It is always exciting to me when a classic Dr. Seuss story has been developed into a universal storybook application by Oceanhouse Media as they do a consistently good job at these adaptations which include sound effects, narration and the zooming and panning of the original illustrations to draw the reader’s eye as well as to sometimes create a sense of movement or action.

Do tap the object and characters within these stories as well, as doing so will label these items with a text as well as narration – great for word association, as is the highlighted text when listening to the included narration.

Marvin K. Mooney Will You Please Go Now! is another such title, based on the 1972 book of the same name, especially exciting to my husband as this was a favorite book as a child, about Seussian character, Marvin K Mooney, who is asked in every way conceivable to “Please Go” by an unseen narrator.

Although a few Seuss-styled words are included, this story in general is a nice choice for young children to read to themselves, written as part of the Bright and Early Books for Beginning Beginners series for young readers, as many of these same words are repeated for great effect as well as for aiding emerging readers.

As is the case for all Dr. Seuss stories, the pictures are grandly stylized and contain a terrific use of bright bold colors. I enjoy the included sound effects throughout this book as well, adding to the richness of this story now that it has been developed for iPad and iPhone.

It is also interesting to me the choice of using “Hail to the Chief” in the background of this app, an obviously political song, as this story has often been said to be about the desire to get Richard Nixon out of office, even with a 1974 reprint changing the name from Marvin K. Mooney Will You Please Go Now! to Richard M. Nixon – a detail that adults may pick up on but which will be over the heads of children.

The one note I do have on this adaptation is that the woman’s narration used here can come across as a little shrill which in many ways may fit this story, but I think children as well as adults would have an easier time listening to this tale if the narration, possibly if the narrator chose to go deeper to show exacerbation instead of what can come across as almost whiney to get the point across.

Having said this, I still recommend Marvin K. Mooney Will You Please Go Now! as a classic story loved by many. Adults always have a choice of reading this book out loud to their children if they choose, complete with the sound effects and background music which can also be turned off if one chooses.

I do look forward to more of these wonderfully whimsical tales brought to iPad and iPhone, but I do hope that easier-to-listen-to narration can be incorporated into other Dr Seuss stories.

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

Juicy Math is a simple yet colorful math app that will help children practice addition and subtractions.

This app is very intuitive with a crisp and clean style, as children add or subtract fruits seen on tiles. To answer, select the colorful tile found right with the corresponding answer one is looking for.

I enjoy the wood grain seen throughout the backgrounds of these tiles and the screen in general, adding a sophisticated look to this low-tech app. Although not as unique a math app as others out there, there is something to be said for having children work with straightforward math problems that they will encounter in school.

What I appreciate most within this app is the ability to tap the fruits one is counting, highlighting them as well as adding satisfying “click” sounds and mild movement as the number of fruits get tallied to the total number now seen in the tile as well.

It is also great that while subtracting, after the tapping of the second section of fruit one is subtracting becomes highlighted and tallied, the fruits from the first tile become de-highlighted with the number of fruits one is subtracting, creating a very effective visual for children to understand this early math concept.

I would also love to see an option during addition to have the tallies continue from one tile to the next in order to help children not only come up with the two numbers one is adding, but the totals of each of these questions as well, for children who are very new at counting to clearly explain how addition works.

Having said this, Juicy Math is a nice choice to aid children in visualizing addition and subtraction. I can see this app be useful at home, school, and in a home schooling setting.

For those interested, the related app, Juicy Math Multiplication and Division, is also available.

By Age Range, By App Feature, Counting, Math, Preschool, Primary School, Reviews

Magic Belles: Magic Music is a charming universal app for babies and toddler. This brightly colored app has a lovely fairy theme, consisting of seven mini-games designed to immerse children into the world of music with simple touches or drags of a finger.

From a menu page, children will easily select a fairy to play with, exploring each of seven activities such as a connect-the-dots section, the ability to grow flowers or adding color to mushrooms with paint from a rainbow.

Nicely stylized, this app is cute with pink and purple as well as other bright colors without overwhelming adults with frills – restraint I appreciate. I also enjoy the fact that these mini-games are spelled out with the tap of a question mark in the corner of each activity or as a whole linked from the main menu.

The look of this app and the very nice musical chimes used throughout which are very relaxing, making this peaceful app a wonderful choice before bed or anytime children would benefit from a relaxing application. Although this app is musical in its nature, it is also rather quiet and because of this, will not bother others even if this app can be overheard in public.

