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

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

The Bravest of Us All is a lovely storybook based on a previously published picture book of the same name.

Told in the first person, this story opens up with younger sister Ruby Jane going into great detail about the bravest sibling she has – older sister Velma Jean, who possesses the confidence to do just about anything, making Ruby Jean feel somewhat ordinary. Things change, however, when their family farm is hit by a tornado and Velma Jean is afraid to go into the basement until Ruby Jane, facing strong winds, comes to Velma Jean’s aid and coaxes her to safety, proving that she is in fact pretty brave herself.

I really enjoy this storybook, appreciating the tall tales told about Velma Jane, making her larger than life then in turn making her all the more human and relatable when her secret is revealed.

Everyone has secrets or foibles that can sabotage them in some ways and I appreciate this this story for developing a complex character who has a secret as well as the tender way that even in the face of danger, sister Ruby Jane demonstrated a strong sisterly bond.

My son is now very much into super-heroes and firemen. I would never begrudge him these interests, but I admire this story for sharing with him a story of an ordinary girl being brave in her own way, as this can also be the start of open-ended conversations about being there for others when help is needed.

The illustrations found within are wonderfully hand-painted and include a vintage style adults will enjoy. The text is written in a country vernacular that children may find cumbersome, especially if reading this book to themselves, but the story makes this children’s book application worth reading.

Nice, simple ambient sound effects are included and I always appreciate an app that is universal, but I did find that within the iPhone version, the text size may be difficult to read because of its scaled down size. I would love to be able to enlarge the words in some way in the future. Narration is included as well, making the small font size less of an issue.

This application contains no interactions – something I sometimes gravitate towards when looking to create a relaxed and calming experience for my son. My son really enjoys this story but I think slightly older children of grade school age and their adults will get a lot out of this story as well, with a nice re-readability factor as once children understand Velma Jean’s secret, the story can be enjoyed from a different point of view – a nice touch that makes this tale worth being purchased by parents as well as teachers.

Art, By Age Range, By App Feature, Language, Preschool, Primary School, Reading, Reviews, Social, Stories

Gus’ Little Coin is a very nice storybook that children will enjoy. Taking place in Paris, this tale revolves around the adventures of an anthropomorphic gold coin, named La Petite Pièce, part of the collection of coins a young boy, Gus, has obtained over time. One day, Gus decides to buy a donut with his favorite gold coin because he did not have any other money on him. The rest of this charming tale revolves around the adventures of La Petite Pièce as she travels to New York City and Brazil, having been given to a globe-trotting businessman as change made from the bakery that sold the donut to Gus.

I enjoy how involved this tale is, bringing this gold coin to interesting locations around the world, meeting other anthropomorphic coins with distinct personalities along the way until, and as luck would have it, this coin makes its way back to the pocket of the same businessman during his various travels, becoming once again change that he spends at the original bakery, allowing Gus to reclaim La Petite Pièce, adding her once again to his collection.

Children will enjoy the cyclical nature of this story. I do admit that as this tale began, I was not keen on Gus spending his favorite coin on a donut although doing so does create a nice set-up for this coin to go on an adventure. I am happy how this story redeems itself at the end, as Gus feels remorse for spending his coin on a donut, admitting that it did not even taste too good, presumably from the guilt he felt over his lack of impulse control, allowing parents to have open-ended conversations on why it was a poor choice to spend his coin, deep with sentimental value, on something as inconsequential as a donut.

The look of this app is colorful, and the included narration is enjoyable. It is also nice that both English and French versions are included within this application.

Without interactions, or even the need to turn pages (this happens automatically as the story is read by the narrator), this is a lovely story to sit back and simply enjoy. An index of pages is also included, always helpful especially in a longer story – this one lasting 16 minutes.

Mild animated elements are included that add to the richness of this tale, and four original songs included as well that are equally fun and engaging, introducing children to musicals in general – a nice touch that is not commonly seen in applications.

Gus’ Little Coin is good choice of storybook if one is looking for a tale for pre-school age or older children who have the attention span to follow La Petite Pièce on her travels – good to know as this fun story is a little more involved than other storybooks available.

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

The Lion and the Mouse – An Interactive Children’s Story Book HD is a charming interactive universal storybook with a bold look and great sense of style. Very nice narration is included, as is the option to read this story to oneself and auto play is also included.

The Lion and the Mouse is a classic story based on an Aesop’s fable about a little mouse who, grateful to be spared by a ferocious lion, promises to do the lion a favor in the future, although the lion being big and strong, does not ever foresee needing help from a tiny mouse.

