Part of the Brainy Fables series of storybook apps, Uxmal is an English/Spanish story about a young boy, Uxmal, who is growing up in the Mayan world. The story was written by Franco Soldi, illustrated in blue and white by Pedro Bascon. In the story, a local carnival brought together the county’s strongest men to compete in the famous pyramid challenge, but none of them succeeds in throwing the coconut over the pyramid. But, then a little boy named Uxmal is able to do it, and changes the history of his town. Subscribers, please log into our database using your password to read the full review along with our rating.
Featuring a simple art style and a compelling story about a trouble-making dog, Quem Soltou o Pum? (Who let Fart out?) is proof that you don’t need a lot of bells and whistles to tell a story on the iPad. The story is simple — a much loved dog keeps making a mess, but the dialog (in Portuguese) is full of puns. The creative writing combined with the simple but compelling interactivity earned the title an honorable mention in the 2012 BolognaRagazzi Digital Prize. Too bad it doesn’t cost less (the high price earned it a lower rating on our scale). Teaches: reading, Portugese. Companhia das Letras. www.companhiadasletras.com.br, $8.99. Best for ages 3-up.
Rating: 
or .8%
The first in a series of Disney Classics storybook apps, this is the story of three children (Wendy, John and Michael) who enter Neverland with Peter Pan and Tinker Bell. Children can touch some of the illustrations to hear them labeled. Some of the pages have typical jigsaw puzzles, games of concentration, or coloring pages. Subscribers, please log into our database using your password to read the full review along with our rating.
Perfect Pitch Piano (PPPiano) is designed to teach you to play piano by ear, by playing a copy-cat style game with your iPad. Your screen displays a large, responsive keyboard that is just over an octave in size (17 keys) and sounds exactly like a piano. The app starts easy, playing a one or two note phrase and then waits for you to answer. The lessons get progressively harder; wrong answers give you another chance, depending on the settings. You can adjust the activity so that you can make as many as six mistakes. You can also change the pitch and tempo. Subscribers, please log into our database using your password to read the full review along with our rating.
You might as well admit it; everyone “goes to the bathroom.” We have to brush our teeth, wash our hands and clothes, take baths and clip our nails. This app is designed to bring up these sometimes touchy topics, by way of a rather wild looking child named Pepi. You start by choosing whether Pepi is a boy or a girl, and then are shown four icons (a washing machine, toothbrush, bath and toilet paper). You then help Pepi go through each routine, one step at a time. Subscribers, please log into our database using your password to read the full review along with our rating.
The Numberlys comes from the studio that created The Fantastic Flying Books of Mr. Lawrence Lessmore, directed by William Joyce and Brandon Oldenburg of Moonbot Studios. You start with a story, told by a narrator with a thick sounding accent, who tells the story of a grey society that has no letters or words — only numbers. As you swipe your way through the story, you help a small group of friends convert numerals like “8″ into letters like “B” or “R” by shooting missiles, slicing the letters in half, bouncing on trampolines, spinning turntables, and so on. There’s a routine per letter, giving you plenty of surprises. The art mixes grey industrial art styles from the 1930′s (a Metropolis look), with a totalitarianism, Big Brother theme. Subscribers, please log into our database using your password to read the full review along with our rating, and see why this received our Editor’s Choice Award.
Designed to help children learn and practice the fundamentals of reading both analog (with hands) and digital (with numerals) clocks, this app drills children with five monsters who have eyes that watch your fingers move on the screen. Children can unlock up to 15 photos of the monsters by completing the three levels of difficulty for each character and earning 5 stars. In the easy level, time is kept on the hour and half-past the hour as an introduction to telling the time. In the medium level, time is tested at 5 minute intervals, introducing the concepts of “past”, “to”, “quarter past”, etc. Getting an answer wrong will remove a star you’ve already earned. The hard level will test children across the full range of the clock, but in this round you have to earn 5 stars in a row to please the monsters. If you get a question wrong you have to try again. Subscribers, please log into our database using your password to read the full review along with our rating.
