==Getting the Book==

The Leappad is a games console / reading aid from Leapfrog, if you are interested in the actual console then please see my previous review as this one is for the Madagascar book.

We didn't actually buy the console or the books to go with it but were given them by a friend of ours whose children were too old for the console and since it's really durable and longlasting it is still in perfect working order.

You can still buy the Leappad systems and books to go with it on second hand sites such as Ebay or on sites such as Amazon which lets face it sells just about everything you could ever want to buy, this book can be picked up from about £4.

==The Front Cover==

The front cover of the book shows the main characters of the film Madagascar and is very brightly coloured just like in the film. The book has a spiral down the left hand side and there is a strip down the side with tells you that the book is meant for children aged 4-6 years old and of course displays the Leapfrog logo. The books is great quality and the cover is on really thick paper and has a glossy finish and the spiral is nice and strong so doesn't misshapen which is great as for all my daughter is 5 so knows how to look after things her sister is only 2 so hasn't quite got to understand the concept yet.

On the side of the book on the bright red strip it tells you you're your child should be able to learn from this book, this book can teach African animal facts, how to say hello and goodbye in other languages, short and long vowels sounds, simple spelling, learning about parts of speech such as nouns and verbs, simple addition and subtraction and geometry in the form of learning to recognise 2 and 3 dimensional shapes. As you can see that is a pretty wide range of things to get from one short book so even if your child only picks up bits of them it is still a great learning aid and that is just one book.

==To Use==

To use the book you have to open the Leappad console which is done very simply by pushing in a button on the upper piece and then the console opens up like a book. You place the book you are going to play with inside the console and the spiral fits nicely into a gap in the console. You have to place the cartridge which matches the book into the console which is really easy as it can only fit in there one way and then press the on off button to start your play. The console is easy to work on my daughter is able to work the console and set up a new book on her own.

==The Book==

On each page of the book you have a go button to press with your pen (the pen in the console not a real pen) to activate the page. The story of the book follows the story of the film pretty well which my daughter likes as she gets excited that she knows what happens as she has watched it on the TV. There is a speech bubble at the beginning of each paragraph on each page and when pressed it will read the whole section of wording on the page or your child can touch the words individually to control the reading themselves. Sophie likes to touch the words herself as she is learning to read at the moment so she likes to try and read the words herself and then touch them to see if she is correct but then if a word is too hard she can just touch it and let the console read it for her. I think it is really good that there are two options so your child can pick the way they want to read it depending on how they feel.

If you don't do anything for a while when the system is turned on it has different sayings which it will randomly speak to encourage your child to keep playing. There are little triangles at the bottom of the page one with a + on it and one with a - on it and these control the volume of the book although it doesn't go up too loud so it is comfortable for the parents whilst their children interact with the book.

Each page has a game button at the bottom of it so that your child can get even more out of them, the games cover a wide range of things that a child aged 4-6 should be learning or should already know such as numbers and counting, directions which my daughter finds a little more difficult and shapes which Sophie knows by heart. The great thing about this is that since your child is playing a game they don't actually realise that they are learning new things and it is amazing how quickly they can pick things up. Sophie becomes quite competitive with herself over the games and tries to beat her previous tries which is good in one respect but I am trying to teach her not too be too highly competitive particularily with her sister since she is only 2.

==Opinions==

Sophie loves playing with the book and the whole console system, she loves touching different pictures on the pages and listening to what they are and the sounds they make, she also thinks it's funny to repeat the sounds to her sister who finds it hilarious when she keeps getting growled at. I think this and other books in the series have really helped to back up my daughter learning to read which I think is great and Sophie thinks is fantastic when she manages to work out a new word and she gets it right.

I think the system is fantastic, it teaches children with ease and they don't know that they are learning, both the console and the books are robust and don't break easily although the console does eat a lot of batteries which is a pain. The book is really brightly coloured and has loads of different things where your children can interact and my younger daughter ha now started touching things with the pen so I don't think it will be too long before she starts playing with it properly either.

The books are available for ages up to 8 years old so there is plenty more playing time from this console and then of course my youngest has even longer again left of play. Since we didn't pay for this system of the books it is really great value but I have been looking at some extra books for it and they are great prices and fantastic value too.

I cannot sing the praises of this book enough, it can be played with alone which Sophie enjoys doing or I can sit and play with her and encourage her with her reading. The book teaches so many different things and helps to test your childs memory which apart from the usual pairs game Sophie's memory has never really been tested until she started playing with these. I give this book 5 stars out of 5 and know that Sophie would too as it is a book that she plays with over and over again.