Cool to be Clever: Edson Hendricks is a wonderful biography for iPad that tells the life story of Edson C. Hendricks, the brilliant mind behind the design of the Internet.

This is a very nicely written application, narrated effortlessly by Hendricks himself, who has a wonderful speaking voice which reminding me of a less flamboyant Spaulding Gray making him a great talent in re-telling his own story.

Although written by another author, Leanne Jones, the words presented on the page and spoken in the first person ring utterly true as they guide readers through Hendricks’s early life as a child, being bullied for his intellect as well as for his red hair color, through his groundbreaking work with computers at MIT and beyond as he worked to design a method of connecting the world’s computers, sometimes misunderstood by those in authority at this workplace.

I do really enjoy this story of how the technology for the Internet was born, as I do Hendricks’s personal story, growing up and feeling an outcast until he found his place in college – a relatable experience for many.

Hendricks’s method of delivery is modest and humble, always remaining very much of an everyman including his lovely delivery of his life story to his interviews, which are also included within this application.

I find it interesting that Hendricks is widely regarded as a genius yet never uses this word himself, and I wonder if children will fully understand how unique an experience it is to be a self-taught reader or how difficult admissions to MIT is – topics that parents or teachers may feel the need to touch upon.

I also appreciate how this application also includes moments of drama and suspense during a chapter that goes into detail about Hendricks and a friend sailing through a hurricane on their way to Bermuda, Hendricks being depressed at the time over an invention that was not well-received and how having to fight for their life helped put things into perspective.

Another interesting section of this app includes an anecdote about a peculiar cat that I also was impressed by regarding how this story is tied to the rest of the app in a most thoughtful way.

Please do not expect many interactions as this app is primarily a recorded book and a terrific learning tool that not only teaches about the history of the Internet but may also whet the appetite of children for other biographies or interesting people.

I really enjoy how this app combines the written story narrated by Hendricks as well as other sections that include much other information about the Hendrickses’ family life, the Internet and other scientific topics, also including moments of Hendricks giving wonderful advice to programmers as well as to children who feel different.

This app also includes a lengthy section about bullying in schools and what can be done about this very serious topic. The music used throughout this app is also touched upon in a separate section – a nice touch.

It is easy recommend this application for children who have the attention span to listen to this lengthy, interesting audio-book of an iPad app keeping in mind that Hendricks notes a particularly dark time for him that may be not appropriate for some younger children.

Illustrations are included which are equally well done, but at times when Hendricks is describing the computer room in college where he worked, it seems like a missed opportunity that the illustrations do not represent what is being described as this could have helped children visualize these most outdated computers and other hardware being discussed. Also, an image of Woodstock is incorporated into the text – an event that Hendricks experienced firsthand, yet it is only 1965 in the timeline of this story, with a jog into the future while discussing other scientific achievements to come. This may be a little confusing for readers, especially those who think of 1969 when thinking about Woodstock – possibly less of an issue for children not familiar with these dates.

The production value of the audio recording of Hendricks’s story is a little rough – something that I found mildly distracting yet not something most children will pick up on, I am sure.

This app is not only great for children, teens and interested adults, but for teachers as well, as this app has a very nice section about dealing with bullies in school and how this could have helped Hendricks possibly fit in better in school.

This application is thoughtfully written and includes a lot of information children can feel inspired by, from the design that led to the Internet to Hendricks’s personal story of overcoming bullies as well as touching on the difficult yet very real topic of depression that Hendricks also includes as part of his life story.

Equally interesting are the interviews with the author of this app, Leanne Jones, who discusses her experiences as a teacher, how she discovered Hendricks’s story, and what she learned from writing this biography – all interesting notes that add to this app’s overall experience.

Cool to be Clever: Edson Hendricks reminds of me the It Gets Better Project for Gay and LGTB Youth, yet here this app articulates that life can get better for those bullied during their childhood years, making this a story worth telling in homes and schools, especially within gifted classrooms.

By Age Range, By App Feature, Creativity, For Parents, Health, High School +, Just For Fun, Middle School, Primary School, Reading, Reviews, Science, Social, Stories

Astrid and Siri is a charming interactive storybook for iPad. This lovely tale centers around Astrid, an Arctic girl, who with help from her magic purple thread is a wondrous seamstress creating intricate clothes for all her animal friends.

