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Green Eggs and Ham - Read & Learn Review

+ Universal App - Designed for iPhone and iPad
By Jennifer Allen on August 25th, 2015
Our rating: starstarstarstarblankstar :: SO MANY RHYMES
Green Eggs and Ham - Read & Learn is a delightful interactive take on the classic story.
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The Cat in the Hat - Read & Learn Review

+ Universal App - Designed for iPhone and iPad
By Jennifer Allen on July 22nd, 2015
Our rating: starstarstarstarblankstar :: CHARMING
The Cat in the Hat - Read & Learn is a truly delightful way to enjoy the classic children's story.
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Oceanhouse has Released Just So Thankful Alongside a Special Mother's Day Contest

Posted by Jessica Fisher on April 30th, 2015
+ Universal App - Designed for iPhone and iPad

Oceanhouse Media, makers of digital book apps, are celebrating Mother's Day with a giveaway and a new app.

Oceanhouse Media Celebrates Dr. Seuss' Birthday With an Important Sale of Related Apps

Posted by Amy Solomon on February 24th, 2015

Image Source: Oceanhouse Media
I am eager to let readers know about Oceanhouse Media’s annual app sale in honor of Dr. Seuss's birthday from Wednesday, February 25 through Monday, March 9. During this time, five of their best-selling Seuss stories will be on sale for $0.99 each, and there will be discounts for other classic Dr. Seuss titles as well - including those within The Cat in the Hat’s Learning Library.

Celebrate Summer With a Cat in the Hat Learning Library Sale

Posted by Ellis Spice on July 22nd, 2014

It is now Summer, what a wonderful time, so I bring you news, that will mostly rhyme.

Oceanhouse Media want kids to read, whilst home this season, so thus there's a sale, if you needed a reason. Over twenty apps, now cheaper to get, most down a dollar, others further yet. They're about science concepts, aimed at ages five to eight, featuring the Cat in the Hat, which is pretty great. They'll teach your kids, whilst they rhyme, which is pretty impressive, doing both at the same time.

The list of apps can be found below, just in case you wanted to know:

Books


Collections

Smithsonian Prehistoric Pals Collection Review

+ Universal App - Designed for iPhone and iPad
By Amy Solomon on May 12th, 2014
Our rating: starstarstarstarblankstar :: DINO STORIES
Smithsonian Prehistoric Pals Collection is an informative collection of ten dinosaur-themed stories.
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Oceanhouse Media Celebrates Dr. Seuss' Birthday With an Important Sale of Related Apps

Posted by Amy Solomon on February 28th, 2014

I am excited to let readers know about the important sale that Oceanhouse Media will be having from Friday, February 28, through Thursday, March 6, discounting their entire library of Dr. Seuss apps - including both the classic Dr. Seuss titles as well as apps from The Cat in the Hat's Learning Library, all to celebrate Dr. Seuss’s birthday on March 2nd. Personally, I can tell readers that during the years before I had the opportunity to review applications I would take full advantage of this annual super-Seuss sale, gathering titles for my son at a wonderful discount that allowed me to try stories with I was not familiar for little financial risk and with great success, creating new family-favorite tales that I thoroughly enjoy to this day.

I greatly appreciate being able to listen to the optional professional narration included within each of these apps as I honestly find much of Dr. Seuss difficult to effectively read out loud. Subtle, pitch-perfect sound effects can be found within these adaptations of which I quite fond, adding new dimensions to these timeless titles. The original illustrations are included within and look bright and appealing against the backlit screens of the iPad or iPhone. Children will benefit from the highlighted text as well as the ability to tap a word to hear pronunciations if extra help is needed while reading as well as other features associated with these applications.

