Toys : LeapFrog Leap 2 Book: Superman

In association with Amazon.com

Rating:

- Great book for Superman fans!
If you have a superhero fan in your house, be sure to grab this one! It teaches so many things - hand and eye coordination, how to sound out words, how to save the day wearing a cape, etc. My little one just LOVES this thing - we actually bought all three Superhero leappad books and he just loves the comic strip version and story of this one. Batman probably teaches more than this one, but it is also for older children. If you have about a 4-year-old, then be sure to grab this one. It holds the interest up until about age 7. They love to read the comic on this one and figure out the words. Great stuff, love Leapfrog! Highly recommend!

Rating:

- unhappy!
I have an eight year old and a four year old who love superheroes. I thought this leappad book would be perfect for them, but it totally bores both of them. Don't waste your money. Try one of the other books.

Rating:

- mostly entertainment, not up to par with others for LeapPad
This is a comic book with some games. When the green "go" circle is pressed, it automatically reads the first box or bubble of text by itself, in a nice voice, which has proper emotion, punctuation, and sound effects. When that bubble is done, the child must touch the next bubble and it reads the entire bubble again. The programming of this book is different than the Leap 1 series, which has the option of reading all the words on the page at one time or else touching the pen to every single word to hear it spoken. With the Superman book you do not and cannot touch one word and hear it spoken. You touch anywhere inside the box and the whole box is spoken, which can be up to 3 sentences long. Another issue is that there are words for sounds "ka-boom" for example, but when it is touched we hear the sound which doesn't always really sound as the written word. Since this is a reading book I'd think they could simply say the word "ka-boom". I think this has left the realm of having the purpose of teaching reading and entered the pure entertainment realm instead.

Each page has 1-3 games, which I feel are very low in educational value. Examples are "touch as many newspapers as you can in 5 seconds". They are not reading related games despite the title of this book being as a reading book. There are some games at the back, which are mainly auditory in nature. One is a pile of suitcases and the narrator asks to find 2 that make the same sound when touched and it plays the sound one time only. Then you touch the suitcases to find the 2 matching ones. This is almost a memory game but it is not truly a memory game because at the end of each match it scrambles up the sounds that are "inside" of each suitcase. I was disappointed in this, as it could have served as a memory retention-concentration type of game, which is educational-but it does not work in this manner. A frustrating part is the absence of a "repeat" button to hear the directions again-other products from this manufacturer have this function, I don't know why they are inconsistent with the basic format, especially when it makes the most sense! Overall I found the games boring, silly, and non-educational.

I am comparing the quality of this with the phonics line and reading line of LeapPad products and some of the LeapPad math products. For this critique I used the program myself to come to my own judgment. I am knowledgeable about reading instruction and educating children, and am basing my critique on what I know contributes to learning and what deters from it, and what is just pure fluff or entertainment.

It seems the big emphasis here is on just having something with a Superman theme. This product is not at all up to par with other LeapPad products that we own in that it is not really educational, it is pure entertainment. What a huge disappointment, I expected a better quality educational product from the Leap Frog Company.

Rating:

- Boys love this Superman Book!
My two sons are 5 and 3 years. They LOVE the comic strip format, and they are thrilled to have a book about a "real super hero" for their Leappad. They were interested in some of the learning books for the Leappad, but their interest wasn't long-lived. The Superman book held their attention for hours, and they STILL like to play with it. I like it because it encourages them to enjoy reading while still being fun. The sound effects and story lines are "cool" in my boys' words, and it was well worth the money.

Rating:

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