This app is utterly appealing and includes a very effective use of fun, simple, yet highly creative interactions for a terrific effect. It is also nice how this app starts out with an interesting Viking scene, telling readers that this story is actually an old tale that has been spread the world over by these Vikings, creating a mythology to this story that kids and adults will enjoy.

Parents, especially those of girls, who believe in the old the adage – “It’s not the clothes that make the man, but the man who makes the clothes” – will appreciate this app, as here, Astrid, along with her best friend, an Arctic fox named Siri, love to sew clothing for their animal friends, using a tremendous amount of skill and thought to create every piece of clothing by hand.

I love how her supportive animal friends are always willing to model the sometimes silly outfits, and how Astrid works through the winter contemplating her new designs she wants to sew, yet waits patiently until spring, when the sheep family is happy to donate their wool for Astrid to work with.

This is a delightful story for all young children – especially for girls who are fond of princesses and all their accoutrements – as this story revolves around wonderful fancy clothes, yet the main character is a hard worker who is grateful to the sheep family for giving her their wool. She in turn designs wonderful clothing for them to wear to an upcoming formal tea party, allowing children to really enjoy all the pretty clothing found within this storybook, devoid of the sense of entitlement that often goes along with princess stories.

There are many elements that are most enjoyable, such as the sheep family visiting the salon for their hair to be cut, with nice details such as sheep under hair dryers, wearing curlers, having their hair wrapped in a towel, or painting their hooves with nail polish.

Wool is also delivered to a traditional hat maker, giving children the chance to see the old-fashioned tools used by milliners – a nice touch.

Every page includes interactive hotspots to trigger with a tap or swipe, adding richness to the reading experience and never distracting. The illustrations are a treat as well, with a multimedia flare that I really love as the many textures found in materials such as wool yarn, ruffled material and embellishments can be found among these characters’ new clothing, as well as other perfectly imperfect details that add nice textures to this app.

What has impressed me the most within this app is the use of interactive finger-painting allowing one to fill blank sections found throughout this app, allowing one to help Astrid fill these pages with terrific sketches of hats and clothing, with an added detail of a paintbrush that moves as one drags a finger, creating a genuine feel of creating these drawing themselves. This finger-painting style of interaction can also be found as Astrid sews fancy clothing onto her animal friends or onto hangers, also decorating a beautifully detailed purple wool blanket – a gift for the sheep family’s graciousness. For a great effect, a needle full of magical purple string can be seen to move when the children’s finger is dragged across the page.

Other nice moments exist as well, such as Astrid going through the process of dyeing her fabrics in tea and other natural substances, showing the entire process and hard work involved as Astrid designs her fashions. Children can also partake in the tea party, helping the animals eat their treats – moments my son really enjoys.

The included narration, a simple, thoughtful storyline, and unique interactions all come together to create a story that could easily be a family favorite application. The quality here is very high, and I love how Astrid’s and the animals’ outfits are styled, with a nod to antique children’s or doll clothing that are simply wonderful. Children can also enjoy this story by reading this book to themselves if they so desire.

A very nice dress-up game is also included, allowing one to dress up Astrid from the clothing found within and letting readers see these pieces in more details. The look of this section is great as well, also lovingly stylized with many details, but I would love to see more clothing choices offered in the future, possibly also including the animals of this book.

The one note that I would like to make is that it is easy for readers to turn the pages of this book, not realizing that more paragraphs of narration and text are part of the page being read – an issue I hope can be looked at for the future.

Even with this issue, Astrid and Siri is a great application for iPad that young children and their family will greatly enjoy, with a relaxing ending that readers will find very satisfying. I would love to see more Astrid and Siri storybooks in the future.

Animals, Art, By Age Range, By App Feature, Creativity, Just For Fun, Preschool, Primary School, Reading, Reviews, Social, Stories, Toddlers

The Shape of Me and Other Stuff – Dr Seuss is a lovely adaptation of the title by of the same name – part of a series of Dr. Seuss books developed by Oceanhouse Media.

For those who may not know, The Shape of Me and Other Stuff is a Bright and Early Dr Seuss book, containing the rhyming cadence Seuss is known for without the wondrous nonsensical tongue twisters that can make his work cumbersome to read or follow by the youngest children. I have always been a fan of these simple-to-read books as they were some of the first stories we read to our son when he was born, and I am sure they will be the first books my son reads to himself as well.

The Shape of Me and Other Stuff teaches children about the concept of shapes beyond the traditional geometric shapes that one is commonly taught, instead being a message about imagination as well as an easy-to-read or listen-to story that rolls off the tongue very nicely.