For the first time, this sale includes each of the 44 classic storybooks by Dr. Seuss and those from the related The Cat in the Hat's Learning Library; including Oceanhouse Media’s anthology applications Dr. Seuss Beginner Book Collection 1 and 2, Dr. Seuss Short Story Collection, I Can Lick 30 Tigers Today! and Other Stories - Dr. Seuss and The Bippolo Seed and Other Lost Stories - Dr. Seuss. Enjoy 80% off of five of Oceanhouse Media's most popular Dr. Seuss apps, as well as one dollar off other titles and special pricing for the storybook collection apps. These thoughtfully narrated Dr. Seuss apps have allowed me to sit back and listen to these stories along with my child, and I can say that I enjoy these storybook apps sometimes more than even he may, making this yearly sale truly wonderful.

Hit the jump to see all of the Oceanhouse Media titles on sale or head to the App Store directly to check out their full list.

Merry Christmas Mom and Dad - Little Critter Review

+ Universal App - Designed for iPhone and iPad
By Amy Solomon on December 23rd, 2013
Our rating: starstarstarstarblankstar :: CHARMING CHRISTMAS TALE
Merry Christmas Mom and Dad - Little Critter is a charming Christmas story about a child trying to be helpful during the holiday season.
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There’s a Map on My Lap! Review

+ Universal App - Designed for iPhone and iPad
By Amy Solomon on November 25th, 2013
Our rating: starstarstarstarblankstar :: MAP APP
There’s a Map on my Lap! is an educational app that teaches young children about many map-themed topics.
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I Love You Too - Ziggy Marley Zigs onto the App Store, Offers an Interactive Book Experience for Children

Posted by Andrew Stevens on November 21st, 2013
+ Universal App - Designed for iPhone and iPad

I Love You Too - Ziggy Marley is a new app based on Ziggy Marley's children's book I Love You Too. The interactive book app is narrated by Ziggy and lets children view pictures, learn vocabulary, and personalize the experience with their own narration. It also lets users sing along with Mr. Marley.

Angels Around Us from Chicken Soup for the Soul is the First in a Series of Chicken Soup for the Soul Apps

Posted by Andrew Stevens on November 18th, 2013
+ Universal App - Designed for iPhone and iPad

Angels Around Us from Chicken Soup for the Soul is the first in a series of new apps from Chicken Soup for the Soul - offering 21 stories that bring comfort, happiness, and inspiration. The app features a personal journal to record your own experiences, quotes, story audio, and soul work that can be shared with friends and family through email or Facebook. Angels Around Us is available for $2.99, and more apps from the series will be available soon.

Trick or Treat - Little Critter Review

+ Universal App - Designed for iPhone and iPad
By Amy Solomon on October 30th, 2013
Our rating: starstarstarhalfstarblankstar :: CHARMING AND RELATABLE
Trick or Treat - Little Critter is a Halloween-themed storybook young children will enjoy.
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'Scrambled Eggs Super! - The Perfect Ingredients For Storytelling With Dr. Seuss

Posted by Andrew Stevens on June 13th, 2013
+ Universal App - Designed for iPhone and iPad

Scrambled Eggs Super! - Dr. Seuss is a new book app that's been released by Oceanhouse Media, its 300th mobile app release. That's quite a few apps!

Anyway, this app is appropriate for kids between the ages of 3 and 9, telling a story about young Peter T. Hooper as he travels to new places in search of the perfect ingredients for his "scrambled eggs super-de-dooper-dee-booper special de luxe," as it says on the app store.

Well, doesn't that sound super-de-dooper-dee-booper-ee-freakin-dee-jaffa-kree special!

"If you want to get eggs you can't buy at a store,
You have to do things never thought of before.
Why, to get at the egg of one very small Dawf,
We had to pry all of one mountain's top off!"

Catch a Bedtime Yawn with Dr. Seuss’s Sleep Book

Posted by Lisa Caplan on August 16th, 2012
+ Universal App - Designed for iPhone and iPad

Yawns, as we all know, are contagious. But getting a round of them going for preschoolers at bedtime or nap time isn’t easy. Dr. Seuss and Oceanhouse Media, the iOS publishers of his catalog, have something that might help make little ones sleepy, and certainly will entertain them, while teaching them pre-reading skills on the side.

