Wednesday 7 January 2015

Sofia the First Interactive Storybook Review

One of the items that I was lucky enough to be able to review last year was the LeapPad 3. This has fast become one of my girls favourite toys, my youngest calls it her iPad. The experience of using it has been made better by the games/apps that we've been able to download. One of the latest apps to appear on our LeapPad is the brand new Sofia the First Interactive Storybook.

This is what is typically known as an ebook but you will soon learn that this storybook is so much more.

Available as a download or in cartridge form, it is suitable for all LeapPads so no Sofia fans have to miss out.

sofia the first interactive storybook

Upon opening, the fun and games start immediately. We are instructed that we will need to search for the lovely Blue Ribbon Bunny throughout the story, this calls upon motor skills to press on different objects on the screen to try and find where he could be hiding, already giving another layer to the story.


The story itself follows Princess Sofia as she gets to know just what being a Royal entails whilst making friends along the way. What I liked is that you can adjust the story to be ideal for whatever age your child may be. The different levels in reading allow older children to look and read more complex words/sentences.

There is so much that can be adapted to make the story interesting, with children being able to read meanings of words in an inbuilt dictionary, pick different chapters/scenes to view and they can choose if there is a narrator and how loud they speak, or if preferred your child can even narrate the story themselves by utilising the microphone on their LeapPad.


All the options are simple for your child to swap and change themselves once you've explained to them what each icon means.

This storybook captures the magic of Disney, keeping it fun whilst your child unknowingly learns, building on their phonics and vocabulary. And because the reading levels adjust, unlike some interactive stories, this isn't just for younger children. You can even extend the learning further by testing your kids on spellings of certain words.

With a normal price of £20, it seems to be a bit expensive but when you think of how many times your child might read this story it actually appears quite cost effective. I can't fault the game, my youngest two have been glued to the LeapPad screen since I showed it them so it gets a big thumbs up from us.

xxxx

Disclaimer : I was sent a FOC download copy of this storybook however all thoughts and opinions are my own.

7 comments:

  1. Useful review you shared here and I love it a lot.

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  2. I've not actually used a leapad myself as we've tended to prefer just going for a tablet and the cost of additional items seems high. I agree though if you're getting plenty of play from it then it does make it better value.
    Thanks for linking up with #TriedTested this week x

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  3. We don't have any devices like this but looks interesting #TriedTested

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  4. I love interactive storybooks. I really think, like you said, the uses offset the cost in some cases. #TriedTested

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  5. Ooòh I might have to look into getting my princesses one of these. #TriedTested

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  6. This looks like a game my kids would like. If we end up getting them a LeapPad (they want one) then I'll bear it in mind!

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  7. It does seem expensive at first glance - but like you say, you only have to use it a few times to make it worth the money really. I like the learning potential too. Thanks for linking up with #TriedTested

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