The plot is simple and is not fully narrative as a boy and a girl explore the shapes of the objects in the world around them.

I appreciate how Dr. Seuss’s wonderful style of illustrations can be found within, as all the items included, even the boy and girl characters are wonderfully silhouetted in black, with the objects, creatures or characters sometimes also silhouetted in bold color choices or even in white when displayed on a colored page that is found among the pages of this book. I enjoy the look of these silhouettes, showing off the line detail of these illustrations – something that is not always focused upon when looking at the pictures in another Dr. Seuss book with the traditional brightly colored drawings.

Narration is included, here with two different voices in use, presumably those of the boy and girl characters from the story. I really enjoy the girl’s narration found towards the second half of this story, as she speaks clearly and with enthusiasm. The same can be said for the boy’s narration, but I think this voice in general too saccharine for my taste and not as enjoyable to listen to as other narrators who are used among the Dr. Seuss series of applications. It is worth noting that my son does not have this issue, and as these apps are primarily for children, this is a minor point.

I have been uniformly pleased with how the Dr. Seuss books have been translated into applications, keeping the style and spirit alive from the original published books, now including a chance to look at close-ups of these illustrations with the use of the “Ken Burns Effect” of panning and zooming of these pages draws the eye to areas of the page for a nice effect.

Subtle background music and ambient sounds are also incorporated that bring something new to this story not available when reading a traditional book – nice elements that add to the experience without distraction. Interactive hotspots are included as well, as readers can tap any detail to see the item labeled with text as well as spoken, yet never talking above the included narration – a nice touch.

Individual words can also be tapped to heard, aiding children in reading this book in case they become stuck and need help – a lovely inclusion that makes Oceanhouse Media apps in general wonderful resources for young readers.

Like the other Dr. Seuss apps developed by Oceanhouse Media, as well as their applications in general, one also has the chance to read this book to oneself. Autoplay is also included, turning the pages of this book automatically when listening to the narration.

I have been a huge fan of OceanHouse Media’s Dr. Seuss apps from their very first release of The Cat in the Hat, and I always get excited when a new Dr. Seuss app becomes available. I especially love that the easy-to-read Bright and Early Books for Beginning Beginners have been turned into storybook applications as well. I hope to see more of these titles developed including those written by other writers such Stan and Jan Berenstain as well.

Animals, By Age Range, By App Feature, Creativity, Just For Fun, Language, Preschool, Primary School, Reading, Reviews, Stories, Toddlers

The Edible Suit is a charming and wonderful adaptation of Edward Lear’s nonsensical poem, “The New Vestments” lovingly illustrated and subtly modernized by Jon Higham.

As readers may know, we are huge fans of Higham’s series of “Elly the Reindeer” apps, so I was really eager to review The Edible Suit, developed by Tizio, developers who are responsible for The Fierce Grey Mouse and Finn’s Paper Hat – other apps I love and highly recommend.

The Edible Suit tells the tale of an old man who creates clothing out of various foods as well as animal parts until other animals come to eat away at these clothes right off the old man’s back.

This app is wonderfully illustrated, painted with watercolors in a cartoony style and includes wonderful details that adults will enjoy as much as children will. This app may not be a family favorite among vegans, but we have really enjoyed this stories whit and charm.

I appreciate how this app includes only a line or two of this poem per page, really breaking down these verses which combined with terrific illustrations, aid in bringing this witty poem to life.

I also admire the modest editing choices, exchanging words that are not commonly used today for vocabulary that children will understand, such as substituting the word ‘belt” for “girdle,” or “stampede” for “tumult” as well as moving around a few lines to create a clearer narrative that could be told with the use of these marvelous images.

Some fun, varied interactions are included that my son really enjoys, triggering sound effects, mild animated moments and other elements, as well as panning across what would have been two pages of a traditional book for a nice effect, as this app is based on a previously published children’s book, The Old Man and the Edible Suit, also illustrated by Higham.

A coloring page is included allowing readers to fill in areas of this image that include some of the animals from this poem, paint-bucket style, but I did have some unresponsive moments when tapping to fill – an issue to look at into the future.

Another extra is a cute word game where one matches letters found on screen to their corresponding letter boxes, creating a word that represents an animal from this story, hearing this animal sound when a word has been completed, as well as the letters narrated when tapped and the word in question spoken when each word puzzle has been solved.