I like how this tale has been updated, keeping the spirit and message alive yet avoiding any overt violent undertones, as the original story has the lion threaten the mouse, who is simply grateful to have not been killed. Yet within this story, the lion helps the mouse reach trees to pick fruit and for this, he is very appreciative. The ending has been changed as well, from the lion being captured in a net by hunters, to this lion jumping through the jungle and getting caught in vines that the mouse is able to gnaw through, freeing this beast.

Parents may find the look of this app familiar as it is based, where we live, as part of the television series “Nina’s Little Fables,” part of PBS Sprouts “The Goodnight Show.”

Although the images used are the same, with a wonderful use of shadow puppet animation, creating silhouettes that represent these characters and using a stark black, white and gray color scheme, as well as incorporating a few other, sometimes muted colors for great effect, the narration and music are different, now spoken in rhyme and including a very well-done voiceover and a thoughtful use of pitch-perfect World Music. This brings a good sense of drama and importance to this story not found in the corresponding version narrated by Nina, the host of the “Good Night Show,” that although pleasant, is also a little saccharine for my taste.

I do appreciate the version of this tale found within this universal app, both in terms of story as well as visual style. The high contrast look of this application, using a stark palette, is a refreshing change from other favorite apps that have a brighter, more colorful look to them.

Interactions are included that are simple and lovely, such as being able to tap elements within, hearing the sound of a percussion instrument with each interactive tap, creating a wonderful effect.

A few included details such as the sun or rocks incorporate a nice use of color that also with a tap changes these colors, shade-by-shade of warn neutrals which make their way up the scale to the use of red or yellow found peppered throughout.

Some elements also become animated, as are the mouse and lion characters, as well as the fruit hanging from the trees or the rocks found as background details, this being the case of “less is more” as these subtle effects create a wonderful visual style more engaging for young children than other, highly interactive applications, as here tapping to hear the lion roar the first time has more of an impact than another app that may be cluttered with many other distractions.

When reading this app, one will notice the text found in the top left of the page that can also be closed if one would like simply to listen to this story without reading along.

I do find it counter-intuitive, however, that the paragraph as a whole is in red type, yet the line in the process of being read is highlighted gray, making this line of text fade into the background instead of popping to gain the reader’s attention. I would love to see these colors reversed, with the paragraph in general appearing in gray and line of narration being spoken appearing in red, really standing out and aiding young readers.

It is really enjoyable to see how all these elements of the shadow animation, narration and wonderful use of music as well as included interactions, creating an experience that adults as well as children will enjoy together.

I look forward to seeing more of these “Little Fables” turned into applications; the quality here is quite high.

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

Mini Painters, developed by Airy Labs, is a multi-player social/drawing app for kids in early elementary school and older. The object of this universal app is to guess correctly what other players are drawing (think Pictionary) in the fastest time possible. Unless a parent is assisting, children need to be fairly proficient at reading to be able to play Mini Painters.

Children can choose their preferred level of difficulty and when they are the “guessers” they must tap on one of six choices as soon as they think they can identify what the artist is drawing. There are six rounds per game, and depending on the number of children playing, each player gets to take at least one turn as the artist. The rest of the time, they are guessing.

When online, children can play with five of their friends (if they also have accounts) or against random opponents worldwide. This is where the app gets really interesting. When your child creates an account on Mini Painters, he or she gets to choose a user name (from existing names) as well as to create their own profile with a cute, customizable avatar. They also list their country of origin, their favorite color, favorite food, favorite music and their mood. Players may also “friend” other players if they wish, so that they can play with them again.

As a parent of a “tween” girl, I find the social aspect of the game to be one of its best features. This is an opportunity for younger children to be introduced to an online community that is both educational and creative. There is no chatting function, so there is no need to be constantly monitoring the conversations to make sure your child is safe. I suppose there is the possibility that someone could try to ruin a good thing by drawing inappropriate content but this has never happened to us and both my children have played with this app dozens of times. My daughter loves making new friends from different countries and she boasts that she has a friend from Japan.

Not only does this app receive high marks from our family for the social aspects of the game, but also for its creativity. When children have their chance to be the artist, they can choose their brushstroke, color, and have a clean palette on which to create their masterpiece. The better artist your child is, the easier it is for others to guess what the picture is, which earns both the artist and the guesser more points. It also encourages children to read and learn new words, as the word choices are quite diverse and challenging.

