Lola the Panda Bear flies through the screen on her choo-choo train, on her way to deliver presents to her friends, making frequent stops to complete letter-matching and reading puzzles. Each time Lola (i.e., your child) successfully completes the puzzle, the train zooms along it’s way, and Lola earns five coins which are tallied in the upper right corner of the screen. Every so often, the train stops at a toy store where the child can use the earned coins to buy presents, adding an element of math to the game. The purchased toys are then stowed on the flatbed of the train.

Three levels of difficulty are available (Hard, Medium, and Easy) which adapts the game for preschoolers through school-age. My 4-year old enjoyed the Easy and Medium levels, and even my 2-year old, who cannot yet recognize letters, liked to touch the pictures and delighted in the panda and the train. The game can be played in English, French, Spanish and German, which adds value to students studying other languages.

This is a cute and engaging pre-k and early reading game. I recommend.

By Age Range, By App Feature, Language, Math, Preschool, Primary School, Reading, Reviews, Toddlers

Monster Scribbles is a charming little storybook app about a little boy named Duncan who is obsessed with monsters. He draws them in his sketch book and hopes to dream of them as he falls asleep. One night, Duncan woke up in the middle of the night to see a monster right in his room! The monster, named Monster Scribbles, proceeds to leaf through Duncan’s monster sketch book and magically makes Duncan’s sketch book monsters come alive. He then teaches Duncan to do the same by focusing the power of his imagination on the monsters.

The narration is clear and crisp male voice. Settings include narration on/off, English or Spanish languages, page turn delay, auto-turn, resume at cover or on page left, and sound effect volume. A table of contents in the form of story panels appears at the bottom of the screen when the center of the screen is tapped.

The story is short and paced well enough to capture my the attention of my four-year old, who has taken to drawing monsters in the hopes that he can imagine them into existence so they will visit him in his room!

Art, By Age Range, Creativity, Language, Preschool, Reading, Reviews, Stories

Word Wheel is a word matching game with a few twists. The game starts with a choice: everyday words or animal words. Then the child flicks a slot machine like wheel until it selects an image of a hat, car, doll, egg, etc. Once the image is selected, a male voice narrates the word. Next to this is a second wheel which contains the word spelled out. When the child selects the right word, the wheel locks, and the narrator again says and then spells the word.

A settings button becomes accessible after 3 clicks. Settings include a range of tweaks for parents wanting to customize the difficulty level to the child. For “Easy”, suggested for 2 and up, a semitransparent picture matching the selected image appears behind the word. For “Medium”, suggested for ages 2 and up, the background colors of the matching pair are the same. For advanced, aged 4 and up, no hint is given. A “switch wheel” option is also given, which enables the child to match word to picture instead of the reverse.

The most interesting setting is the creation of custom words with custom images. I was able to create a word with my son’s name, load a picture for it, and record myself saying it. I could not, however, figure out how to get it to display in the game.

I seriously question the utility of this game for the pre-literate set; my two-and-a-half year old showed no interest, and my 4-year old tired quickly of the game

By Age Range, By App Feature, Primary School, Reading, Reviews, Toddlers

The duck is back! “Captain Duck” is a story book app based on the popular children’s book written and illustrated by Jez Alborough from HarperCollins Publishers.  “Captain Duck” is a continuation of  Alborough’s  book and iPhone app “Duck in the Truck.” This story begins where “Duck in the Truck” left off, with the duck out of the muck, but now his truck needs gas. He stops by his friend Goat’s house to borrow some, and along the way invites himself on a boating trip with his old friends from the first story. All I can say is that antics ensue, and it is great fun watching it all unfold.

My son may enjoy “Captain Duck” more because there is some real slapstick humor happening and even some drama and suspense. Without giving anything away, there is a point in the story where the tone changes, my son’s eyes grow wide and he gets very quiet, extremely engrossed in the story. Beautifully illustrated and with a lot to tap on, the animals “speak” as they move across the screen, and there are many other ingenious sound effects as well. The  narration is superb, but you have the option of reading it yourself as well. If one is looking for an entertaining story book for an iPhone, I recommend “Captain Duck.”

Animals, By Age Range, By App Feature, Preschool, Reading, Reviews, Stories, Toddlers

In the spirit of make-your-own-adventure novels, Zoobert’s Big Day is a quietly charming storybook app about a day in the life of little turquoise monster named Zoobert. The child can read the storybook himself, or have the story read aloud. At each decision point in the story, the child is asked to shake the phone to get to the next part of the story (simply hitting the next button will achieve the same result). Zoobert is hurled into a red vertigo background before arriving in the next scene. The child can experiment going back and forth to see different outcomes. In one case, Zoobert parachutes out of his sock drawer; in another, he ties a sock-rope to lower himself to the floor.

The narration is a bit sleepy and the story a little monotonous for the older child; my four year-old tired of it quickly. The same idea applied to a punchier, more dynamic story would be more engaging, as would allowing the child to actually make the decisions, like a real make-your-own-adventure book.