I have been universally fond of the use of professional narration in a nice selection of languages, including both UK and USA dialects which Tizio often incorporates within their apps. Here, this app includes Dutch, American and UK choices – always a nice touch. Autoplay is also available, as is the use of highlighting and text that enlarges as the words are read and as always, reading to oneself is also an option.

Without this app, my son probably would not have been exposed to this classic, creative poem full of whimsy and slapstick humor. The images that are included are also quite memorable, enriching my son’s own imagination as he intently listens to this grand, silly poem.

Art, By Age Range, By App Feature, Creativity, Just For Fun, Language, Preschool, Primary School, Reading, Reviews, Stories, Toddlers

Explore Vincent is a wonderful app for iPad exploring the life and times of Vincent van Gogh, the brilliant yet troubled artist from childhood through adulthood, ending with his death in 1890.

This app is a true multi media delight as many mediums are explored within this app for iPad.

A video section is included that does a wonderful job of introducing Van Gogh as a child to viewers, expressing the emotions Van Gogh presumably felt from boyhood through adulthood. These videos are not straight narratives but a montage of styles including the use of split-screens and a graphic use of color, lines of text music and other elements working together as much as a graphic designer’s work of art and that of the video director.

I appreciate the casting of Van Gogh himself, a red haired young man in his twenties, wonderful as the casual Van Gogh fan may have only a recollection of him as an older man found among self-portraits of his own work.

These wonderful videos really tell a tale of this man’s life and interpersonal relationships with his family as well as ill-fated attempts at relationships with women.

These scenes are not without drama, which I find intriguing and enjoy, yet at times come across as heavy-handed. For example, at the beginning of the first clip, Van Gogh tries to defend birds’ eggs from bullies, expressing his great love of nature and animals. It has a tone, however, that makes these clips seem like prequels to Norman Bates or Dexter Morgan’s life as a child, as the musical tone and voice-over elements make me fear for the animals Van Gogh is actually trying to protect or love – possibly foreshadowing his unstableness nicely, even if at times consisting of a misplaced intensity.

Historical details are found throughout these videos as well, with a favorite moment of mine being the time period of Van Gogh away at school during a cholera outbreak because here, the flair for the dramatic works to great effect.

Other areas of this app are equally abundant, as “Van Gogh’s TIME” gives more historical details of the time periods as one explores the included time line, especially about events in art history – both in general for this time period as well as pertaining directly to Van Gogh and his family.

A nice use of tabs that one can tap to open is incorporated in order to read the included text which, combined with photographs or places or objects as well as small representations of artwork found throughout, gives readers a real sense of visiting a Van Gogh museum themselves.

Along this time line as Van Gogh begins to produce his first pieces of art, a new section is available to explore, Van Gogh’s WORK, focusing on the art created during different time periods of Van Gogh’s Life. I especially appreciate how this app leads readers through important time periods for Van Gogh, especially the great change in use of color from a darker, more muted palette to the bright, bold colors Van Gogh may be best known for when exploring French Impressionism. This section nicely incorporates a map showing where art in question was produced as well as a chance to scroll though Van Gogh’s original letters, drawings and paintings.

The navigation of Exploring Vincent can be tricky when first experiencing this app. It is helpful that readers are brought to the video first within each time period explored, then have a chance to move to Van Gogh’s TIME by scrolling up or scrolling down to ponder Van Gogh’s WORK. One can also be brought to these sections with a tap of the finger found on a menu page after the video clip has been viewed. After spending time with this app, the navigating becomes easier, and I like the inclusion of a guide explaining how to play this app as well as the menu of all included application pages, which simplifies this app.

Games are also included, but maintaining the style of this app, these games are actually quite cerebral as one may fill in Van Gogh’s family tree, included text for hints on placement and choosing correct photographic images of city life found in 1866, with pitfalls including objects such as cars which came later than the time period in question. One can also match paintings with the scenery as seen today or the sketches found within Van Gogh’s letters to the letter itself, using the letter’s context as clues or an exercise in art history as one sorts images into the different styles of painting of the Brabant and French Period as well as sources of inspiration – my favorite game included.

These games, nicely interactive and also reminding me of an installation at a more hands-on museum can be found throughout this app but also contained together at the end of this app – a very nice touch.

I do wish, however, that it were easier to re-watch these videos – something I would love to see in a future update. I was also mildly disappointed that ill health, anxiety and mental illness of Van Gogh were not touched upon this app more, as I would have liked to see some of the possible causes of his darkness explored here as well – from possible lead poisoning, epilepsy or bipolar disorder which may have been aggravated by his fondness for absinthe, which was mentioned within this application.