While I think this is among the highest-quality apps I have ever reviewed, the only criticism I have is that, to my knowledge, there are no built-in safeguards against inappropriate content. The drawing takes place in real time, so there is no opportunity to review and remove drawings that are negative or otherwise violate the rules. Like I said before, we have never had a problem, and it would sure be a shame if a couple of bad eggs ruined this wonderful opportunity for friendship and creativity.

The bottom line is that I cannot believe an app offering such a rich experience is free, as I would have gladly paid for it. My kids were thrilled that, in addition to playing with the app on my iPod, they are also able to play it on their Kindle Fires. Bravo Mini Painters! We can’t wait to see what else Airy Labs has in store for us!

Art, By Age Range, By App Feature, Creativity, Language, Primary School, Reading, Reviews, Social

Guess Who! is a delightful interactive book that babies, toddlers and older children will enjoy.

This story is simple as the reader is asked what family member a baby resembles. Before each page is turned, a cutout can be seen on the right side of this storybook. Behind it is the face of an adult that children try to guess. It is super-cute how the baby in question is compared to what can be seen of the adult face to be fully revealed with the turn of a page, be it a character like mom, dad or grandpa.

Based on a printed book by illustrator Kyoung Kook Lee, this app for iPad does a great job of re-creating the feeling of reading a board book – one of the most realistic page turns I have seen in digital storybooks.

Hotspots have been included that kids will enjoy, nicely highlighted with a hand icon showing children where to touch. Another unique interaction is how readers can drag the cut-outs found among these pages to enlarge them slightly, seeing more details of the adult in question, giving kids the chance to peek at the family member – a nice touch that adds an element to this story not available in a traditionally bound story.

The illustrations are lovely works of an accomplished illustrator with a great sense of style that adults will appreciate as much as children will. The narration is nicely done as well, and although an accent is detectable, the audio track is easy to understand and follow along with – not always the case with applications developed outside the United States.

Some extras are included, such as a few short animated “sing along” videos of three songs, including “Guess Who,” which transforms this story into a song that children can sing along with, as the words are displayed on the screen, karaoke- style, as are the lyrics for the other two songs as well.

A matching game is also included where two characters are shown from this book, each including a missing detail that one must fill in from three objects to choose from. Do note that one can also change modes of this game, having to label these characters instead, such as “daddy” or “sister.” This section includes the same nice visual style and fun use of color, but it is a shame that this section only includes three questions, including two characters each. Maybe an area of this app could be added to in a future update.

This is an all-around lovely storybook that babies, toddlers and even older children will enjoy a great deal. My son, now four years old, had fun with this story book even though he is a little beyond this app’s target age range.

Options here include listening to this book be read, reading this book to oneself, or making a recording of this book oneself to play back later. This app would also make a lovely first reader for children to read – possibly to younger family members. I would love to see more work from Kyoung Kook Lee in the future.

It would be nice to see this app be turned into a universal application in the future, making the current price point possibly more palatable for parents.

By Age Range, By App Feature, Just For Fun, Language, Preschool, Reading, Reviews, Social, Stories, Toddlers

Toca House is the new, highly anticipated universal application from the developers at Toca Boca.

Toca Boca is a very well-regarded developer, possibly best known for its open-ended apps such as Toca Tea Party or Toca Hair Salon. More akin to Toca Doctor, Toca House is a collection of 19 domestically focused mini-games that take place within a wonderfully styled home and yard.

I enjoy the look of this app very much, as does my son, being very bright and colorful. Players will be scrolling up and down through this house that one is visiting, as five floors can be explored from top to bottom – a bathroom, living room, kitchen, laundry room, as well as front door and attached yard space.

Although players can start anywhere, those new to this game may enjoy starting out at the bottom – the front door more specifically – where this app opens up and moving around from there. Doing so gives players a chance to meet the occupants of this house nicely, as mini-games include sorting mail into different mailboxes by color and photo-matching mail as personal images appear both on envelopes as well as on corresponding mailboxes.

I also enjoy an activity where one delivers gifts to all the characters, a motley group of five individuals – Bo, a large cuddly yellow man of sorts; Lulu, a grandmotherly figure; young boy Jojo; sporty girl named Toppy; and Luna, an interesting child with a house-shaped head, a unique a character as one will find from the stylings of Toca Boca.

As with any group of people, personal tastes will vary, so it is the player’s job to match an interesting selection of gifts to the correct recipient, be it crayons, a spatula or a skateboard. Do check eye contact and body language that will make the character most interested about a specific object known, although these cues are subtle – a nice effect that special needs children may especially benefit from.