Dr. Seuss’s Sleep Book tracks a single yawn that spreads to "Seussian” characters ninety-nine zillion, nine trillion and three times over. Now that should be enough to get even the most stubborn child’s lids drooping a little.

Like all digital children’s books in the Ohm Books catalog, the app is universal and focuses its attention where Mr. Geisel would want it – on the story. The artwork is the original, of course, and there are very few features distracting or detracting from it. What digital goodies there are focus on pre-reading skills like word-object association. There are three reading modes from fully automated and professionally narrated, to read-alone with tappable words to learn how to pronounce them with a minimum of frustration.

Dr Seuss's Sleep Book Review

Posted by Amy Solomon on August 14th, 2012
+ Universal App - Designed for iPhone and iPad

Dr Seuss's Sleep Book is a classic Dr. Seuss title, now a universal app released to celebrate the 50th anniversary of this delightful tale of a contagious yawn that spreads through this fantastical world created by Dr Seuss, including unique creatures and whimsical tangents that could only come from the mind of Theodor Geisel.

Few titles are as deserving of being adapted into an application as The Sleep Book, allowing parents to lie back and listen alongside their child to this highly popular story. I do love this intricate sleepy tale myself, but I have always been self conscious of my ability to read Dr. Seuss out loud effectively.

I find reading Dr Seuss's Sleep Book is even more challenging for me - especially because yawning is really contagious, and it takes me only a few pages of reading about and seeing images of Seussian characters behaving sleepily that I feel too tired to continue and much prefer to hear this story read out loud than doing the reading myself.

As with the other Dr. Seuss titles as well as other storybooks developed by Oceanhouse Media, the original illustrations included within are lovely, with the zooming and panning of these images to focus the attention on readers as well as allowing one to see details. Narration is included if one would like this book read out loud, or one can read this story by oneself. New readers will also appreciate that individual words as well as paragraphs can be tapped to be heard without listening directly to the narration, especially with the pronunciation of the newly created words and species names that Dr. Seuss is known for.

I also really appreciate that these Dr Seuss apps as well as the Oceanhouse Media apps in general can be enjoyed on Auto Play, making these pages turn on their own, allowing one to simply listen to these stories being narrated without the need to turn the pages, allowing one to close one's eyes and drift off.

It is true that while the illustrations of Seuss books are part of the draw, but we do sometimes enjoy listening to these stories, as here wonderful sound effects are included that bring a richness that make the experience something different from reading these books out loud.

Dr Seuss's Sleep Books include plenty of snoring sounds, purring-like sleepy sounds and other soft noises, plus other effects so relaxing that children could easily fall asleep before this lengthy title is finished.


Because of this, it would be nice if a menu of sorts were available to scroll through these pages to pick up where one has left off - a function not currently offered within this series of apps. It good to know, however, that readers can still find their place by exiting this app without properly closing it, allowing this app to be re-opened at the same spot later on.

It is also worth noting that not all storybook apps can be put down to simply be listened to, as some will stop functioning when the screen is not touched for while. Not being really technical myself, I don’t know why one can let the Oceanhouse Media apps play through without being automatically turned off by themselves, but this element is something I appreciate and do not take for granted.


I would also like to report that narrator David Price - new to Oceanhouse Media applications, does a great job of being relaxing and includes a wonderfully understandable cadence while reading Dr. Seuss - no easy task. I believe that along with fellow narrator, John Bell, Oceanhouse Media has found its sweet spot in finding the perfect radio voices for their narrations. I hope they continue the good work as the talent behind a narrated storybook can make or break the project.

It has been my pleasure to see Dr Seuss's Sleep Book developed into an application, and I hope Oceanhouse Media continues to adapt the other Seuss titles as well.

It would be nice, however, if the illustrations and message found within the cover of Dr Seuss's Sleep Book - “This book is to be read in bed" - was also included, possibly on the main menu page of this app, as this illustrated message to fans of Dr. Seuss is an important detail not to be forgotten.