Children will also enjoy the other interactive details to be found within, as exposing them to music in a way adults will enjoy sharing with them.

I have enjoyed Magic Belles and recommend it to families with young children, as adults may enjoy this app as they may notice a subtle sophistication seen in some of these mini-games as one can select or de-select hearts to be heard, as well as organize musical picnic foods on a blanket to be played in the order of being laid out, much like a few of the music apps that I enjoy as an adult.

Art, By Age Range, By App Feature, Creativity, Just For Fun, Music, Primary School, Reviews, Sounds, Toddlers

Animal SnAPP: Farm is a series of six delightful tales about animals on a farm, also including a wonderful way of story selection, as children complete a slider puzzle of each animal they would like to choose.

Starring animals such as a lamb, goat, pig or dog, these stories are as bright and colorful as can be. Each of these stories are charming to read and often including the foibles of children seen within these anthropomorphic animals such as a sheep missing his mom after getting lost, a cow in need of sleep, or a moody pig, making these tales relatable to children and their parents can relate to.

As with other apps by Nosy Crow, children have a choice to Read and Play which allows children to read along with highlighted, charming narration by children and allowing them to tap animals in this book to hear them talk additional lines of text as long as they wish.

Read by Myself allows children to thoughtfully choose the length of time that text on the page will be available before moving on, adapting the flow to text to be read by children on their own, set to their own reading abilities.

Although I often find stories written in rhyme forced and awkward to read, I do not find this to be the case with the tales from Animal SnAPP: Farm, well-written by first-time storybook writer Axel Scheffer, celebrated illustrator for children’s books such as The Gruffalo.

The girl or boy who narrates these stories does a very good job as well, with inflections nicely helping these tales along – always important, especially within a rhyming story.

The only note I do have is that I would love to see a choice to add the highlighting on the background animals who have something to say with a tap, helping young children fully explore this app.

Although I appreciate the need to double tap the page turning arrows, reducing the accidental page turning, I would also love to see a highlight of sorts letting children know when all the action of these stories has played out, and it is safe to turn the page.

These are minor notes in a universal application that will be enjoyed by a wide range of children as well as their adults, but I would love to see users of devices before IPhone 4 and iPad 2 have a chance to enjoy this application.

Before knowing this limitation, I did try to install Animal SnAPP: Farm on my iPad 1 as this is the iPad we feel comfortable leaving alone with out 4.5 year old son. Unable to install this app, it was stated that Animal SnAPP: Farm only worked on devices with a forward-facing camera, yet I have not been able to find any extras that include the camera technology.

I do hope an update could include older models of iPhone and iPad apps, as from what I can tell, what this app has to offer would translate well onto other devices as well.

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

Dinosaur Train Mesozoic Math Adventures is a fun new math app for iPad that will teach math concepts in a way that children will find engaging.

My son really enjoys dinosaurs in general as well as being a fan of the Dinosaur Train, a PBS kids show that this app is based on, as well as math in general from a young age. Because of this, my boy was very excited to hear of this new math app and has been enjoying this app a great deal recently.

Dinosaur Train Mesozoic Math Adventures consists of four main areas.

Through the Window is a very nice counting game, allowing children to count the various objects one sees from different dinosaur periods, such as rocks, trees or bodies of water.

I enjoy the perspective of looking out of the train window at different dinosaur time periods after going through a time tunnel, as they are conversationally asked to pick out different numbers of seen items by dinosaurs Buddy and Tina, ultimately including two items to count per game in the hardest of three levels of difficulty.

Don’s Collection is an area consisting of Don the Dino showing off his various collections, grouped together by type and shown lined up in columns. Listen to Don’s questions about each of these collections as he may ask which column is greater or less than.

This section contains three levels, and I like how the levels vary from easy to medium to hard. In the simplest area, two columns are compared, and the questions can be answered without counting because it is easy to see that one section has many more or less than another, allowing children to follow along with these concepts even if they are new to addition.

In the moderately difficult section, three columns are in use, and the amounts found on each column become closer in number, making counting a necessity and include three columns to focus on.

Later, the number of columns increases to four, and the math becomes more advanced and includes simple ratios such as which column contains half of one or twice of another.

Another area of this app is Life Cycles, asking children to sequence different images that express different points in the life cycles of various dinosaur-related creatures.

I really enjoy this section as children are exposed to the word “hypotheses” as well as rewarded with a short animated sequence which gives more information about these animals, with excellent narration also offering fun facts that vary in detail from the easy to difficult sections.

