The Gingerbread Man - Kidztory interactive storybook Review

The Gingerbread Man is yet another great Kidztory interactive storybook by Stepworks, which my son and I love to experience together. As part of their library of classic tales turned into apps, this application brings the wonderful story of the Gingerbread Man to life, this time very literally! Be a part of the Gingerbread Man’s escape from Grandma’s kitchen, and watch as he runs from animals interested in taking a bite out of his sweet, cookie body. Soon, the Gingerbread Man meets a cunning fox who acts friendly and offers to help save the Gingerbread Man, but can he really trust a fox? Like with all Kidztory apps, children have the choice of reading this story by themselves, or have it read to them.

As with every Kidztory, the Gingerbread Man is very interactive, being able to tap every character to make them speak and move, as well as other things that lend themselves well to sounds or illustrations. My play kitchen-obsessed son loves to touch the things around the kitchen such as the baking sheet or the stove, each with great clangy metallic sounds.

I think it is wonderful that you tap to help Grandma decorate the Gingerbread Man until he comes alive and jumps off the baking sheet and runs off the screen! This is tremendously effective in telling this story, and it took both my son and me by surprise the first time this happened. The look on my boy’s face, confused and amazed, was wonderful to see as a parent. Another element that is especially done well here is the look and sounds of the river that the Gingerbread Man needs to cross to avoid being eaten by Grandma and the animals. The shades of blue and white are marbled together, giving the water dimension and beauty, and I really enjoy tapping here to listen to the water run.

The narration for these Kidztory Classics is done by a young girl who always does a really good job at telling these stories. She is especially good here, getting into the wolf’s cunning character, adding suspense to the story as she speaks. My son gets especially quiet when this happens, paying special attention to the story as the narration becomes very effective.

I sincerely hope Kidztory continue to develop more and more of these apps, as my day is made when I hear about a new one.