The more kids play this mini-game, the more they get to know these characters, as the objects vary each time this activity is explored. I really enjoy the different personalities of these individuals detailed with the gifts that they appreciate, such as the big yellow man, Bo, who appreciates water toys for the bath; Toppy, the tall sporty girl who is really into sports equipment; and the blond boy, Jojo, who is a foodie, fond of gifts such as a hotdog or frying pan.

Players can jump around these floors at will, helping characters around the house with various chores, such as many laundry-related actives including loading a washing machine, hanging the wash to dry, and ironing, as well as wiping down the windows.

A kitchen is included where one can put away groceries and wash dishes. The living room has a few interesting activities such as building a fire or helping hang picture frames. The bathroom includes bathing Bo, the furry man-like creature, as well as cleaning up spilled shampoo from the floor.

Mopping, sweeping and vacuuming chores can be found all around the house – nice mini-games but without a lot of variation between these activities which at times can feel a little redundant, especially as these tasks are randomly generated and not specifically selected by the player, allowing these cleaning tasks to sometimes appear back-to-back, and at points seem like the focus of this application.

The yard has a few nice activities, such as sorting flowers or leaves by color, as well as mowing the lawn. Although players can travel freely around these rooms, the yard and front door are connected in a way that there may be only one character to interact within the front door area, making yard games not always possible.

Even with these notes, my son, now four, finds these mini-games cute and fun, as the whimsical style of this app is very appealing and utterly Toca Boca,

It is surprising to me, however, that bedrooms are not included within this app – rooms so identifiable to children as their own space. There are also no toys to be put away – the most common chore children will be asked to complete, and I would love to see the sorting of different personal possessions per character as well, already introduced with the gift-giving mini-game. I would also appreciate being able tuck these characters into bed with a favorite toy at the conclusion of this app.

Other bedroom chores could include making one’s bed or collecting one’s laundry for the wash, and I would love to see a pet living in the house that needs to be bathed, fed and cleaned up after.

I admire the choice to make the characters diverse, with the use of a non-Caucasian character, as well as the ambiguous child with the house shaped head, but it is unclear to me if these characters are members of a family or share a house together as boarders, as the separate mailboxes may imply. I would love to see more overlap of these characters together, even if only in the photos one hangs up in the living room, as of now, these pictures are of individual characters.

Especially because Toca Boca apps are popular among children with special needs, it would be nice to see these characters relate to each other on a social level.

I am also confused with an element of the berry-picking sorting game as well, found at the front of the house, as here players sort and feed fresh blueberries to Lulu, the grandmotherly figure, tossing the moldy ones away. I really enjoy this mini-game, and I value the checking produce for mold being introduced as part of a daily chore, as organic produce can turn bad fast, and I do this kind of inspection routinely as well. What I don’t understand is why the moldy berries are tossed into a recycling bin, complete with the iconic green arrows, when a compost bin would be preferable – a mistake I would prefer my son not to make with our out recycling cans.

I do enjoy the lighting of the fireplace activity as it is a little different but would prefer to see Lulu, the grandmotherly character light the fire in the living room instead of Toppy, who although the oldest of the three children in the house, is still a child as I would prefer only an adult within this game to be using matches – a common rule in many households.

Toca House is an app my son enjoys spending time with, but I do hope to see more apps such as Toca Tea Party, Toca Store, or Toca Hair Salon that immerse players into truly open-ended situations mirroring other favorite toys or games as this is what Toca Boca does better than any other developer, standing apart from the crowd as a maker of true “digital toys.”

Other favorite apps from Toca Boca are wonderful for sharing between children, encouraging them to play with each other, learning about social skills along the way. This is not the case so much in Toca House, as these mini-games are for single players, but there is a pause between these actives that makes swapping one’s device between children possible, and any one child can play up to only 10 mini-games at one time, reducing the time any one child may have to wait for their turn in this app is not passed around during these games, nice touches that adults of multiple children may enjoy, but I would like the chance to over ride the ending of one’s experience after only 10 actives, as well as including some more nighttime oriented tasks as well.

The games found in Toca House are more activities than mini-games as little to no skill level is involved as one completes these chores. This is not a flaw as this is the application these developers set out to make, and it is nicely realized for what it is, but it is worth mentioning, however, as older children who responded well to the faster pace and maze elements of Toca Doctor could conceivably feel underwhelmed at some of these more simplistic swiping movements needed to complete many of these tasks. It would be nice if in the future, a more thorough use of what iPad and iPhone has to offer could be incorporated.

Toca House would be a good choice for younger app players, two and up, who do not have any preconceived notions about mini-games. It is also encouraging for children to participate in chores around the house as part of a game, hopefully making them more likely to help out as well if asked to do so.