The sophistication in terms of the sequencing also increases nicely, from three simple pictures often including an egg, small and large animals to organize to animals with more of a metamorphosis, and later adding an unrelated image to sort out as well.

Life Cycles is my favorite section of this app as I enjoy the animation and narration given that explain a great deal about the growth cycles of animals that are both enjoyable as well as educational.

A sticker section, Build a Scene, is also included which allows children to decorate scenes from the Triassic, Jurassic and Cretaceous time periods. Although some stickers are included outright, children will gain new stickers from completing the other sections of this app.

Nice narration is also included within this sticker section which briefly describes these different time periods, but I feel that this element could have gone further with the conversational dinosaur information offered as I think this is a great way to engage children, further building on their vocabulary and listening comprehension.

Children are also able to save their landscapes to their iPad as well as continue working on their backgrounds later.

Parents and teachers will appreciate the section of this app explaining each section, game play and take-away points in a very straight-forward fashion that I greatly appreciate.

Dinosaur Train Mesozoic Math Adventure is a nice early math application for young children which focuses not on math concepts but on their ability to listen to directions as well.

This app will be a hit with children already fond of Dinosaur Train but will be of interest to other children not already familiar with them, as these dinosaurs who guide children through these exercises are inviting and colorful which is also seen throughout this app. I would love to see more narration included about these grand creatures as well as the time periods in which they lived.

Animals, Art, By Age Range, By App Feature, Just For Fun, Math, Preschool, Puzzle, Reviews, Science

Toca Tailor is the new, highly anticipated universal app that allows children to create their own clothing from a plethora of options.

Toca Boca is well known for what they call “digital toys,” wonderfully themed apps that children can play with in the same fashion as their other classic toys.

Toca Tailor reminds me of my old toy “Fashion Plates” where one could select from a series of plastic head, top and bottom plates, be it skirt or pants choices to create different fashions as one would make a relief, rubbing a crayon on paper placed over these plates with their raised designs. I have very fond memories of this toy, yet I was well aware even as a child that the different outfits one could make were not unlimited.

Toca Boca creates a similar experience with many more options available. Here players can choose from four characters: a boy and girl, as well as a fancy cat and interesting koala-styled animal.

After making a selection, one will be taken into the tailoring storefront where one can hear subtle ambient noises such as the doorbell ringing as the user arrives, the faint sound of sewing machines, as well as a view of the tools one may need to tailor clothing. In the background are colorful threads or piles of folded materials – all wonderful immersive details Toca Boca is known for.

I enjoy how many styles of clothing can be scrolled through, tapping the top or bottom half of their models as well as the lengthening or shortening of the sleeves, pants legs, skirt or dress length.

When players have found a look they would like to work with, they can enter the sewing area where these outfits have been deconstructed into sleeves, chest of the shirt, sweater or other top piece one is making, as well as the dress, skirt, or pants bottom – each piece seen laid out as a pattern on a cutting board.

A nice selection of colored bolts of fabric is included, as well as patterns, many of them bright and colorful, with forest, floral dots, cloud, quilt or animal print choices which I would like to wear in real life, or dress my child in.

To select, simply drag over the area one would like to add with the fabric choice, noting that an endless number of materials can be added into a single garment. It is worth noting, however, that I have had a hard time adding fabric to just the bottom of my pattern – an issue I hope can be smoothed out.

Players can also rotate their fabric to any angles, such as allowing horizontal stripes to become vertical or diagonal as well as zooming in and out to make the stripes wider or thinner as they see fit.

Fun embellishments are also included – each which can be re-sized and re-used indefinitely, such as buttons, pockets and zippers as well as a few fun inclusions such as an ink splatter, Toca Boca mouth icon, or decorative Mexican skull.

These fabrics and notions alone would entertain children and their adults for many hours, but there are a few added functions that bring this app to another level, as users have access to the photos saved on their device as well as the ability to take photos if their devices allow.

Players can then create fabric choices made from photos, capturing the color and texture of the image or object being photographed and turning these snapshots into materials for a great effect.

As of now, the last image taken for fabric is saved to be used later, but I wish a gallery of made fabric choices could be saved to work with later, as well as a “look book” of previous fashions made saved to the app itself, not just the camera roll.

Do also note that once a character is fully dressed and ready to accessorize, the garment styles can be walked through again with taps to the top and bottom of the outfit as well as the changing of lengths of sleeves, cuffs or shirt, dress or skirt.

Surprises may also be found as the lowering of a hem may reveal a color of pattern detail not previously seen in the smaller outfit, adding to the exploration that goes on as one tailors the outfits.

