Just because I'm here, I'll throw in the short answer - "yes", the iPad can read to you. Here's some basic instructions, but may vary depending on the age of your OS: osxdaily.com/2012/05/30/text-to-speech-iphone-ipad/

I'm glued to your post for DD7. We're about to try text-to-speech ourselves, and like you, are all ears for advice from kathleen'smum on best use and pitfalls. Thanks!