Even with these notes, Exploring Vincent is a marvelous application that should be part of any library of applications for middle school and high schoolers.

I am very happy to announce that Friday, March 30th, Exploring Vincent Van Gogh Hd will be free for the day to celebrate Van Gogh’s birthday and will be half price that Saturday and Sunday as well – a wonderful gift to the public as this app is of the highest production value possible and is simply terrific!

Art, By Age Range, By App Feature, Creativity, For Parents, High School +, Just For Fun, Middle School, Puzzle, Reading, Reviews, Social, Stories

The Traditional Storyteller – How the Elephant Got His Trunk is one of a series of apps from the Traditional Storyteller that I have previously introduced to readers as these wonderful and engaging applications tell stories from around the world which are very easy to recommend for all age ranges.

Elegant in its simplicity, this app, as does the others within this series, consists of a video featuring a master storyteller telling tales in ways that are most captivating. I am impressed by how my son is mesmerized by these apps, focused on every word and deeply entrenched by the performance of these storytellers who are wonderful at their craft.

I really enjoy that these videos do not contain music, sound effects or interaction – only relying on the talents of these included storytellers, gazing directly into the camera as if talking to the viewer directly.

This specific story, How the Elephant Got His Trunk – not to be confused with the Rudyard Kipling story with a similar title – tells the tale of how an elephant, gloating over his cute little button nose is not very nice to the other animals, and is put in his place when a monkey plays a trick on this elephant, ultimately leading all the elephants of the land to have their noses stretched into what is now known as a trunk.

I enjoy this story a great deal, as does my son. It is interesting to see an elephant portrayed as a mean, unfortunately recognizable character teasing other creatures about their noses, creating a chance for families to talk about cruelty among children and how to treat one another.

It is also open to interpretation if this elephant known as “elephant” is one specific rude animal, or if he represents elephants in general, creating an open-ended conversation about whether the trick that the monkey pulled on all the elephants of the land, even those who presumably had nothing to do with the bullying, is acceptable, thus creating a tale that does include some moral ambiguity, which I appreciate.

Other sections of this app exist as well, such as Map Game, where children use their cognitive skills and memory to re-arrange tiles consisting of illustrations based on this story in their correct order, learning about the dramatic structure commonly found among stories in a creative and fun way.

Listen and Repeat allows children to tap on specific moments that together make up this tale, listening to passages of this story, then repeating this story in their own way. Likewise, Tell Your Story lets children re-tell this story from their point of view, using illustrations to help keep their minds focused on the tale being told.

Best Bits replays the favorite part of this tale again, a nice touch that kids will want to listen to over and over again.

Parents as well as teachers will genuinely appreciate how these tales not only highlight storytelling as an art form, but are also excellent for teaching the structure of storytelling, an important lesson for children to learn early as they develop their ability to tell stories of their very own.

I am pleased to announce that this series of applications won the very prestigious Best Educational Resource Award for Early Years from the U.K. National Education Awards, akin to winning an Oscar for education.

To celebrate, Traditional Storyteller apps will be half-price for a limited time. I encourage parents and teachers to add these apps to their collections, especially special needs educators as their students may get a special benefit from watching these videos with the storyteller looking directly into the camera as if making eye contact with the child viewing the video.

I recommend these applications not only as lovely, calming tales for toddlers and preschoolers to relax with, but for older children as well – anyone really who enjoys a great story told marvelously.

Animals, By Age Range, By App Feature, Creativity, Just For Fun, Language, Preschool, Primary School, Puzzle, Reviews, Social, Special Needs, Stories, Toddlers

Shapes & Puzzles by Pirate Trio is a very nice universal tangram app which allows children to create pictures of objects or animals by dragging and dropping classic geometric shapes that together make up these images.

With 180 puzzles for iPhone and more than 200 for the iPad, this app is very content-rich, and it is nice that subjects are included which may be of interest to boys who may need extra help with mini-motor skills or cognitive learning, such as big construction machines like a crane or cement mixer or fork lift, as well as helicopter, robot or dinosaur, among others.

A nice selection of animals is also available, such as turtle, peacock or penguin.

Children will enjoy having the name of the puzzles they have created narrated as well – important as some of these images are abstract and although fun, it can be hard to tell what is being created.

