“Mother Goose Reader” is a lovely, content-rich children’s app for the iPad that introduces 20 classic Mother Goose Rhymes to children. Each rhyme is illustrated nicely, and there are a lot of hidden sounds to tap on and games to play, including shape, letter and size sorting, puzzles, memory games and drum pad. The rhymes can both be sung or spoken, and you have the option of doing your own recordings. The text is highlighted as the rhyme is sung/read, making it easy to follow along.

I really enjoy this app because I want my son (2 1/2) to be exposed to these classics. This app does a nice job in reciting the full versions of these rhymes, not just the first verse. My son really enjoys tapping all over the pages looking for the sounds and music. He also loves the hidden games and sometimes asks me to find them for him as soon as he opens up this application, the index of hidden games makes this easy, a nice touch!

I occasionally have mild problems flipping between pages, either doing so accidentally or not knowing where to tap. Grey triangles are sometimes present in the top corners of the screen to aid in page turning, I wish they were always on the screen to be seen.

By Age Range, By App Feature, Matching, Preschool, Puzzle, Reading, Reviews, Shapes, Stories, Toddlers

“Melvin Says There’s Monsters” is a wonderful story book app! The production value is top notch, with vivid, well-drawn illustrations, effective music and just enough moving animations to add to the story without being distracting. The story has quickly become one of my all-time favorites in any form, application or not.

This story is about a boy named Melvin who convincingly tells stories about monsters to the kids at school, and is told from the point-of-view of one of the other students. The narration and the story are both excellent, reminding me a great deal in both the style and humor of my favorite family movie, Jean Shepherd’s “The Christmas Story.” I also really like that there is a moral to this book about how to treat each other, but it is organic to the story and not at all preachy.

My 2 1/2 year old son enjoys this app, but I think I may enjoy it more than he does. There are many places in this story where I laugh out loud because it is wonderfully written. I really hope the developers come up with more stories; the quality here is as high as it gets.

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

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

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 “Mother Goose” app offers nine well-known and beloved nursery rhymes. Each narrative has interactive animated features allowing the user to participate in the action as the rhyme is being told. Each rhyme is nicely animated and cleverly interpreted, and the interactive features are engaging. The app relies heavily on user participation and you must touch the text and characters to hear the story; in this sense, it’s less like a storybook, and more like an exploratory game or interactive cartoon. If young children wish to hear the melodic, sing-song quality of the classic rhymes, they will likely need the assistance of an older child or adult to touch the text in succession or to read it aloud to them. I hope future updates will include a narration option rather than relying so heavily on the touch screen to tell the tale; something essential is lost when you can’t hear the rhythm of the rhyme.

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

Cucumber Soup is the story of a group of garden insects who try to move a cucumber that has fallen onto an anthill. They learn that in small groups or alone they aren’t able to move the cucumber but by working collectively they accomplish their goal. The insects then rejoice by sharing a feast of cucumber soup. There are three qualities of this storybook app that are especially appealing. First, the story conveys a valuable moral lesson that united together great feats can be realized that couldn’t be accomplished alone. Further, the design promotes counting, word recognition and comprehension by highlighting text and narration simultaneously thereby contributing to both auditory and visual learning. Finally, the app goes beyond storytelling to give a brief description of the ten different insects featured in the garden and provides a recipe for cucumber soup.

Animals, By Age Range, Counting, Preschool, Primary School, Reading, Reviews, Stories, Toddlers

Based on the classic Aesop’s fable, The Boy Who Cried Wolf is the second animated storybook in a series by the Kidztory. It is a classic tale with a moral lesson: be honest – for no one believes a liar – even if he/she is telling the truth. This storybook is from the same maker as Little Red Hen and I LOVE it for all the same reasons… and then some. It has the same brilliant animated features, lovely narration, and the book conveys an honorable lesson. My only complaint is there aren’t more books just like it.

Preschool, Primary School, Reading, Reviews, Stories, Toddlers

Buddy the Bus #2 – A Scary Night is the second storybook app in the Buddy series. In this story, Buddy finds himself taking a shortcut during a rainstorm and gets stranded on a desolate road. In the end, Buddy is rescued by Robert the Mechanic and he learns a few important lessons. I like this story a little better than the first and continue to relish the unique features of this app series which are the clear and vivid illustrations and the ability to read and record your own voice to be played during the narration making it a much more personal story-telling experience. I’m thrilled to see they are making more apps like this.

Preschool, Reading, Reviews, Stories, Toddlers