Editorial Review

What's really, really cute? A kid that doesn't know the meaning of some words yet, but really, really wants to. LeapPad's multisensory, experiential interface makes kids want a big vocabulary--in a bad way. With Richard Scarry's Things to Know, kids see, hear, say, and touch throughout the story, enhancing oral, vocabulary, and phonics lessons given throughout the book. At the same time, Scarry's characters help to identify and pronounce new words and pronounce old words correctly.

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 also 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, 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 (2)

This is the 2nd Richard Scary Leapbook I have purchased
We had this book and it was destroyed by our cat. We love it so much we are purchasing it again! My 4 year old loved it for over a year and now my 15 month loves it. We have several Leap Pad books and this one is by far the favorite of my two boys. I like it because it does not just tell a story like many Leap Pad books do, it allows kids to count, find items, and listen to music.

A must own!
Another must own of the leap pad series of books. This book encourages colors, shap recognition and counting while teaching kids about their seasons, musical instruments and more. On the seasons pages, they learn extra tunes including a little bit of "The Entertainer". They also learn their opposites and the importance of being polite. The best bonus is that your child's vocabulary and self-esteem get a boost. ... Read more

Reviews (3)

Good book
This book is great. My daugher is finally learning what *sounds* the letter make! And she gets this book out on her own to play with it so it oviously is fun for her which is a huge + in my book!!

I would recomend this book to any child just learning to read, no matter what the age (my daughter is 5), it really helps to add additional practice to any other reading program (whether in school, homeschool, tutor, etc) and it is fun.

Also my almost 2 year old is starting to learn the sounds the letters make from watching her big sister use this!

Great for Pre Readers
This is a great book for people with the Leap pad and are looking for a book that is for younger kids. My daughter is 3 and she is able to follow alot of the concepts with this book. Each page is dedicated to one letter and there are lots of pictures to touch with the pen that make music and stories. I recommend this book for younger kids who are learning the alphebet. Very colorful pages with lots of easily reconizable picutes.(frogs, ice cream, apples)

Got my son EXCITED ABOUT READING
My son is 4 and finally learned the sounds of letters with this book. The characters are funny and the songs are so catchy, my son sings the letter sound song all the time. Getting him from knowing the alphabet song to the actual sounds of letters was a big LEAP, but this book really really worked! I've already bought the next 3 phonics books and so far, he love them too. He also can't get enough of the book by Bob the Builder, teaching reading comprehension in a truly fun way that he can relate to. Great stuff!! ... Read more

Editorial Review

Made just for toddlers, My First LeapPad Book takes care to encourageprereading skills while giving tots a simple, interesting story that makeslearning to read a fun first experience. Just stick the included book chip intoyour child's LeapPad, put the book in place, and the LeapPad takes care of therest.

Leap himself is the main character in this story, adding even moreappeal to young readers as he explores the galaxy with his friends. As he goeson his quest, kids learn to comprehend the story's overall meaning, understandspecific events, and practice their listening skills. In addition, this bookintroduces primary math skills--like numbers, counting, and basic geometricshapes. It even sneaks in a bit of deductive logic, emotional exploration, colorrecognition, object matching, and positions (up, down, in, between, etc.). Flipthe book over and there's more fun: over 30 activities and 4 sing-along songs.Note: The book works only with the My First LeapPad Learning System, not moreadvanced LeapPad systems. --Diane Beall ... Read more

Reviews (4)

not as good
My daughter has 6 leappad books - this is the only one she doesn't like. I am not sure why, but it just isn't as good as the rest!

Not the best My First Leappad book
Our 3 year old does not like this book very much. Colors and shapes are too small. And there is too much other information around those items to make it clear that that is what they are supposed to be learning. It says it is supposed to teach numbers, but it only goes up to 5. If I had to do it over again I would have purchased another Leappad book instead of this one.

Not a good travel toy
I bought this thinking it would be great for travel. We do a lot of car and plane travel. However, the unit is not that well designed and not very robust. The volume for plane "white noise" is just not high enough. A headphone adapter would be a good addition. Also, the ON/OFF button is at a location that a child (or adult) can easily turn the unit off again while it is being used. Because of this, it would be nice to have a light to know if the unit is on, idle, or off. I have had numerous problems with cartridges not being recognized...."This is not a Leap pad cartridge....) And, the sensitivity for the "new page button...the green dot" is frustrating. You can push and push and it won't recognize a new page. It also eats through batteries (this also may be the ON/OFF problem...you don't know if it is ON when you pack it away, or if it gets turned ON in backpack/carry-on, etc.) All, in all...disappointed. It could be a great toy for quiet time on trips, but I won't take it with me any more...I'm too frustrated trying to get it work and then my son becomes upset too!

