the face.This should NOT be on the shelves.

Highly disappointed!!!
Its not been 3 hrs since I got this product. After assembly, when my 9 month old stood supporting it and started walking,she couldnt balance, coz the wheels didn't have a brake when pulled towards the infant(backwards),and she fell and the whole toy toppled over her, bruising her eye. I recommend this product change its feature of having a safety brake while being pulled backwards or be recalled inorder to avoid other accidents such as these. ... Read more

Editorial Review

It's Mom's birthday! Leap, Lil, and Tad want to get Mom somethingspecial, but they can't decide what she'd like. Grandpa has an idea! Off they goto the Alphabet Pond, a silly place filled with letters, rhymes, songs, and somuch more. As children read the story they will learn to recognize letter namesand sounds, create funny rhymes, identify initial consonants, follow directionsand develop listening skills, and have fun while learning all about thealphabet. This book is a Level LeapStart book for children up to age 5 or gradespreschool to kindergarten. It stresses reading readiness and simpleactivities--play 17 different activities and sing along with songs. Works withall LeapPad learning systems except My First LeapPad. ... Read more

Reviews (1)

Finally The BEST * Leap Start * around + better than Phonics
I have tried leap pad books in the past and this is by far the absolute best in educational, fun, and replay value.

If your looking for a good leap pad book that will keep the kids occupied and learning constantly, this is it. We have bought leap start books in the past and have been dissapointed until now, this one is flawless !! Great layout, colorful pictures, and many pages more than one game on them. This also has an added "music" button at the bottom to stop and start background music and the larger 'GO' buttons help alot. This book also contains a 2 page layout of the letters of the alphabet which is colerful and complete with pictures and sounds for each letter "T is for turtle. t-t-turtle" or "T, Turtle" (also makes little cartoony sounds of a turlte walkling)The phonics book had a dull typed out version cramed into 1 page, nothing for a kid to get excited about.

If you have a child that will is learning letters sounds or how to read, this book is an absolute MUST HAVE (avoid the Phonics one)I hope all the leap pad books get as good as this in the future and this WILL NOT confuse the kids like the others do..

About me : My 3 year recieved it for her birthday and loves it and plays with it again and again because there are so many places you can tap to find something new. My 1 and a half year old son is learining the letter from it all by himself, he even tries to sing along with the alphabet song.
Other Leap Pad books purchased : Richard Scarry Vocabulary and Phonics Leaps Friends A to Z. (also the sample book that comes with the leap pad - which I thought want good but not great) ... Read more

Reviews (1)

Stimulating
We received this toy for a gift for my 3-1/2 year old, and he loves it! He loves puzzles, and immediately figured out how to manipulate the pieces to fit the diagrams He never tires of it, although he'll occasionally get frustrated if the pieces slide out of place on the diagram. The pieces are very well made with no sharp edges. My only complaint is that it only comes with 4 patterns, and the cardboard "form" isn't very durable. Excellent choice overall, though! ... Read more

Editorial Review

Everything costs, and the monsters in this funny LeapPad story prove it. They have to figure out how much coinage it'll take to buy their favorite pet, and your child will help. LeapPad's multisensory, experiential interface makes kids--even those just getting used to school--want to count as well as big kids can. With Monster Money, kids see, hear, say, and touch throughout the story, retaining new information, and enhancing learned information, like counting, adding, currency, values, and more. The book teaches early math skills in a thoughtful, preoperational learning format that kids will think is fun, not work.

It's simple to use (just insert the cartridge and book into a LeapPad, and use the attached stylus to hear information), but this system is an innovative technology that provides entertaining, effective learning, designed by a Stanford-trained reading expert. As well, the system has been credited with the TMA's Educational Toy of the Year and People's Choice awards.

Two notes: Make sure the LeapPad book you get is appropriate for the child's educational level; this one should be a challenge for kids up to age 6. As well, know that some LeapBooks work on both LeapPad and LeapPad Pro, like this one, but some books only work with one system. --Diane Beall ... Read more

Reviews (9)

Worth the Money!!
This is a great book. It teaches counting and money (pennies, nickels, dimes). Kids pick a monster, who in turn, picks an item that costs a certain amount. Kids then add up the correct amount of money the item costs. There are all different games to play. Well worth the money!!

