Johnny Appleseed Review

Johnny Appleseed is a storybook app from the developers at Ruckus Mobile Media. Although these developers are new to creating applications, Ruckus Mobile Media brings with them the books from the famed Rabbit Ears Library, known for incorporating award-winning stories, amazing celebrity narrations, and phenomenal music and art. These apps can be watched like a video or be read like a book, and one can make one's own recording as well, and are universal apps. This specific app, Johnny Appleseed tells the story of this folk hero's life vividly and beautifully, with the narration by Garrison Keillor being perfectly realized, as are all the other elements of this app.

I was so very impressed the first time I opened this app, struck by the water color illustrations and the music which accompanies the story as well as Garrison Keillor’s simply perfect narration. You learn not just about Johnny Appleseed's planting apple trees across America, but about his deep love of animals and nature in general. The story can be beautifully slow and meandering, the prose being lush with description and emotion, really taking its time so one really gets to know Johnny Appleseed in a way I have never before experienced. The tone can be quite melancholy, and there are moments which are sad. Parents may want to keep this in mind if their young children are sensitive, but I think that this is an amazing app for all ages, from kindergarten all the way to adulthood. I don’t think anyone outgrows a good story, and it would be a shame if parents of older children assumed this app was just for kids still reading picture books.

This app looks equally good on my iPhone as it does on an iPad, and I really like how easy it is to read this book out loud with just a sentence or two per page. I do have one request, however, I really wish that if you needed to pause this video or close the book before finishing your place could be saved. The video is roughly 24 minutes long and the book has 73 pages. I was not able to finish either one without being called away. I do wish my place was saved when I left off, especially for the video. Having said this, I am truly grateful to have been introduced to these stories; their quality is as high as it gets for storybook apps.