We Love LeapPad!
As with all the LeapPad books, "Leap to the Moon" is wonderful. My 3 year old loves to "read" the book on his own. It has helped with his number recognition and matching pairs especially. There are a couple of great songs he has learned as well.

We are buying a new book and cartridge for him to have on the plane for an upcoming trip. I cannot recommend the LeapPad and it's books highly enough! ... Read more

Editorial Review

"Hi, I'm Tad." "Hola, soy Tad." Meet Tad, a bilingual frog that helps kids learn counting and colors in English and Spanish. (Press his left foot to switch from English to Spanish.) This cuddly 14-inch plush amphibian is dressed in orange overalls with numbers on the belly, which, when squeezed, make Tad sing catchy little songs. Tad carries a fabric booklet with numbered objects from 1 to 10 corresponding to his songs: "How many buttons, tell me, do you see? One, two." Exposing children to a foreign language early on helps them distinguish the sounds of their own language from another, and leads to a greater ability to learn foreign languages later in life. What a friend. --Emilie Coulter ... Read more

Reviews (1)

Didn't strike her fancy
My 1 year old received this train as a first b-day gift.It wasn't nearly as exciting as the Sesame Street "Teach and Go" train we inherited from my brother's kids.It doesn't move unless you push it yourself, unlike the Teach and Go train that goes on its own. It mainly sings songs and you can stack it, but the parts of the attachable cars don't have any interactive parts.Boring! ... Read more

Reviews (6)

should provide more info on product
So you buy Music Blocks thinking this is all you need? Wrong, they plug into something else, not even shown on the same page, now try to find the block they plug into!
Products that require something else to work should be referred to that item, so the complete package is available!

fun for all ages
I have three children, 11yrs, 9yrs and 16months and all of my childen have fun playing with music blocks.

Yes...it DOES have the entire Tigger song...
I bought this 3 in 1 cartridge in spite of the reviews I had read that panned it...and the whole product in general. We have the music blocks as well as the giant block. I would hardly describe it as 15 seconds of music. On the giant block, the ENTIRE Tigger song is split into large chunks that each get activated separately on each side of the cube. There are slight pauses in between the phrases (because the cartridge works differently for the other products), but it's not disruptive to the rhythm. They come exactly where the pauses normally do in the song. On the music blocks, it works differently. Each of the large chunks are broken down into smaller phrases - 1 for each side of each of the 5 separate cubes (30 separate parts of the song). You can really make some interesting combinations.

Also...I have yet to find the screw in the cartridge case that makes it soooo difficult to change the song on the cartridge. All you have to do is open the velcro flap and pop open the hinged cover that opens with one of the pressure tabs (for lack of a better description) - a whole 2 seconds I think..maybe 3. The only thing in this area on the giant cube that requires a screwdriver is the battery compartment - which is separate from the cartridge compartment. The ONLY problem I have is that sometimes I try to put the cartridge in backwards, but it doesn't fit that way...so I figure it out. I like that it doesn't fit so you can't accidentally destroy the cartridge.

With the Tigger song, I prefer the Giant Cube, because the kids can roll the cube around to see if they can get the right order of the song. Plus, it's fun. They jump up and down and dance around the cube. The giant cube is GREAT for taking out frustration too. The music blocks require a little more thought and the cartoon sound effects are really interesting on the music blocks.

I'm REALLY happy I bought these, and I'm glad I didn't let the other reviews scare me away from this set. They are simply a great addition to your Neurosmith cartridge set - and a bargain considering what you would pay to buy the 3 songs individually direct from Neurosmith. I also HIGHLY recommend the Music from Around the World 3 in 1 cartridge - some really great rhythms.

Great Potential But You'll Be Disappointed
Don't count on any help from the company/manufacturer over the life of the toy. While you pay a premium for these high-tech innovations from this company, they do not support their products over the long run. Our music blocks toy, with programmable cartridges sit useless because the company refuses to support them any more. I won't buy any more of their products.

Classical education
A wonderful way for my grandson to be introduced to the classical music. It's also a great toy for dexterity.

It's nice to see a toy that is geared to the ARTS. ... Read more

Reviews (3)

An enduring favourite
My 4 yr old got this last christmas together with a few other titles. It's definitely his favourite and still keeps him occupied. There are nice counting and matching games and rhymes. It's pages are more interactive (more things to point to) than many other titles. Pooh's pronounciation makes him a little hard to understand at the beginning.