This a memory game designed to provide practice making eye contact, or “eye contact skills.” It is designed for use with children with special needs, specifically those with autism and Asperger’s Syndrome. You are shown a close-up view of a person, and a numeral is shown on their retina for a few seconds. You are then asked to type in the number, making this a memory game. By answering the correct number, you earn money. You can use the money you earn to buy things for your restaurant, creating a fun, accumulative play pattern. Subscribers, please log into our database using your password to read the full review along with our rating.
Learning to write letters and numerals will never be the same after a child tries LetterSchool on an iPad’s slippery screen. Content includes both uppercase and lowercase letters, as well as numbers from 1 to 10. You can toggle between three types of letters/numeral styles — D’Nealian (used in many US schools), HWT (Handwriting Without Tears) and Zaner-Bloser (the “traditional” format). You start with a set of letters (or numerals, if you have it set up in numeral mode). Each letter or numeral comes with three tracing games designed to introduce the name, sound, and the strokes required to learn it. In Tap, children find the “magic dot” at the beginning of the letter, tap it, and watch as the first part of the letter comes to life. (The letters and numbers might be displayed as grass, that you mow as you trace.) You can then tap the next dots shown at the end of each stroke to complete the next line… when finished you earn a star, and unlock the next game. Trace requires children to trace the letter correctly all the way to the end to earn a star and unlock the next challenge, Write. In this activity children must write the letter on their own without a helper line. Subscribers, please log into our database using your password to read the full review along with our rating, and see why this received our Editor’s Choice Award.
This Pixar-themed collection of movement games contains five multi-level games; each game is based on a different set of movie characters. You start by entering a Pixar theme park; to move you pump your arms (as if running). You’ll soon discover different gates for the Incredibles, Ratatouille, Up, Cars 2 and Toy Story 3. Each story contains an obstacle course where you must jump, climb and run your way to the end. A co-op mode lets a second player jump in or out of an activity at any point. Subscribers, please log into our database using your password to read the full review along with our rating, and see why this received our Editor’s Choice Award.
This is a 32 screen rendition of Jack and the Beanstalk that follows the original story line, with audio narration, read-along text, and some interactive features. Created by Ayars Animation. Subscribers, please log into our database using your password to read the full review along with our rating.
Play with a set of beautifully illustrated, zany monsters (on par with Moshi Monsters) in this Italian-language app. The narration is especially colorful, giving you a nice dose of the sound of a romantic language. A monster creation studio makes it possible to construct your own monster. Creations can be shared in an online gallery. Contents include 30 screens about a monster who is trying to be more scary, so he figures out that he can join a circus. Subscribers, please log into our database using your password to read the full review along with our rating.
Gube is a collection of over 500 pre-screened YouTube videos, each with no ads, and tagged by age. There’s no shortage of science, episodes of existing children’s programing like Sesame Street, and silly animals. Note that you’ll need a live Internet connection. The preferences let you filter the videos by age group (infant, toddler, pre-school, and grade school). Subscribers, please log into our database using your password to read the full review along with our rating, and see why this received our Editor’s Choice Award.
This app lets children take control of the “scary” monster and learn how to not be afraid of it. Each page progressively reveals and then removes each piece of the Big Green Monster by cleverly changing the background screen colors. Children can add the Monster’s eyes, hair, ears, and nose, and poke him to see what he does. There are four modes: Read Along with a Friend; Read Along with Ed; Sing Along; and Read Yourself. Subscribers, please log into our database using your password to read the full review along with our rating, and see why this received our Editor’s Choice Award.
This app features hundreds of labeled photos to explore. The objects are sorted according to categories, including, animals, transport (this app was made in Australia, so there are some language differences), bodies, alphabets, numbers, shapes and colors. Each screen (or flashcard) contains one simple interactive feature, such as a sound. Second language packs are sold as in-app sales, for $1.99 each. These can be purchased in the preferences screen and include support for Spanish, French, German, Italian and English. Subscribers, please log into our database using your password to read the full review along with our rating.
