Tag: Family »

I'm going to come right out and say this. I love Sandra Boynton. To me, she is the most prolific children's story writers to come out in this generation, specifically for younger children. I put her alongside Dr. Seuss and Robert Munsch, and that's high praise.

"Moo, Baa, La, La, La" is produced by Loud Crow, the makers of the PopOut! book series (Peter Rabbit, Night Before Christmas, etc). Their books have been showcased by Apple for a reason, they are top notch in quality and production values. Designed to simulate a real "pop-up" type book, they include characters that spring when you touch them, tabs that move various parts of the book, and windows, doors and such that open and close. It really does give the books a tactile feel, and I honestly believe these books have more interactive elements than most on the app store.

It's clear that "Moo, Baa" is a silly book. It starts out normal, with a cow saying "Moo", a sheep saying "Baa", but the next page you lift up a curtain and it's 3 singing pigs saying "La, La, La!".

Like with most books in the app store, you can choose to read it yourself or have "The Big Guy Read it" for you. This book has an especially special narrator, Sandra Boynton's son, Keith (trivia fact, Sandra's middle name is Keith).

Inside, interaction ranges from touching Rinos to hear them Snort and Snuff, pulling back dogs like a slingshot to send them running at 2 cats saying "Meow". As the dogs leap after them, they leave their collars behind to hang in mid-air, a very cute touch.

Like most "board books", it's short, coming it at about 12 pages, but it's no slouch. Each page offers so much to the touch, almost everything you see does something, even if it's as little as a sound. My daughters spent probably twice as long enjoying the pages, the interaction, the art and the humorous sounds as they did of just the story. Hearing them laugh while touching each of the singing pigs at the start never gets old.

Now, the story itself is probably targeted to younger children around the age of 1 - 4, because of its simple language. The sentences are simple and they mostly consist of animal sounds except for the last of the book. It's a magical ending and one that will yield different results for everyone who reads it.

I would like to make it clear that even though the book is designed for younger children, you don't have to be young to enjoy it. My daughters are 6 and it is still one of their favorites. Because they're now fairly advanced readers, they're able to read the entire story easily and without having to struggle. In the path to learn how to read, I find this is far more important than pushing kids to read longer words before they're ready. I figure they'll probably be done with the book in a year, but between the physical book and this, I've gotten an easy 5 years out of it, not a lot of books that have that kind of staying power.

So, is "Moo, Baa, La, La, La" worth your $3? Yes, yes and yes. It's a simple story that's an amazing read for children, especially ones who are very young. It scales to older children who are learning how to read, and allows for easy comprehension. The app design is great, and the interaction is one of the best on the app store. You owe it to yourself, and your kids, to check it out.

"The Going to Bed Book" is one of two Sandra Boynton books available on the app store (the other is "Moo, Baa, La, La, La") and like "Moo, Baa" it is a fantastic book with top notch production value that takes a great story and adds some unique and wonderful interactive elements, making it a joy to read both as a parent and for our children.

"The Going to Bed Book" is produced by Loud Crow Interactive, the makers of the PopOut! series (Peter Rabbit, Night Before Christmas, etc). Loud Crow has been featured in the app of the week as well as New And Noteworthy because they're fantastic. They are designed to simulate a real "pop-up" type book, with characters that spring from the page, tabs to move back and forth, windows/doors to open. It really does give the books a tactile feel, and I honestly believe there is more interactivity in their books than almost any on the app store to date.

As with most of Sandra Boynton's books, they are very silly, and "Going to Bed" is no different. It's a story about a boat full of about 10 animals getting ready to go to bed. You get to follow them through quite a few different activities to get them there, starting with scrubbing them clean in the bath to scrubbing their teeth in the sink.

This interaction in the book is similar, in a very good way, to the PopOut! book series. There's not a single page that's left out from interaction. You can tilt your iPad and it'll swing a chain that's hanging, you can touch on an animal and they'll bounce like they're on a spring. Another you touch will squeak, moo or make some other sound. I hate to spoil this, but it's too good not to talk about... At one point in the bathroom, you get to turn on the hot water tap and very slowly and subtly, it starts to fog up the entire iPad screen. It's terrifically realistic and once it's done, you... I mean, your kids, get to use their fingers as a squeegee to clean off the screen. Yes, it's silly, but it's a really nice touch.

The story is about 13 pages long and allows you to either read it yourself or "Have the Big Guy Read It". The narrator is perfect as his voice is deep, warm and inviting, like the perfect grandpa. With the narration off, you can touch on each of the words to hear them spoken aloud, something I find important in the path to learning how to read.

On that note, the language in the book is very simple. There is more of a complete story here than you'll find in "Moo, Baa", but the language is still very easy to understand and comprehend. I'd still say the age range for the direct target would be 1 - 4, but I can confidently say that this would be a hit for children as young as 6 months to as old as 6 or 7 years old. My daughters still absolutely love it and I believe they will at 7, a testament to the quality of the story and humor.

It is clear by now that I'm smitten with these books. But it's not that I'm blinded by the author, if the books weren't good I'd be the first to say it. But they are good. No, they're great. They're experiences that shaped my daughter's early years of reading, and I hope that you'll find they do the same for yours, too.