A good book for a preschooler
This book was one of my 3 year olds first books for her LeapPad, and it is still her favorite. She likes Winnie the Pooh, and it's filled with games that help her practice counting, find objects from tallest to smallest, matching, shapes, colours, music, and more. She plays with this book by herself and likes it better than most of the Leap Start reading books. It's educational, fun, and is a great introduction to a LeapPad for a preschooler.

Great Leappad book for preschoolers!
My 3 yr old son LOVES this book! He can answer the questions and yet it was not so easy as to bore him. It's perfect for preschoolers who are learning their numbers and counting. ... Read more

Reviews (1)

Leap pad, you can't go wrong
The leap pad systems are wonderful learning tools. For the price of a family meal at a fast food resturant you can provide your child with an interactive tool to learning. Not only does the book help your child read but they can play games too. ... Read more

Reviews (45)

Not so great!
My parent's bought this for my daughter for christmas. In the package it is pretty loud but when you took it out the packaging and pulled the tab it got so quiet that you can barely even hear it. Also about 3 weeks after she got this, the flip part on the phone broke right off!

Absolutely ridiculous!
The fact that the volume is barely audible when you take it out of the package is so ridiculous!!!! Don't waste your time and money!

Total false advertising!
I too bought this phone, and when I took the packaging off, the volume was barely audible! the instructions inside said that was not an error, that is how it is supposed to be. Well then maybe they shouldn't have it so the volume is so loud when it is in the packaging! Obviously, you need the volume up to sell the damn toy, why turn it down? My daughter rarely plays with this phone. I wouldn't recommend it, if not solely for the false advertising!

Agree the volume is too low
We stuck the tab back in and taped it in place so our daughter could hear it. Otherwise, it's a great toy.

Fasle Advertising
There is no indication prior to buying this toy that the volume will be turned down to nothing when it is taken out of the box. I can understand the Fisher Price people's concern for children's hearing but the volume doesn't need to be so low. We were very excited about getting the phone and looked forward to playing with it when we were still able to hear it! ... Read more

Features

• Bilingual interactive educational toy
• Teaches names, noises and numbers in English and Spanish
• Four increasingly challenging play levels
• One or more players
• For ages 1 and up

Reviews (1)

This is an OK toy
I bought this for my one year old granddaughter for Christmas.It is a little too old for her.She did press the buttons but could not play the games.Now that she is 18 months she does press the buttons more and knows the names for the animals.This is a great toy to sit with the child and interact.It is durable and so far has not needed new batteries after 4 months.I would consider this a toy for a 2 year old. ... Read more

Amazon.com

This pink electronic lap-book looks worth the sacrifice of foregoing afternoon cartoons--and it is. The two included storybooks ("Ernie's Neighborhood" and "School Skills") fit inside the book and, thanks to microchip technology, kids can read, count, talk, and sing along with characters using a handy stylus as a pointer. They can stop the story whenever they like to figure out words, phrases and puzzles along the way. Buttons for letters, words, music, and "surprises" are within finger-distance, and so is a full reference of capital and lower-case letters. There are also 60 or more learning activities stored in the book, designed for kids between 3 and 8 years (or up to the 2nd grade). Activities range from simple (spelling, telling time, music) to more complex (problem-solving, comprehension, vocabulary). Required: four AA batteries. Diane Beall ... Read more

Reviews (52)

Don't waste your money!
I got the PowerTouch Learning System for my 3 years old son. He loved that until the day that he got tired of Elm's book. I went to look for the Dora's book and other books to buy for him. The Dora's is not for sale at any store and there are just few different books avaliable in the market. I got really frustated. I wish I had gotten the Leap frog, they have a way more books which keeps the toy very interesting for the kids. Another problem is that while playing with it, my son eventually touch other parts of the book with another areas of his hand when he points a figure, which make the PowerTouch Learning System starting spelling or reading another word instead of the one that he intended, making him confused at first. Even without touching the book, a closer approach to it, is more than enough to activate. Now I like the idea of the pen in the leap frog. I would never buy this toy again!

An attention getter!
We bought this for my 2 1/2 year old son for Christmas. He loved it and still does. He really does not care about the story too much. He mostly likes the music, counting, and pointing to pictures and it tells what the picture is. Its very durable. The only problem is the cartriages are small, but we try to keep the books and cartriages in a back pack. We bought all the books but he loves Ernie's Neighborhood and Blue's Clues the most. It was definately worth it!