The arcade-style games in this app are based on the online game available at ZiggityZoom.com. There are three play mechanics, plus a Monster Creator-where you can customize and name up to five monsters, who stay in storage. You can grab and drag food from a conveyor belt, and drop them on your monster’s mouth to feed it. If you overfeed the monster, it will will explode. Other games include a food fight, and a food catching game. Subscribers, please log into our database using your password to read the full review along with our rating.
This is a collection of matching and hide-and-seek games, based on farm animals. Each screen contains a simple matching activity. For example, a child might be asked to find a sheep (hiding behind a bale of hay) or move a porcupine to collect falling apples that are counted. There are 20 animals, each labeled with both print and verbal cues. Subscribers, please log into our database using your password to read the full review along with our rating.
The traditional print edition of Eric Carle’s classic book, The Very Hungry Caterpillar, is an effective way to let children informally discover quantity, as they help a caterpillar count/eat his way through the pages of the book. This app takes a different approach, using the food items cut from the book illustrations and turning them into a highly directive, self-correcting worksheet that deals specifically with numbers 1 to 10. You start by choosing one of five levels, from easy to more difficult. These range from “please eat the strawberry”,which is limited to touching an object to hear it counted, to a timed race where you must count specific food items from a set to earn points. Subscribers, please log into our database using your password to read the full review along with our rating.
Twenty animated routines engage children in counting, from 1 to 20. The art is by Dutch illustrator Caroline Ellerbeck , who also published two Little Golden Books. Options let you switch between 16 languages (Arabic; Chinese; Dutch; French; German; Greek; Italian; Japanese; Lithuanian; Polish; Portuguese; Slovakian; Spanish; Swedish; Swiss German; and English). There is also a free lite version that lets you count to five. Subscribers, please log into our database using your password to read the full review along with our rating.
This talking picture dictionary contains 1,700 words accompanied by pictures and spoken sentences. Children can swipe through the pictures, just exploring, or they can search by keyword. Subscribers, please log into our database using your password to read the full review along with our rating.
There are quality racing games abound, but not with the comedic antics of Nickelodeon’s Ben 10 gang. The latest PSVita version looks and sounds more real than ever, with 25 tracks and the ability to unlock additional cars. You can play as Ben, or one of the 15 aliens. Content includes 25 grand-prix tracks from five planets. Even if you don’t like the show, you’ll like the game. Teaches: racing, fine motor skills. D3Publisher of America, Inc.. www.d3publisher.us, $40. Best for ages 6-up.
Rating: 
or .9%
This 24 screen app is adapted from a printed book by Rana DiOrio, illustrated by Chris Hill. The app addresses the question, “what does it mean to be global?” and gives you the idea that the world would be a better place, if we all thought globally. Features include on-the-fly toggling between Spanish and English, narrated sentences and limited animation on each screen. Other features include a coloring book, a journal where you can type your own sentences and drag and drop stickers onto a blank page, a set of lesson plans and a quiz. Subscribers, please log into our database using your password to read the full review along with our rating.
This is a simple flash card app based on the Irish illustrator Chris Judge’s picture book, featuring The Lonely Beast. The 26 interactive hand-drawn scenes feature the Beast (a large, dark hairy creature with two eyes), and his friends as they explore each letter of the alphabet. The narration is provided by the author; music is by Simon Judge. Subscribers, please log into our database using your password to read the full review along with our rating, and see why this received our Editor’s Choice Award.
You can bring the world of Neverland to life, in your choice of language, with this rendition of Peter Pan. Pages can be changed by swiping, plus there is an easy-to-access table of contents. Both the on-screen text and audio narration can be toggled and examined, and children can have the story read to them, or read it on their own. Features of the enhanced HD version include: touch pronunciation, explain to me, show me, and Karaoke reading. Two versions of The Adventures of Peter Pan are available: an enhanced HD version for iPad, iPhone, and iPod touch (USD $3.99), and a streamlined, non-interactive version for iPhone and iPod touch ($0.99). Designed by French publisher Chocolapps’ (formerly So Ouat!) this app contains 42 screens/pages of content. Subscribers, please log into our database using your password to read the full review along with our rating, and see why this received our Editor’s Choice Award.