Every now and then you'll see an app that really makes you do a double-take. ROBOT 99 is one of those apps, both visually and in its gameplay.

ROBOT 99 is simple. Robots live up in the sky, in clouds (seriously) and every now and then, they lose their footing and fall toward the ground. What's the only thing that can save them? Fingers! Your fingers, your kid's fingers, your friend's fingers! As many fingers as you can fit on the screen!

The controls are spot on simple right from the get go. To save a robot, simply touch it and its parachute will deploy, carrying it safely to the ground below. Once it touches the ground, it will set its jets in motion and fly back up into the sky where it belongs and reward you with points. You have 3 robot "lives" to get as many points as possible.

Sounds simple, right? Well, although it's simple, it gets crazy very quickly. Multiple robots are on the screen very quickly and they continue to appear one after the other. So you've got all these ROBOTS around, now you need to get some points. Tapping rapidly on a ROBOT will build up a point multiplier. You can also drag a ROBOT to the "POWERZONIA" section (a bar that runs across the screen) which will give you lots of extra points, but also give you a massive speed boost, firing your ROBOT at super speeds back up in the sky, but you have to be careful throughout this, as it's easy to make ROBOTS bounce into each other and cause them to fall to their doom.

Now here is what makes ROBOT 99 special and very different. You can go through this whole chaotic experience with the entire family. I spent almost an hour sitting beside my daughters playing on my iPad, fingers flying trying to save these poor ROBOTS. Within minutes, we were all laughing hysterically. It was really a magical, albeit crazy, experience to share.

And it is a beautiful experience, too. The design, hand crafted by the developer, is bright, gorgeous and detailed. There are 99 unique ROBOT designs, so you'll never see the same ROBOT twice. It is also designed for the Retina display on the iPhone 4, but the iPad is no slouch, it's stunning on both.

Now ROBOT 99 isn't perfect, there are a few marks against it. The biggest issue I have is the lack of changes to the game. Other than the background and the landing area, everything else basically stays the same.

Also, although anyone with fingers can play the game, it takes a fair amount of skill to get a high score. It's also a game that's not "winnable", you unlock levels by a cumluative score and for kids who need a standard "Level Complete" screen, this might not be for them. My recommendation on minimum age would be 5 - 6. Kids over 6 will have a better chance at getting into the skill of the game and start to see higher scores.

So, is ROBOT 99 for you?

Are you in the mood for something different? Do you want a casual, hectic and crazy game you can share with 2 or 3 other people? If you are, then this is right up your alley. And at this point, ROBOT 99 is $0.99. It is a no-brainer at this price and is great fun for the whole family, and will likely get everyone in hysterics while they play. The designer, Keng-Fu, said that he aimed to create a fun, multi-touch game for families. I can say for certain that he succeeded.

Arriving on the app store just in time for Father's Day comes Photogram, a new photo sharing app that's aimed at family users.

Photogram enables users to create their own invite or card of sorts which can then be delivered to groups of family or friends via email as well as shared via Facebook and Twitter. It means that users can not only show off their photos to others but add a personalized message to them too. Users aren't restricted to one photo at a time either with up to four photos possible to share at a time.

To spruce up the images even more so, users can use one of many original themes created by up and coming artists. These artists range from painters, photographers, designers and illustrators so there should be something for everyone's taste. Each theme will require a monetary fee to download with this revenue being split between the artist and Photogram. Users can even learn more about the artist through the app bio pages if they so wish.

Looking at the screenshots, Photogram looks set to have a fairly homey feel. It looks simple to set up groups and in turn send themed messages to them. There's certainly some great potential with users being able to send birthday greetings, party invites or simply messages informing others of what they've been up to. It might make for a great way of keeping in touch with the extended family for instance. Themes are easily browsed with a range of categories to make it all the more interesting.

Pricing hasn't been announced for the app or the individual themes but hopefully they'll be at a competitive price. Potentially Photogram could make for a great replacement to the humble greetings card or invite.

Take a look at the screenshot gallery for now as Photogram will arrive on the App Store June 16th. We'll be sure to keep on top of the latest news about it.

Just in time for this holiday season Discovery Bay Games' has introduced its newest iPad accessory, Duo ($40). By using physical game pieces in conjunction with the virtual interface of the iPad, Duo takes us one more step towards the Tron world of the tomorrow. To be anything more than a paper weight though Duo must be paired up with one of Discovery Bay Games' specially made apps which currently only includes Yoomi, but more are promised to be coming soon.

Yoomi is a game where players take turns secretly answering questions like “would you prefer to fly to the moon or dive to the bottom of the ocean?” Once answered the other players attempt to guess which response the first chose. It's a game very reminiscent of Apples to Apples but with a new and fresh feel that the whole family can enjoy. Explaining in writing how the pair works together would be an nightmare, so I've included a much more colorful video below to help keep everyone's attention…you're welcome. If you're interested though Yoomi is currently free on the App Store while Duo is being sold exclusively through Toys "R" Us.