If you are familiar with Leap Frog, then you probably know it as a company that makes education electronic toys, usually with a green and white color scheme. I recently had a chance to try out the LeapReader, which isn’t really made for my age group, but for those learning to read.

The LeapReader would best be referred to as a smartpen. This isn’t one of those pens that you can write on a board, and then save it to your computer. This would be a pen that allows you to tap on a special book, and it will literally read to you.

There are over 150 plus books, workbooks, and audio books in the LeapReader library, and I would probably recommend it on a long trip. It even has a headphone jack so the adults don’t have to hear it. In addition to the “read to me” feature, the LeapReader also has a nifty feature of making a game of the book. For example, there is this one game that I played where you had to identify countries in Africa by placing the tip of the pen on the individual country. It is actually pretty tough, and I am an adult.

There are also workbooks that allow the young user to learn how to write letters by tracing them on a page. As I mentioned before, playing audiobooks is also possible, and the controls on the pen resemble that of an MP3 Player.

I honestly believe that the LeapReader could be more improved, but this is only because I see the potential of linking a computer with a pen. The pencil is one of the first tools that young people wield, so why not make it electronic, and able to teach.

You can purchase the LeapReader on the Leap Frog site for $49.99.