interactive books - any good?

[SassySpain]

Yes, christmas is a-coming... I was looking at My First Leappad and the Fisher Price PowerTouch Book thing wondering if either is worth getting. My ds is 25 months and loves books. Has anyone got any experience with these things? Are they just a gimmick and no better than a good book (though substantially more expensive!) or are they worth the investment?

Sarah & Leo (25 months)

my daughter, now 26mnths has a First Leappad bought for her last year and is now really starting to enjoy it much more.
My mum and dad bought it for her with all the books so she certainly had a choice. At first she loved the babys first words one. It told her the words and there are also a few guessing games with it. The story books are great I think as they tell the story so she get used to listening to stories from things other than mine and dh's voice. There are also interactive bits and pieces like sounds of instruments or colours depending on the story.

I agree they are expensive and would never say they are better than books, just another way to enjoy stories really.
They are great to go alongside books so that the child sees them just as another style of book.

I love them and dd uses it quite a bit but she still loves her ordinary books just as much as ever.