All in all, my son and I are enjoying Toca House. I can’t wait to see what Toca Boca comes up with next.

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

Goodnight Safari is a soothing and lovely app for iPad that allows children to interact with animals found in Africa’s Savannah, helping them with various bedtime routines, ultimately seeing that these animals go to sleep.

Six animals who need help from readers in performing nighttime activities are included, like helping a a young hippo take a bath or a monkey climb to bed, and I admire how each baby animal is being attended to by an adult animal – presumably their mom or dad.

The interactions are engaging but can also be challenging to understand exactly where to touch to trigger the animations, and it is potentially confusing that interactions must be played through multiple times to complete a task, allowing readers to continue to the next page, although older preschool ages children may really enjoy this aspect, making these interactions more involved than a simple tap or drag.

Help is available for those who need it, showing readers where to touch, but these hints are slow to be offered, and it would be nice if a mode were available where these hints were offered as soon as the page is turned for younger readers. Parents may want to familiarize themselves with this app before first showing this app to toddlers to expedite the experience at bedtime, but I do believe that this charming app could be their animal lover’s new favorite bedtime activity if help could be offered for young children to feel successful at these interactions.

Other subtle hotspots can be found on each page such as being able to shake distant trees or animate other animals. Do look for them.

The look of this app is wonderful, with lush textures and details that bring these animals as well as the Savannah to life. I appreciate how as one proceeds through these scenes, the sun starts to set and these landscapes darken with a lovely conclusion that has these animals sleeping together under a full moon and the sound of crickets filling the air, this pleasing sound to be heard throughout this app.

Very nice and relaxing narration is also included, and reading this app to oneself is also an option. A menu of pages is available – always a nice touch. My only note is that the baby zebra is hard to differentiate from the adult, as after the animation is triggered, it becomes obvious that the baby must run to its parent in the distance. Only then can the size difference be seen. I would love to see the baby noticeably smaller even before this interaction is triggered.

Children will enjoy helping their new animal friends get ready for bed, but with only six scenes, this app is a little on the short side.

For some parents, this is a perfect length as I am always looking to find shorter bedtime apps for when it is late and my son really needs to be getting to bed, but it may also be nice if a new more animals could be added in a future update.

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

The Giant Turnip is the most recent story brought to life by the developers at Stepworks. Part of a larger series of classic storybook apps, the tale of The Giant Turnip has its roots in Russian folklore, as does the first app from library – The Little Red Hen.

Here, The Giant Turnip tells the story of a father and mother who together plant a turnip that grows and grows until it is so large that it is impossible for any one person to pull it out of the ground by themselves. Coming to his aid, mother holds onto father, and together they pull but still need more help. One by one, their farm animals hug each other as well, and together they pull and pull until they are successful, demonstrating how “we can do anything when we all work together,” ending this story with a turnip feast, complete with some cute food-related interruptions my son especially enjoyed.

I really like how in this adaptation, the townspeople who try to help dislodge the turnip are now friendly animals, and it is charming how they all hug each other to get the job done.

As always, the look of this app is delightful, with wonderful colors and textures and fun use of music incorporated into a style utterly recognizable as a Kidztory storybook. I appreciate the warm browns and green shades seen in the land where the turnip is planted, along with the noticeable brush strokes for a lovely effect. Possibly more so than other apps from this series, nothing is flat-looking within this app as every animal or other detail has its own imperfect texture that layered together on the page really brings a richness to this story that adults may enjoy even more than their children.

As one can imagine, this story by its nature is repetitious, so it pleases me that what would be considered different camera angles and other editing techniques are used to tell this story, keeping it visually interesting for its readers.

It would have been an obvious choice to simply add each character to the long line of helpers trying to pull up this turnip, demonstrating this from the same vantage point, but instead, this app crosses the director’s line a few times as well, showing the line of helpers from behind or facing the opposite direction for a nice effect, also including an interesting use of close-up shots to create a subtle yet cinematic experience that adults will appreciate even if these choices don’t register with children.

As with the other classic storybook apps, one can choose to read this story to oneself or listen to charming narration. Fun interactive hotspots are included as well; do look for them.

It is without reservation that I can recommend this as well as any of the other apps within this series. They are universally wonderful storybook applications that children and their adults will love. Their first app, Red Little Hen, was the first app I bought for my son before he was two years old so these stories have a special place in my heart. Even after all these months, my son still goes back to old favorites, and I love how each of these stories contains a moral that children can learn from.

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