Typical of tangram apps such as this, the puzzle to complete is offered center screen, showing the empty spaces that need to be filled by the colorful corresponding shapes found right of the screen in a column one can scroll through. Drag and drop these colorful shapes with basic wood grain details in their correct holes, slowly filling in this image.

The number of shapes needed to complete some of the more complex puzzles is impressive, and I enjoy how one of the four main sections to choose from is dedicated to puzzles that have extra details included, such as scales on a fish or feather details that are found within the bird choices. These added elements really bring to life the objects or animals created within and are unique to this specific app – a very nice touches indeed, as is the toddler section dedicated to the teaching of these shapes, asking players to choose the correct color and shape one is being asked about.

I do not understand the organization of the other two puzzle sections available, however, as the differences between the puzzles included within each are unclear.

Personally, I would have liked to see these puzzles arranged by the number of pieces, as these puzzles can be at times impressively involved. Players or adults may want to search for simpler puzzles as well, and arranging by the number of pieces would simplify this search.

Another nice area of this app is a list of puzzles that gets checked off when completed. I enjoy perusing this list, but it would be nice if a “tap” on a favorite word would bring players straight to their choice.

This is a good application for those looking for a tangram puzzle, especially with the addition of the creative details that bring some of these puzzles to life. With 180 to 200+ puzzles depending on the device being used, this app will keep kids entertained for a long time.

Art, By Age Range, By App Feature, Creativity, Just For Fun, Preschool, Primary School, Puzzle, Reviews, Toddlers

Felt Board is a lovely app for iPad, a charming simulated rendition of a traditional felt board.

I have fond memories of using a felt board as a child, and I was happy to share this experience with my son. Not being crafty enough to create small and intricate pieces of felt myself, I confess that I bought a set from a local craft store on sale for my boy. The felt board was a huge hit, but sadly, even after keeping all the pieces in a zippered bag, the felt board soon became a memory as somehow inexplicably all the pieces vanished even after my son promised to be careful and not lose the pieces, only to randomly find felt bits clinging to clothing and furniture where one least expected to find them.

This digital felt board does not take the place of the traditional activity and cannot replace the magic of children finding out for the first time that this soft fabric sticks to itself without glue or mess, being able to be re-arranged indefinitely. This is a wonderful application, however, for families like mine who simply can’t keep track of all the little pieces or would love to allow their children this experience when traveling or simply out and about as this app, like a classic felt board itself, is a creative and quiet way for children to spend time.

This application is intuitive to use with an abundance of elements to choose from that felt boards in real life would be hard-pressed to include. Nice selections of backgrounds are offered, both basic solid colors as well as landscapes like a beach, ocean view or mountain landscape as well as a theatre, boat, and bedroom scenes. Other backdrops included as well. Like a traditional felt board, the backgrounds are sometimes simple, abstract and effective, and I appreciate the faint soft felt texture seen throughout this app.

Body choices can be made, and as in the classic style, the character pieces are devoid of all details as these can be added later. Six colors can be chosen, including three shades that could roughly represent skin tones of found among a diverse group of people, a nice touch that I would love to see broadened in the future. Do fully explore the selection of hair, beard, mustache and face choices by scrolling through this section with the aid of a scroll bar that unfortunately becomes invisible when not in use – problematic as players may not be aware of the selection of details to choose from within each of these elements that are too numerous to see on any given page.

Parents and teachers of special education children will especially appreciate the different expressions among the face choices such as the placement or shape of the eyebrows and mouth, teaching about these emotional cues along the way.

Cute clothing for all are included, including outfit elements that one may expect for both men and women, as well as plenty of unisex clothing and a few dress-up choices representing knights, a doctor, firefighter and police as well as a Santa suit and astronaut jumpsuit, tux and traditional men’s suit.

Another section consists of all the accessories one could desire such as shoes, mittens, scarves, hats, glasses and extras such as wand, sword, baton or umbrella.

A lovely selection of animals is also included, from butterflies and other insects to traditional farm animals, fantasy creatures and ocean dwellers. Storytellers will appreciate how spider, monkey and speckled frog choices are included to aid in the re-telling of classic stories that involve these characters.

Other objects one may look for to complete their motifs are also thoughtfully included, from flowers, plants and other choices found in nature, to symbols to represent weather, such as sun, moon or rain as well as buildings and other structures which can also be found.

Lastly, letter and number sections are included, each with their own related extras such as punctuation characters, shapes and arrows, which have also been added.