Fisher Price does it again
My daughters got this gift for their second birthday even though the age on it is 3-8. At 2 1/2 they are still too young for it, so I really would go with the age limit on this toy. My 2 complaints with this electronic book is the books that go in the toy come in and out ever easily with is very annoying to my toddlers. I can't imagine at 3 they would be any better with the books though. To me, it seems like the system would work better if the books clipped in a bit better. Also some of the books seem "cheap" in their text. Example: Ernie's Neighborhood plays a song, "who are the people in our neighborhood" based on what the child is pointing at. Ernie sings most of the song and then some other voice chimes in with "police man" or "mail carrier", then Ernie continues to sings. Seems to me they could of spent more $$$ on the books development as well.

What I do like about this system is the fact the girls can use their fingers and not a pen to use the books. Plus the girls really seem to like this toy. I hope FP gets some better books soon.

One of my children's favorites!
We'd considered the Leap Pad for my daughter when she was 2 1/2, but decided to go with this one. For one thing, there's no wand or pen with it; it's all done by touch, which is helpful for little ones who haven't perfected their fine motor skills yet. It's also nice, because a wand or pen can be used as a weapon against siblings or parents! I also checked the durability of the books that come with it, because in addition to my daughter we also have an 18 month old, and he would be pulling on the pages. We've never had a page rip yet; they're very strong. My favorite thing about this product, though, is the fact that it even works without a book inserted! The plastic casing itself has the alphabet on it, so you can push the letters and play even when the insert books have been temporarily misplaced.

My daughter is 3 now, and has played with this nonstop for the last 6 months, and her younger brother (18 months) adores it as well. My children aren't "gifted" or anything; I'd say they're prefectly average, and they're able to work the Power Touch very easily, yet not so easily that they get bored. I highly recommend this product!

Do not recommend
I do not recommend purchasing the Power Touch Learning System because there have been no new books developed that I can see. And, at the back of some of the books it shows a Dora Explorer Book, and an additional Clifford book that are not offered anywhere, my son and I look in every store, I have searched the web and search engines. Basically Fisher-Price is not supporting this system, so I wish I had purchased the Leap Frog system. Although the Leap Pad we had when my son was younger had some problems with the stylus not touching correctly and giving incorrect answers, at least it has plenty of books and support. My son is 4 years old, has done all the Power Touch books and doesn't use it anymore, he's become bored with all the same books, he rather play with his old Leap Pad. And in the stores, you quickly see how much more there is available for the Leap Frog, and I think the stylus is also a great learning tool for practicing holding pencils/pens. Hopefully Fisher-Price will introduce new books soon, and this problem won't be such an issue. ... Read more

Reviews (2)

Great toy & super buy-My 1 year old daughter loves it
Hi everyone! I just bought this toy for my daughter a couple weeks ago-and I'm so glad I did. My daughter is 16 months and she is soooo into Dora the Explorer-she's thinks she's the coolest chica on 2 feet, next to mommy of course,wink wink. So, I picked this toy up because it seemed to scream to me on the shelf with all of it's pretty colors and lights..and Dora. I was going to save it until xmas but we(meaning I) couldn't resist. The different modes are great so you don't get sick of the same old thing. We can both learn some Spanish and listen to Doras backpack sing, and watch the lights and try to find the objects Dora is looking for in Spanish. Very durable-my daughter stands on it a lot(its her new thing) and it's held up like the best. We both love this toy, I recommend it to all DORA fans!

If your child loves Dora...
My 2 year old daughter loves this toy! We bought it for her last week, and she has played with it every day. There are three modes of play- naming the object in English and Spanish, finding the object, and deductive reasoning (the object is red, there are three of these. I do have two problems with the toy though. I think the taped voice is sometimes difficult to understand, especially for one who is just beginning to understand different words, and the pictures are sometimes difficul to recognize- for example the balloons and the maracas look very similar, and do not accurately represent what these objcts actually look like. ... Read more

Reviews (2)

Blues Clues and music are a great combination
My 2 year old has been getting very good at identifying her colors, so when I saw this book I thought it would be great for her. She does like this book, not as much as the Sesame Street or the Dora. She does sing along with each frame.
The only problem with this book is that with the lights in the unit they distort the colors a bit when you are looking at the screen, so identifying the colors is not always as easy as it should be. But all in all my daughter is very happy to play with this book.

Not What it Appears
The description of this "book" is very misleading. You need
to have the rest of the toy for it to work. My son received
this as a birthday gift and was very disappointed that it
didn't work. You have buy the unit that it goes in and
then it's some sort of electronic game/book. I have yet
to find the thing I need to buy for it to work. ... Read more