Princess Fairy Tale Maker - by Duck Duck Moose Review

Posted by Amy Solomon on July 6th, 2012
+ Universal App - Designed for iPhone and iPad

Princess Fairy Tale Maker - by Duck Duck Moose is a universal creative and fun application that will be enjoyed both by children who are fascinated by princesses and consists of two main sections, including a fairytale maker and coloring book pages.

Make a Fairy Tale offers these players the chance to tell simple stories using a selected background of their choice - an abundant section of 32 scenes to choose from - as well as a blank page. A chance to use a personal photo as a backdrop is also a possibility.

I admire the selection of backgrounds used that will lend themselves nicely to work with most of the classic princess stories that I can think of, including both regal as well as more rustic conditions. Interior castle and exterior scenes are included, as are oceanic, snow, swamp and pirate motifs, plus other choices - each fun and colorful, often with a simple moving element such as clouds or birds floating by which adds to the visual interest. It is good to know that the same high quality of music that Duck Duck Moose is known for is also included within.

Users are able to add a seemingly endless selection of sticker choices to their scenes that will suit the needs of any princess storyline one can think of, including not just maidens in fancy dress, but pixie-inspired creatures as well as a ballerina choice, astronaut, Native American, pirate and Asian princess wearing a kimono.

Players will find an abundance of animal characters to support their stories as well, such as a frog, winged unicorns, dragon, snake or lovely elephant as well as any and all other effects they could want or need in terms of decorating their scenes from floral decorations to fashion details, food choices, text bubbles, letters and numbers. The choices are impressive, and my list could go on. It is also nice to see different races and ethnicities included among these princesses.

This app also includes the ability to size these elements with ease, creating a nice chance to scale back a princess to create a size appropriate for Thumbelina or Tinker Bell as well as a giant character if one so chooses, but would also like to be able to rotate these selections as well in order to help pour tea from a kettle, for example.

Recording a scene is intuitive enough, and it is nice that one can interact with the characters or other objects, dragging them around the page as these movements are recorded along with any included voiceovers. Do tap the characters to make their lips move, and it is also nice that a slight drag in a right or left direction will turn the characters in that direction, allowing them to look at each other or in other chosen directions with ease.

This section has so very much to offer, as one can also draw on the screen as well with brush points, emulating both the fine point of a pencil as well as the softer, larger point of a crayon. I would have enjoyed being able to add more elements to the scene during the recording instead of being limited to the details already added to the page at the start of the recording.

A coloring book is also included with the same vast selection of decorative choices. I must admit that I am not always hugely fond of coloring books as they can have limited options, yet this coloring book is also quite sizable with 32 pages of choices as well as a wondrous number of colors, patterns and textures that one can choose to fill the shapes which make up these pages - paint-bucket style - my personal favorite way of working with coloring books. This includes some unique choices like an interesting rainbow color option with stripes instead of a solid color, a secret shade that changes with each use, twinkly patterns which subtly flicker or flash or other brightly colored patterns, oftentimes reminiscent to me of Mrs. Grossman’s rainbows or heart choices from the 1980’s, which make me smile.

It would be nice, however, to have more of a say in the breaks found in these images, as I would like to be able to color in specific bricks around windows with different colors as well as different sections of a princess dress, that are not always possible.

It is especially nice that a section exists of both saved fairytale scenes and coloring pages that players can go back to and edit, also saving selected pieces to their device's camera roll.

Princess Fairy Tale Maker - by Duck Duck Moose will surely be a hit with creative children drawn to princesses. I believe older children and their parents will enjoy all that this app has to offer as well.

iPhone Screenshots

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Princess Fairy Tale Maker screenshot 1 Princess Fairy Tale Maker screenshot 2 Princess Fairy Tale Maker screenshot 3 Princess Fairy Tale Maker screenshot 4 Princess Fairy Tale Maker screenshot 5

iPad Screenshots

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Princess Fairy Tale Maker screenshot 6 Princess Fairy Tale Maker screenshot 7 Princess Fairy Tale Maker screenshot 8 Princess Fairy Tale Maker screenshot 9 Princess Fairy Tale Maker screenshot 10
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