An eclectic selection of accessories is also available from hats, glasses, jewelry and scarves and hair bows or shoe choices that children will have fun fully dressing their models from head to toe – even if their client does not fully approve, as these characters are expert in expressing themselves using grunts or giggles to show displeasure or excitement in the outfits designed for them in ways very neutral in terms of language.

Every new release of a Toca Boca app is a festive occasion in our house, and Toca Tailor is no different. My son loves to create outfits for these characters, never once complaining that designing clothing is too “girly,” a concern that at almost five, he is now quick to voice.

Instead he works happily at this app, a solo project he has decided as he oftentimes becomes so caught up in his creativity that sharing can be hard – a compliment to Toca Boca, to be sure.

By far, my boy’s favorite activity is to take photos of fabrics or other objects we have in the house to use as materials – something I first demonstrated as I took a photo of the fleece camouflage pants he was wearing as well as the distinct logo from his camp-issued tee that he has been wearing since the summer.

With these swatches made, I was able to dress a character just like him, taking both photos of the character to remember the outfit as well as to be able to take photos of my boy and this creature lying next to each other, a nice touch, especially as one is able to re-size the character to get the scale correct in comparison to the context of the photograph.

I have heard no complaints in terms of limitations from my son, but I would love to see a scissors option to customize the top and bottom styles offered, allowing one to make cut-outs, remove collars, open the neckline to a sweetheart or v-neck or even to create fringe.

It would also be nice to have stencils available to either spray paint designs onto clothing as well as to be used to cut shapes out of fabric to be added as personalized patches.

I would also like to see the fabric used being an unlimited size, because when I shrink my fabric down to make the pattern very small, the piece itself is much smaller and does not fully cover my garment, leaving me with the time-consuming challenge of matching patterns to make seamless textile.

Sheer fabric would also be an interesting inclusion, and it would also be nice to resize the hats and other accessories as well as to have complete control of their placement, as a flowered headband cannot be used as a lei, and a hair bow cannot be worn at the neck – tough parameters for such an open-ended game.

Belts would also be a great addition, as they are needed to make some of the tunics and dresses that I have designed feel finished.

I would love to have a chance to pinch and zoom not only the lengths of the areas like the sleeves or legs of pants but also the basic waist-lines or general silhouettes as well.

Lastly, it would be terrific to turn the model 360 degrees to have a chance to style the back of the clothing as well with more pockets or added embellishments.

Having made these notes, even if no changes are ever made to Toca Tailor, this app will be able to keep children of all ages totally engaged for unlimited hours.

Parents of children, especially girls, who are into fashion should take special note of this app as adults will be quite pleased that Toca Tailor will focus their children’s attention on being creative and not on a cat walk or anything else that could be concerning or remotely sexual in nature as seen in many other fashion-focused toys in today’s market.

As the name may suggest, Toca Tailor is specifically about clothing design – not about makeup or hair color choices that may take this app into a direction that parents may not want to venture into from a fashion perspective, yet giving children a taste of the focus and creativity needed to be a designer as well as keeping this app gender-nuetral.

For these reasons and more I find it very easy to recommend Toca Tailor. Many fans will be happy to see Toca Boca return to their truly open-ended digital toys, arguably what they do best. I can’t wait to see what new digital toys they come up with next.

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

Ice Is Nice!: All About the North and South Poles is a very enjoyable as well as educational app adapting the book of the same name, part of The Cat in the Hat’s Learning Library.

As the name may suggest, Ice Is Nice does indeed give a lot of great information about the earth’s North and South Poles, as well as animals found in these areas that children and their adults will enjoy a great deal.

As with the other titles from this series, go on an adventure with The Cat in the Hat, Dick and Sally as well as Thing One and Thing Two, who are all here to learn such topics as the harsh temperatures found at the Poles or why there are six months of darkness or perpetual sun.

I also really have enjoyed the information about the animals found in this book, such as how certain creatures are camouflaged with white to blend into the snow, and then become darker to hide in nature when the snow melts and flora blooms as well as great details on different types of penguins.

The author took a little bit of poetic license in the interest of Seussian rhymes, explaining how polar bear hide is made of hollow hairs, while the definition of hide is the skin under the fur. Yet this information, while a bit askew, does a nice job of showing how these animals stay warm in treacherously cold temperatures in spite of the slight misuse of the word “hide” – not a huge flaw in this science app.