To re-size these elements, pinch or spread of one’s fingers – an element that I appreciate as the fine motor skills of picking up small pieces of felt with one’s fingertips is lost as the swiping of a finger is not as much of a workout for fine motor skills, but the pinching and zooming to re-size can in fact work these same muscles. It is also nice that one can glue down these pieces, aiding in the moving and re-sizing of these characters together as a single unit. Tap the camera icon to take a photo of one’s scene. To remove a piece of felt, simply drag to the recycling bin at the bottom right corner of the page.

I recommend this app to anyone interested in art or craft applications. The selection of felt pieces is wonderful and I enjoy being able to change backgrounds under the other pieces already laid down, something that could never be accomplished with such ease on a traditional board. I can imagine not only a great activity for children, but also in aiding the storytelling for all ages. For these reasons and more, I recommend this app.

Art, By Age Range, By App Feature, Creativity, Just For Fun, Preschool, Primary School, Reviews, Shapes, Toddlers

Draw and Tell HD – by Duck Duck Moose is a creative and fun art app that allows young artists to record personal narration to their finished pieces, including a multitude of art supplies to work with. Both iPad as well as iPhone versions are available.

Children have a choice of expressing themselves by choosing a blank page to begin their art work or choosing a coloring page to work on. Another wonderful function of this app is the ability to choose a photo from the device’s camera roll to use as a background as well.

I enjoy the various backgrounds offered, including brightly colored pages to work on, as well as some fun pattern choices such as colorful stripes and dots as well as classic standard rule of notebook paper and graph paper. I really appreciate the textures found within the single colored background, reminiscent of hand-made decorative paper as well as backgrounds with a marbled watercolor look that I am drawn to.

A vast selection of tools is included, such as a wonderful assortment of stickers including animals and vehicles, letters, numbers and speech bubbles plus more. Personal favorites include the foods and silverware fit for a tea party as well as the hats, mustaches and other details one can add to style members of personal photos being used. It is terrific how easily one can resize these stickers, but my son would also like to be able to flip these stickers, making it possible for these illustrated characters to face each other while talking or even embracing.

A paint brush, pencil and crayon points are included each with 27 shades to choose from, including a rainbow and an interestingly textured glow-in-the-dark choice. I like the inclusion of both pencil-sized eraser as well as a bigger classic pink eraser to remove parts of one’s artwork, and I also enjoy the fun and bright pattern choices one can choose to paint, draw or crayon with, creating these patterns and colors with the swipe of a finger. It would be nice if a few more paint brush sizes could be added in the future as well.

iPad users will have a series of stencils to choose from that can be moved around the page and re-sized. My son really has a lot of fun painting over these stencils, allowing him to create these shapes without having to rely on his free-hand drawing skills – something he still lacks at the age of four. Being able to re-size these stencils is nice and simple even for little hands, but being able to flip these stencils to work with a mirror image would be nice as well.

The selection of coloring book pages is also very nice, including 18 images to choose from. I appreciate the use of “Paint Bucket” mode, allowing one to fill in the spaces found within these pages with the tap of a finger – my go-to mode for working with coloring books, but the lack of “Paint Brush” mode, using a finger to paint with, may disappoint others.

All the same tools can be used to decorate these coloring pages, making an especially nice use of the pattern tool that can be used to fill in the shapes found within these coloring pages for a very nice effect. I was not a huge fan, however, of certain editorial choices having been made for players in terms of color grouping, as more than one area may be colored in at once, such as both tires on a tractor being filled in with a single tap, making it impossible to create different color wheels as well as minimizing the number of areas one can fill in.

Another issue that I found was that certain details such as the eyes, teeth and other details on the included animals remain white and are unable to take color, as does other areas of other objects included in the scenes.

The choices is made for the player to follow a certain logic and maybe some children may find his helpful, but I would love an option to be able to color in all sections of this app individually, allowing animals to not only have colored eyes, but different colored eyes as well if my son wants to be creative this way.

Even with these minor limitations, I really enjoy all the virtual art supplies offered, especially the stickers and stencils, allowing children to have a lot of fun with this app without having a lot of drawing or painting ability.

My son has really enjoyed decorating photos from our iPad both with animal stickers and stencils, creating scenes reminiscent of Mary Poppins or Snow White, allowing him to create images of him interacting with cartoon characters. It is a treat that characters from other Duck Duck Moose apps are available, as are an abundance of other sticker choices.