It’s been a busy month in children’s interactive media…
…so let me quickly bring you up to date.
Want to see the best eBook in the world? The three BolognaRagazzi Digital Prize winners were announced this month. But there were many important lessons about children’s media lurking in the 252 entries, described in detail on page 6. You can also watch the winners (YouTube http://youtu.be/QJuqwsX0rWc)
The “new” iPad doesn’t seem all that new according to our test at http://youtu.be/7WNUZepfu3A. It’s slightly heavier, warmer and the cameras are brighter and smarter. The voice input option is handy, letting you talk as well as type. But the apps we tested performed similarly, with the exception of The Numberlys, which loaded a few seconds slower on the older iPad.
A pack of Android tablets is headed your way, with iPad-like multi-touch features and prices as low as $130. See a quick summary at http://nyti.ms/H07tqF; for more detail and the Children’s Tablet Evaluation Instrument, see page 4.
Why does the iPad have so much appeal to a young child? That’s the question that led me to a talk called “Ten Affordances of Multi-Touch” given at the EETC conference in Utah. It is thick with demos. http://youtu.be/-9MIHbImgU8
Donahoo, Donohue & @davidkleeman have been helping us understand the NAEYC technology position statement. From his perch in Australia, Daniel Donahoo notes (http://huff.to/GUPQGz) that NAEYC’s paper means the conversation about children’s tech is changing from one of limits (per the American Academy of Pediatricians) to one of “let’s explore it, and see what it can do,” as long as it “does no harm.” Read the statement at http://bit.ly/AD2Lrl, and tune your browser to YouTube, for Chip Donohue’s EETC talk, at http://youtu.be/yyA8M3xsQFc. Chip makes the words come to life.
I was outgunned as the moderator for “Babies Brains & Video Games,” an interesting and at times contentious panel organized by The New America Foundation’s Lisa Guernsey. It was interesting to see how different news outlets selectively quoted—often inaccurately—parts of the dialog. Fortunately the YouTube truth can shine through, at http://bit.ly/FRPrEn
With all the buzz about deep sea exploration, we decided to hunt for submarine sites and videos, on page 3.
We hope you enjoy this issue.
W. Buckleitner, Editor
In this game, you first choose one of 48 Marvel and Capcom heroes and villains, including 12 new selections. You can fight as Capcom’s Strider for example, or Marvel’s Ghost Rider and Hawkeye. The fighting is leveled and there are eight stages that range in difficulty, giving experienced players something to look forward to. New features include the fan-requested Spectator mode during the online experience. Subscribers, please log into our database using your password to read the full review along with our rating.
Katamari comes to the touch screen for the first time, due to the new capabilities of the PlayStation Vita. The idea is the same — roll a sticky ball around a course, collecting items and growing more powerful, in order to unlock the next levels. You have your choice of using either the Vita touch screen controls or dual analog sticks in conjunction with the rear touch pad to squeeze, stretch and roll your Katamari ball. Subscribers, please log into our database using your password to read the full review along with our rating, and see why this received our Editor’s Choice Award.
Here’s a rare collection of seven short stories written and illustrated by Dr. Seuss in the 1950s for Redbook magazine. It is being released along with the hardcover book from Random House. Stories include The Bippolo Seed (the story of a mischievous, greedy cat who leads an innocent duck astray); The Bear, the Rabbit, and the Zinniga-Zanniga (the story of how a single eyelash saves a rabbit from an insecure bear), Gustav the Goldfish (a boy overfeeds his pet fish, causing it to outgrow its bowl), Tadd and Todd (about twins in search of their individuality), Steak for Supper (a Seussian creature follows a boy home hoping for a steak dinner), The Strange Shirt Spot (a boy can’t seem to get dirt off of his shirt and everything else around him) and The Great Henry McBride (the story of a day-dreaming boy who fantasizes about his career choices). Subscribers, please log into our database using your password to read the full review along with our rating, and see why this received our Editor’s Choice Award.
