The Leap Pad line is an exciting system that allows children to experience books in an interactive way without booting up a computer. After opening up the Leap Pad unit, children insert a cartridge, lay a specially designed book onto the pad, and then use the corded stylus (the "magic pen") to interact with the book. The unit talks to children, featuring pages with words that are read aloud and hot spots that are activated by a simple touch of the pen.

The Leap Pad Pro version is very similar to the original Leap Pad, except that its design is more sophisticated for its older target audience. In fact, the unit looks much like a laptop computer, with a sleeker pen and overall appearance. In addition, it is packaged with a more advanced chapter book from the Leap Pad book library, The Wizard of Oz.

Also included is a sampler book that is a real teaser. It showcases the unit’s ability to teach a variety of subjects, and some of these activities should keep children busy for a time. Standout activities include a "paper piano" music exercise, an interactive human skeleton, and a double-page spread featuring a map of the United States that can be explored in an open-ended manner or played in question-and-answer mode.

Because this Pro version accepts any of the system’s books–including those designed for early readers–it makes a practical choice for families with children of different age groups. Parents who expect their child to quickly outgrow the preschool look of the original unit may prefer to skip it and buy the Pro version instead.

Keep in mind that no matter which version of Leap Pad is purchased, few families will be satisfied with only the included books. A variety of titles are now available, and the focus is not only on reading and reading development. Science, music, math, geography, foreign languages–all of these subjects are featured in the system’s library of books.

The 66-page chapter book that comes with the unit is an adapted version of the classic The Wizard of Oz. It features difficult vocabulary words in bold type, indicating that audio definitions are available when the word is tapped twice with the pen. Comprehension questions can be accessed via hot spots at the ends of chapters and are designed to encourage children to think about what they have read. While the glossary is a nice addition, testers complained that the definitions of the vocabulary words often contain equally difficult words!