By Age Range, By App Feature, Preschool, Reading, Reviews, Stories

If you’re looking for a no-frills, straightforward app to help your child learn to recognize “sight words”, look no further than Dolch Flash Cards. The interface is stripped down and devoid of any distracting graphics; words are presented in large black lower-case type on a white background, reminiscent of the tactile flashcards of days of yore. A small console at the bottom of the screen allows the user to trigger the word recording, enunciated in a female voice, and to advance to the next word.

Words presented in Dolch Flash Cards are drawn from a list of frequently used words compiled by Edward William Dolch in 1936, which contains many words that cannot be sounded out phonetically (e.g., because, would). The Dolch list is segregated into words for the pre-primer, primer, first, second and thirds levels, and contains an additional list of 95 nouns. The Dolch Flash Cards app allows the user to restrict the word list based on these categories and to include or ban the nouns. Users can also tag words for later review.

My impression is the app is a bit too much like old-fashioned flashcards, which of course can get tedious, and could benefit from a little leveraging of technology; a few well-chosen bells & whistles would certainly make it more engaging. For example, scorekeeping for self-tracking or multiple users might add an element of excitement that would keep kids at it longer. My son got bored quickly.

By Age Range, By App Feature, Phonics, Primary School, Reading, Reviews

The storybook application “One Fish, Two Fish, Red Fish, Blue Fish” is based on the original book by Theodor Geisel – most commonly known as Dr. Seuss. As with many of Seuss’ early books, there isn’t much “story” to this story, yet the clever, poetic lyrics and fantastical creatures aptly capture the imagination and wonderment of readers of all ages. For early readers, “One Fish…” keeps their attention through clever rhyme and offers lessons through word association and word comprehension. Further, the design of this colorful ebook application reinforces these lessons by highlighting words as they are narrated. Also, when objects are touched, they are identified by both spoken and written word. I appreciate how this application has a lot of movement with panning across each page for a more detailed look at different illustrations. The original artwork and text by Seuss work well in the iPhone/Touch format, and even better on the iPad. I was thrilled to learn it’s a two-in-one deal, since the one application works for both the iPhone/iPod Touch and iPad.

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

The wait is FINALLY over and our friends Madera the Monkey and Figaro the Frog have returned… this time to Save The Day! (Duh-da-da daaaa!) “Madera & Figaro Save The Day” is the story of two silly friends who join forces to help their community after a large storm has hit their fair city. Their mission is to help restore the city in time for the big party. An impressive follow-up to publisher Lyn & Line’s first application entitled “The Rescue of Ginger”, this app is supersized with more story, more interactive features, and many more learning opportunities. It’s the most interactive storybook app I’ve experienced yet and provides a perfect symmetry of educational game play and story. It’s a rich source of learning opportunities for young kids including elements that teach sizes, shapes, letters, numbers, colors, and matching. It’s packed full of original interactive features and games, too. Designers have crafted the app so that the sequence of questions are randomized, thereby capturing and keeping the attention of young ones who play this application over and over again. It has vivid HD illustrations that are designed to work on both the iPad and iPhone. What a treat!

Animals, By Age Range, By App Feature, Counting, Language, Matching, Phonics, Preschool, Puzzle, Reading, Reviews, Shapes, Sounds, Spelling, Toddlers

“123 Color” follows the “color-by-numbers” concept used in early childhood education and introduces letters, numbers, and colors to Preschoolers . The main menu has four categories from which to choose. When you touch the book at the top of the page, coloring pages will appear, then you choose the page and begin coloring. At the bottom of the coloring page are the color choices to match up with a number or letter. Touch a color, then match the number or letter in the picture and the color will appear. When the picture is colored correctly, musical notes will float across the screen and play a little jingle. If musical notes are not heard or seen, the colors or matches are incorrect. “123 Color” allows children to keep trying until all numbers or letters match correctly. It’s offered in a number of languages, including English, Spanish, French, and German, and a combo of English-Spanish. The app is well-done, bright, and colorful. The coloring pages are fantastic, and there are many choices within the app. I do hope the publisher decides to add new pages with every update. “123 Color” is also available for the HD iPad

By Age Range, Counting, Creativity, Matching, Phonics, Preschool, Primary School, Puzzle, Reading, Reviews, Toddlers

Ever since we started playing our first “Toddler Teaser” app (Transportation), my son’s vocabulary for things-that-go has burgeoned significantly. He can now recognize most modes of transportation and he’s even invented a few new words like “cuck” which identifies ambiguous car models like SUVs and Jeeps (I know… genius). Well, I thought it was high time we brought a few more nouns into the mix, and since we loved our first Toddler Teaser experience, we purchased the “Bugs” themed version. The formula of this application is like the Transportation version but it’s designed to help children to identify the names of various insects. Each page shows several different bugs and the player is asked to touch the correct option. The narrator encourages the player to keep selecting until the correct insect is identified. Instructions and narration are clear and easy to understand, the pictures are easy to identify, and there are 17 different critters for toddlers to learn. “Toddler Teasers Bugs” doesn’t have many bells and whistles, and it’s a very simple in design and concept, yet it fully embraces my son’s curiosity and helps him to learn about a topic of interest. I can’t wait to hear what new insect names he’ll coin!

Animals, By Age Range, By App Feature, Language, Matching, Preschool, Reading, Reviews, Toddlers