Saving one’s work is easy, and it is nice that children can return to their pictures to continue on adding more creative details as well. A go-back button is also included – a nice touch users may find helpful as did I.

A very special component of this app is the ability to record narration to finished art projects, emailing them to loved ones or simply saving to preserve a moment in time of one’s children at a specific age. The ability to create personalized parts or letters for friends and family with the inclusion of personalized voice-over is wonderful for children and their adults alike, and it is super-cute how the stickers can be moved around the page as narration is being recorded, possibly as one is telling a story to a distant loved one.

It is also a nice inclusion that if one drags a finger around the image or photo in use, a blue highlight can be seen during the recording and playback of the narration, allowing one to motion to a specific area of the image while telling a story about the picture in question.

It would also have been great, however, if the process of painting or coloring, stenciling and the like could have been recorded, as seeing details appear on the screen could be quite captivating to look at, making wondrous Harold and the Purple Crayons moments possible, allowing children to watch illustrations appear on the page as a story is told.

This is a lovely application that will be of interest to a wide range of ages through grade school and beyond. The possibilities are endless for the creative and artistic projects one can create with this app. Parents and other adults will surely cherish these pieces of art, especially with included narration of little voices captured as precious keepsakes.

I only wish that the process of these creative activities could be captured, as the process may be more important to children than the finished piece, especially if one could record the banter of a parent and child simply enjoying this app together, recording their give-and-take while experiencing all the artistic elements found within this application.

Art, By Age Range, By App Feature, Creativity, Just For Fun, Preschool, Primary School, Reviews, Social, Toddlers

Bartleby’s Book of Buttons Vol. 2 The Button at the Bottom of the Sea is an interesting sequel to the highly thought of app, Bartleby’s Book of Buttons Vol. 1: The Far Away Island, starring Bartleby, button collector and world traveler, who goes on epic adventures as he looks for more buttons to add to his collection.

In this volume, Bartleby’s adventure is an oceanic one as he has been given a tip that strange and exotic buttons may be able to be found on the bottom of the sea.

It is hard to describe this app, but the storyline about this epic adventure is just right for a book primarily made up of a series of mini-games that include pitch-perfect narration.

These puzzles are part reading comprehension as clues needed to be successful are expressed in the text and narration offered on each page. From the buttons to press, to the knobs to turn – even tilting one’s device and more – these puzzles are wonderfully interactive, with a great style and use of color, both in the detailed illustrations as well as in the mechanical elements themselves, really bringing these elements to life.

Seventeen pages are included, and I enjoy how involved some of these interactions are, as well of at times difficult to figure out, needing the use of both hands for some, good for dexterity in general. Some of these puzzles are simple, others make me contemplate looking to see if there were any Game FAQs about this app that I could find online, yet ultimately I was able to solve all of these puzzles myself without too much frustration.

Given that the amount of time spent with this app has a lot to do with how quickly one can solve these puzzles, it is a subjective question as to whether or not this app has enough content to justify the price of this application when not on sale, but the quality here is undeniable, the illustrations are terrific, the story interesting and interactions dynamic and fun. It is worth noting as well that this second volume took me longer to complete than Vol. 1.

Collectable stickers can also be found throughout that can also be printed using AirPrint, as well as Twitted if one so desires, and there are some other bells and whistles such as using iCloud to sinc the progress one makes within this app to multiple devices, as well as being able to connect this app to an HDTV with the use of airplay and Apple TV if one is using an iPad 2.

What I did not like about this app is that this book, Vol. 2, ends with a cliffhanger and a “To Be Continued” note at the last page, something I was not expecting and was disappointed by. I really wish developers would let the public know if one needs to buy installments of an app to finish the story.

I did find, however, that within this app, the included interactions can be enjoyed with their own merits, yet the storyline of this app cannot and it is a shame that people who have spent their time with this book will have to presumably wait for Vol. 3 to be released to get the conclusion of this storybook, assuming that there is not book 4 and so on as well – not an issue with the original Bartleby Book of Buttons.

Having said this, I have enjoyed the interactions within these pages and do look forward to the next volume of this series. It is nice that this app will be of interest to grade school children alone or younger children with the aid of a parent. Readers will need to decide for themselves how much the lack of an ending within Vol. 2 will disappoint their children.

By Age Range, By App Feature, Creativity, Just For Fun, Preschool, Primary School, Puzzle, Reading, Reviews, Stories