Poor humor!
My 5 and 3 year olds enjoyed this book. I however am not so pleased. I agree with some of the other reviews that they really don't learn much about the coins and counting them, but I was also annoyed to find "potty" humor in a child's educational toy. There is a page that jokes about gas which the kids of course find hilarious, but I think they get enough of that in every day life and should not have it involved in their education!

Too Cute
This is a great concept to teach money and math...My 6yo son and 4 yo daughter both love this leap pad book...even my 2yo has learned a thing or 2 about money. I would recommend this book to anyone

Didn't help her learn about money
I got this for my 4-yr old daughter because I thought it might help her learn about coins, which she's had a hard time with. I was disappointed that it didn't do quarters as well. Plus, it doesn't really help teach about coins. It shows them, but never explains that 5 pennies equal a nickel, 10 pennies equal a dime, etc. Also, every page has the exact number of nickels, dimes, and pennies that are needed to make 10 cents, so the child never has to figure it out for themselves -- they just click on each coin on the page. She didn't learn anything at all from this book, nor is it one she plays with very often. When she does, she only plays the games (which are kind of fun), but there is not much educational value

Other Leap Pad books are better
We're big fans of the Leap Pad, and have several books that we LOVE (don't miss "Hit It Maestro.") Our four-year-old bored with this one very quickly, and hasn't played with it again. The book only covers pennies, dimes, and nickels -- why no quarters? The games are few and very redundant. If your child knows anything at all about coins, this book would be a waste of money. However, it might make a useful introduction for very small children (3 or 4). ... Read more

Editorial Review

LeapPad's multisensory, experiential interface makes kids--even those who aren't old enough for school--want to read with a vengeance. With Leap's Friends from A to Z, kids see, hear, say, and touch throughout the story, enhancing oral, vocabulary, and phonics lessons given throughout the book. At the same time, the sprightly Leap helps his friends correctly identify and sound out alphabet letters.

It's simple to use (just insert the cartridge and book into a LeapPad, and use the attached stylus to hear information), but this system is an innovative technology that provides entertaining, effective learning, designed by a Stanford-trained reading expert. The system has also been credited with the TMA's Educational Toy of the Year and People's Choice awards.

Two notes: Make sure the LeapPad book you get is appropriate for the child's educational level, and know that some LeapBooks (like this one) work on both LeapPad and LeapPad Pro, but some only work with one system. --Diane Beall ... Read more

Reviews (9)

4 year old not interested - too basic
My son is 49 months - he has already started pre-k and knows his basic letters - so this book was really booring for him and each page only had 2 activities -find the letter ....(only 2 letters per page) which were not very challenging. This book is bettered geared for infants who are just learning the letters as in the nursery - I think he would have been more interested then. I bought the Leap goes Shopping - which is delightfully interesting and challenging for him,it is multi-task, multi senosry and includes identifying in games - letters, shapes, colours, lots of sounds and noises. etc. We also got the Toy Story II which is a smashing hit with him - and it has challenges for him now until age 6 or so - per tuff stuff - but there are levels to choose.
Therefore, I would recommend Leaps friends A-Z for infant beginners like 2 - 3 year olds but not for a 4 year old - too boring.

Leap's Friends A to Z is GREAT!
My grandson is 5 and getting ready for kindergarten. He has thoroughly enjoyed finding the hidden letters on each page and playing with the letter words. I was quite surprised when I saw that this had only three stars. It definitely rates higher than that for me.

Great learning book for 3-4 yr olds
After reading many reviews from others who rated this book, I was skeptical about getting it for my 3 1/2 yr old son. I am sure glad I did! My son already knew how to say the alphabet, but was still learning the letters and recognition that would help him one day to read. This book is great because it has a letter on every page and a game that goes with it. Everytime you press it, it says what letter it is. This helps a younger child learn by seeing that letter what letter it is. I would recommend this book for 3-4 yr olds who do not yet know their alphabet by sight. This book would probably be boring to a child who already does, however since all that is covered it the alphabet.

My 4 year Olds Loves It!
This is my 4 year old's favorite leap book. She loves the song it plays for the letters and finding the lost letters. I love the games that help reinforce sequencing of the alphabet, letter recognition and sounds. I would recommend this book to all children learning their ABC's.

Not the best choice
My son received this book last year for christmas when he was four. He was bored with it right away. A year later he rarely places this book in his leap pad. Hoping that the next few books we purchase will be more intriguing to him. ... Read more