Fans of Dr. Seuss books will appreciate how the original illustrations are always included within these applications using pan and zoom technology to draw the reader’s eye. I also enjoy how the books from The Cat in the Hat’s Learning Library often contain mild moving elements as well as items one can move around the page for a nice effect.

Simple animated moments are also included within Ice is Nice, thoughtfully explaining the earth’s orbit around the sun, demonstrating this in a way that will become quite clear to children, possibly more so than just seeing this demonstration in a single drawing.

Also included are a few words found in bold text that after being tapped, a dictionary entry is both seen as well as heard to further explain these complex words – a really nice touch and a way of including the glossary of words sometimes found at the end of these children’s books.

Although one has the choice to read this book to oneself, it has been my great pleasure to listen to the wonderfully conversational narration by John Bell, a narrator who really understands what he is reading, with a pitch perfect cadence, making this accessible and easy to understand. I hope to continue to hear more of his stellar work in the future.

As always with Oceanhouse Media apps, Auto play is available, allowing young readers to simply enjoy these storybooks without having to turn the pages – always a nice touch.

Ice Is Nice!: All About the North and South Poles is a great book choice for children as well as adults who may have been confused about whether it is warm at the South Pole as opposed to the North Pole, or the Arctic Ocean with Antarctica, wonderfully explained in this fun and cute science book for children of all ages.

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

The Grumble Noise is a charming interactive storybook app for iPad about the vivid fantasies of a young boy as he hears grumbling noises coming from the room that he shares with his brother.

There is a lot to enjoy about this app, as the illustrations used are very nicely done, with a few bright colors that really pop on the darkened backdrop of these boys’ bedroom at night.

I especially enjoy the monsters this younger brother creates to put a face to the creepy noises he is hearing such as a fire breathing lion or two headed dinosaur, reminiscent to me of creatures found in Greek mythology, yet always successfully walking the fine line of what will bring excitement to this app without any issues of over stimulation or scary elements to this story itself.

I also admire the basic storytelling with a beginning, middle, and ending, as telling a simple story can be difficult. The ending, demystifying some of the concerning ambient sounds one may hear is also a cute and fun ending children will appreciate.

The narration is also quite good here as are the included sound effects. Readers are also given the option of reading this book themselves.

Interactions are included on every page which add a nice level of richness to this story. Only a few main hotspots are added per page, making these elements quite effective as well as never distracting or unnecessary.

Best of all, this app is free, yet worth a whole lot more. Not only does it showcase the talents of developer Erik X. Raj, but consider it a gift from this developer who was himself afraid of the dark as a child, making this a very easy application to recommend to all families with young children.

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

Abby Monkey: Animated Puzzle for Toddlers and Preschool Explorers is a lovely intuitive puzzle app for babies, toddlers and those in early preschool to practice working on simple and cute, chunky-styled puzzles.

Eight themes are included, such as farm and zoo animals, an ice cream motif, xylophone as well as many flowers and vehicles.

Each section consists of a series of empty puzzle areas that need to be filled in with correlated chunky puzzle pieces that children need to drag and drop into place. Babies will be helped complete these puzzles with a sense of “grab” that draws these pieces to their correct holes if needed while offering just enough help.

A few areas are unique to this puzzle app such as the ability to create multilayered ice cream pops, asking children to color-match these elements along with the puzzle piece shapes.

Flowers are also included that one grows as the flower elements such as pots are placed into their rightful places, watching as these pretty plants sprout after being watered, adding some nice sequencing elements as well.

Each of these puzzles includes simple yet sweet animations as a reward for the correct drag and drop that will engage the youngest app users.

Abby Monkey: Animated Puzzle for Toddlers and Preschool Explorers is a charming first puzzle app for children, but there are some issues with the sound that could use some smoothing out.

I do really enjoy the serene happy baby sounds that will really get the attention of other very young people, but there are issues with some of the vehicle sounds such as sirens not turning off after one backtracks out of the noisy animated page found after the puzzle has been completed. These sounds continue to become layered and quite loud even when back to the main menu – a glitch I hope can be worked out soon.

Having said this, Abby Monkey: Animated Puzzle for Toddlers and Preschool Explorers would make a delightful first application for babies and toddlers.

Although I do not think this app may be a perfect match for an older or more experienced puzzle user, my seasoned app tester, namely my four and a half year old son, was drawn to this app’s bright colors, pleasant music, cute baby sounds and fun animated moments – high praise to be sure.

By Age Range, By App Feature, Just For Fun, Preschool, Puzzle, Reviews, Sounds, Toddlers