A cross between a Pokémon game and Animal Crossing (with a bit of “Carnival Games” tossed in), PokéPark 2: Wonders Beyond lets you play as one of four different Pokémon, including Pikachu, Oshawott, Snivy, and Tepig, as you make your way through PokéPark and try to save the missing Pokémon. Once you get to the Park (an exotic theme park) you can try your hand at different game attractions that can be played with up to four players using the Wii Remote. These include a shooting gallery, dancing, and flying through space in a race around the stars. As you explore, you can make friends with other Pokémon by playing games such as Chase or Hide and Seek. Subscribers, please log into our database using your password to read the full review along with our rating, and see why this received our Editor’s Choice Award.
Clunky but capable Sony’s new portable gaming system offers some exciting new ways to play games, and in some cases, learn. But there’s a lot of drawbacks to consider. Some designers, like those at Apple, like to take buttons away. Others, such as the people behind the $250 PlayStation Vita (PSVita) added them on. There are more buttons — 19 total, not counting two multi-touch surfaces and the accelerometers. By comparison, the 3DS has 16, the iPad has 5. As a result, the PSVita can be a frustrating experience for children, and sometimes for adults. Subscribers, please log into our database using your password to read the full review along with our rating.
Here’s another solid Duck Duck Moose app. The idea is to present younger children with a narrated question, such as “who is upside down?” They then try to find the correct answer, from eight possible choices. There’s a nice variety of questions and the names of different animals are used (e.g., alligator, cat, chicken, cow, dog, elephant, giraffe, hippo, lion, monkey, mouse, panda, penguin, pig, seal, skunk, walrus, and zebra, as well as an imaginary “squirgle”). Children are also introduced to emotions such as smiling, surprised, crying, angry, and sad; actions such winking, waving, yawning, eating, wagging his tail, and sleeping; positions of backwards and upside down; activities of listening or having a party; sounds such as meow and woof; and attire including wearing a hat, sunglasses, or bowtie. As children play, they can listen to jazz versions of nursery tales. Subscribers, please log into our database using your password to read the full review along with our rating.
This is the second in the The Cat in the Hat’s Learning Library series. Cat in the Hat is the host (and the narrator) who takes us on a fictional expedition to find dinosaur fossils. This includes a trip to the modern day Super Dino Museum, where animated dinosaur visuals are hidden on each page. Each page has developmentally appropriate content for both younger children as well as capable readers, making this a good all-purpose app. For example, hidden information cards from Thing One and Thing Two provide more facts such as “Ankylosaurus: This 30-foot-long dinosaur had an armor-covered body and a club tail it could swing from side to side. A well-placed blow with its tail could break the leg of a T-Rex!” Subscribers, please log into our database using your password to read the full review along with our rating, and see why this received our Editor’s Choice Award.
Motion Math Hungry Fish lets children practice skills like “instant addition” in an undersea setting. We reviewed the free portion of the app — the first of six levels. The center of the show is a fish who eats number bubbles (e.g., addends). You help, by dragging the correct bubbles to the fish as quickly as possible. This might involve combining bubbles such as 3 and 4, to make 7. The better you do, the harder the problems and the more points you earn. These points turn into magic pearls that can be used to customize your fish, with different colors or fins (a nice touch). There are six sets of problems, but only the first can be played with the free version; the other five are available as in-app sales. Subscribers, please log into our database using your password to read the full review along with our rating.
Designed specifically around the unique attributes of the Sony Vita handheld game system, Little Deviants is a collection of thirty games that provide a good test of your problem solving abilities and reaction time. In Hole Roll Control, you touch the back of the Vita (the back side has a sensitive, capacitive screen, like the iPad) to see the “bump” of your finger on a floating landscape. By moving the bump around, you push one of the deviants (they roll) toward a hole. Other games include House of Whacks, Depth Charge, and Botz Blast — the latter an augmented reality game that uses the outside-facing camera to let you target bad guys who are floating around the room. Subscribers, please log into our database using your password to read the full review along with our rating.
