How’d you like to stick the head of a shrimp onto a rhinoceros? Now you can, with this mix-and-match app from Mexico. By swiping the head, middle and tail, you can combine the creatures until you get what you want. Then, you can color your animal with a set of art tools. Subscribers, please log into our database using your password to read the full review along with our rating.
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.
Designed to expose very young children to Spanish and English, this app lets you build basic Spanish vocabulary as you interact with Lucy (who speaks English) and Carlos (who speaks Spanish). Your goal is to drag and match picture blocks with their spoken English or Spanish counterpart. The starter app is free to download and features Animals. Two additional books, Colors and Numbers, are available as in-app purchases for $1.99 each. Subscribers, please log into our database using your password to read the full review along with our rating.
New from French publisher So Ouat! (now named Chocolapps), a rendition of Adventures of Robin Hood, in the form of a 25 page/screen retelling of the classic story, complete with pop-up animations, on-screen text and audio narration and a full-screen cartoon video of the story. The HD version includes mini-games. Children might find the hooded Robin in a crowd, compete in an archery tournament, and storm Prince John’s castle to rescue Maid Marian. Other features include: ‘touch pronunciation’ (touch a word to hear it spoken); “explain to me” (a word’s definition and its opposite are given, to provide context for unfamiliar words); “show me” (an illustration displays to represent a word); and “Karaoke reading” (designed to help children learn to read the story themselves). 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 letter recognition app is designed to introduce and teach letters in Spanish, based on the Montessori methodology. After each letter is introduced, children can practice writing each letter, one at a time, in upper or lower case by following the prescribed path. If you stay inside the line, you are praised in Spanish. The app is available in Spanish and Catalan. Subscribers, please log into our database using your password to read the full review along with our rating.
This game of concentration features three challenge levels — a 4×2 grid with 4 pairs of picture cards; a 6×4 grid with 12 pairs; and an 8×5 grid with 20 pairs. A correct match displays the name of the animal in one of five user-chosen languages – English, Spanish, French, Russian or Ukrainian – and is also pronounced in that language. 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.
Once upon a time, the three little pigs was only available on paper and ink, and the words could only be read in one language. Not anymore.
Made in France by app developer So Ouat (“so what”) this edition of the Three Little Pigs (there are several in the app store) takes reading scaffolding tools to a new level, by letting you toggle, on the fly, between English, Spanish and French. 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 Nintendo DS edition of Dora’s Big Birthday Adventure has a fun story and theme, but pervasive background music, pushy narration and some poorly designed games that don’t help children understand what to do or what they’ve done wrong. Subscribers, please log into our database using your password to read the full review along with our rating.
Diego comes to the small Nintendo DS screen, in this one player game. As you explore five different animal habitats, each with three levels, you help the animals find their way home. The more you play, the more content you unlock. Games are automatically saved into one of three player profiles. Created for 2K play by Black Lantern Studios. 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 14 page ebook for the iPad or iPhone glosses over the life of Michelle Obama, from birth through the White House. Each page contains a fun fact, consisting of a narrated page with scrolling text. Features include the ability to view the book in three languages (English, Chinese or Spanish), while hearing it in another language. In other words, you can see the printed pages in English, while hearing them in Chinese, or the other way around. Subscribers, please log into our database using your password to read the full review along with our rating.
Featuring Diego, this musical app includes six simple songs like Jingle Bells and Mary Had a Little Lamb, each set in a different environment (e.g., the Savannah or the Arctic). Made for Nickelodeon by Chewy Software LLC. Subscribers, please log into our database using your password to read the full review along with our rating.
This touch screen coloring book looks good at first, but has some primitive features you should know about before spending the $5 for your young Dora fan. Children first choose one of five backgrounds, and can then rotate between three sets of tools: Crayons (seven colors, plus a magic “rainbow” crayon which paints the screen automatically); Stickers (about 60, featuring mostly Dora-themed items); and Backgrounds (representing each season). When each crayon is touched, you hear the word in Spanish. Other features include three levels of zoom, either on the background, or on a specific sticker, which is nice for getting into the crevices. Subscribers, please log into our database using your password to read the full review along with our rating.
This follow-up to the My Baby virtual baby doll games lets you take care of a realistic onscreen baby (yes, you change diapers) from their 1st birthday until they’re 30 months old. You begin by choosing whether you want a boy or a girl and then give your baby a name. Next, you can customize your baby with new items such as outfits, toys, and decorate their room. Made in France by Dancing Dots Studios for Southpeak Interactive. Subscribers, please log into our database using your password to read the full review along with our rating.
The Sums Stacker app lets you move numerals and sets of numerals around with the tip of your finger. There are two modes of play — solve and race — and two difficulty levels. The challenge is bite-sized and addicting: to make a three column stack of quantities that add up to the number shown at the bottom of the screen. Once the stack matches the sum, the screen clears and you get another challenge.The numbers are represented in eight ways that vary in their level of abstraction. More information is at www.mathdoodles.com. Subscribers, please log into our database using your password to read the full review along with our rating.