Based on themes in the last three Harry Potter books and the final four films, this single game, for nearly every platform, takes you through Harry Potter’s adventures in such places as Privet Drive in Little Whinging to Diagon Alley, Hogsmeade and Hogwarts, as well as new locations like Grimmauld Place. As you explore and collect LEGO parts, you prepare for the ultimate battle against Lord Voldemort. The game builds upon the gameplay, lessons and potion-making skills learned in LEGO Harry Potter: Years 1-4 to equip you with the tools necessary to challenge new and old enemies (including He Who Must Not Be Named). Subscribers, please log into our database using your password to read the full review along with our rating, and see why this received our Editor’s Choice Award.
With a look and feel that is nearly identical to the Kinect edition of the game, Kinectimals for iPad lets you pet, bathe and teach your large baby cats. The more you play, the more parts of the island of Lemuria that you unlock. There are five total, each with different challenges. For example, you can flick a ball to see how many times your cub can catch it, or swipe up to make your cub jump, in time to a jump rope. You can also transfer your pet to the Kinect, by holding your iPad in range of the Kinect camera. Once it recognizes your cubs pattern, your cub “jumps” into the Kinect game. Subscribers, please log into our database using your password to read the full review along with our rating, and see why this received our Editor’s Choice Award.
The iPad edition of the famous Disney theme-park ride lets you touch-and-explore 16 watercolor scenes depicting various parts of a happy, exotic world where everyone seems busy and happy. Each scene contains related hot spots that help the story along. In a refreshing touch, the ever familiar “read to me” and “let me explore” navigation options have sidestepped. Instead, each page advances slowly, automatically, or it can be hurried along either with a bookmark — in case you want to jump directly to a page — or with a swipe, that puts the whole production in the context of a balloon ride. The last page includes the famous song, follow the bouncing ball style, and you can tap on the screen to control the fireworks. One word of caution — make sure you download a current version and use a recent version of the iOS operating system. According to the iTunes reviews, this app can crash. It is also a large download — at 133 MB. Subscribers, please log into our database using your password to read the full review along with our rating, and see why this received our Editor’s Choice Award.
This is a portable version of EA’s FIFA Soccer. At points in the game, you can use both the front and back multi-touch screens to navigate. Content includes 30 licensed leagues and 500 licensed clubs in 11 v 11 matches in authentic stadiums from around the world. Online features are available which we were not able to test. Subscribers, please log into our database using your password to read the full review along with our rating.
Now you can think of your iPad or iPhone as a drawing/flannel board and story telling machine. The drawing is paired with a narration feature that makes it easy to do a “color commentary” on the picture you just made. The end result is a powerful language experience. After you finish your picture, you tap a microphone, and are told to “record your voice — 3-2-1-Go!” As a recording light flashes, you can describe your work. Note that this is a very different process than apps like Doodlecast, where you redraw your picture and talk in real time. With this app, an innovative highlighter is layered over your drawing, letting you highlight features as you talk. Once you have a picture and a highlighted soundtrack, your work is saved automatically in your photo library, making it possible to share by email. This works backwards as well… you can import images and sketch or talk over them, with a glow in the dark marker, if you like. Subscribers, please log into our database using your password to read the full review along with our rating, and see why this received our Editor’s Choice Award.
This language experience/creativity app puts a children’s book author (Mo Willems) inside his own app. It also invites you (or a child) to serve as the co-author/ co- illustrator. The result is a Mad-Libs style experience where you can draw elements of the story, and insert your own favorite favorite parts in the narrative. There are two primary modes from the main menu: Create Your Own Story (choose parts of the story and at times record your own voice) and Draw the Pigeon (a free-drawing experience, where Mo Willems gives you art lessons). Features include the ability to see the narration (like captions), and the ability to record your own voice, to hear it woven into the story. Subscribers, please log into our database using your password to read the full review along with our rating, and see why this received our Editor’s Choice Award.