Astrid and Siri Review

Astrid and Siri is a charming interactive storybook for iPad. This lovely tale centers around Astrid, an Arctic girl, who with help from her magic purple thread is a wondrous seamstress creating intricate clothes for all her animal friends.

This app is utterly appealing and includes a very effective use of fun, simple, yet highly creative interactions for a terrific effect. It is also nice how this app starts out with an interesting Viking scene, telling readers that this story is actually an old tale that has been spread the world over by these Vikings, creating a mythology to this story that kids and adults will enjoy.

Parents, especially those of girls, who believe in the old the adage - “It’s not the clothes that make the man, but the man who makes the clothes” - will appreciate this app, as here, Astrid, along with her best friend, an Arctic fox named Siri, love to sew clothing for their animal friends, using a tremendous amount of skill and thought to create every piece of clothing by hand.

I love how her supportive animal friends are always willing to model the sometimes silly outfits, and how Astrid works through the winter contemplating her new designs she wants to sew, yet waits patiently until spring, when the sheep family is happy to donate their wool for Astrid to work with.

This is a delightful story for all young children - especially for girls who are fond of princesses and all their accoutrements - as this story revolves around wonderful fancy clothes, yet the main character is a hard worker who is grateful to the sheep family for giving her their wool. She in turn designs wonderful clothing for them to wear to an upcoming formal tea party, allowing children to really enjoy all the pretty clothing found within this storybook, devoid of the sense of entitlement that often goes along with princess stories.

There are many elements that are most enjoyable, such as the sheep family visiting the salon for their hair to be cut, with nice details such as sheep under hair dryers, wearing curlers, having their hair wrapped in a towel, or painting their hooves with nail polish.

Wool is also delivered to a traditional hat maker, giving children the chance to see the old-fashioned tools used by milliners - a nice touch.

Every page includes interactive hotspots to trigger with a tap or swipe, adding richness to the reading experience and never distracting. The illustrations are a treat as well, with a multimedia flare that I really love as the many textures found in materials such as wool yarn, ruffled material and embellishments can be found among these characters' new clothing, as well as other perfectly imperfect details that add nice textures to this app.

What has impressed me the most within this app is the use of interactive finger-painting allowing one to fill blank sections found throughout this app, allowing one to help Astrid fill these pages with terrific sketches of hats and clothing, with an added detail of a paintbrush that moves as one drags a finger, creating a genuine feel of creating these drawing themselves. This finger-painting style of interaction can also be found as Astrid sews fancy clothing onto her animal friends or onto hangers, also decorating a beautifully detailed purple wool blanket - a gift for the sheep family's graciousness. For a great effect, a needle full of magical purple string can be seen to move when the children’s finger is dragged across the page.

Other nice moments exist as well, such as Astrid going through the process of dyeing her fabrics in tea and other natural substances, showing the entire process and hard work involved as Astrid designs her fashions. Children can also partake in the tea party, helping the animals eat their treats - moments my son really enjoys.

The included narration, a simple, thoughtful storyline, and unique interactions all come together to create a story that could easily be a family favorite application. The quality here is very high, and I love how Astrid’s and the animals' outfits are styled, with a nod to antique children’s or doll clothing that are simply wonderful. Children can also enjoy this story by reading this book to themselves if they so desire.

A very nice dress-up game is also included, allowing one to dress up Astrid from the clothing found within and letting readers see these pieces in more details. The look of this section is great as well, also lovingly stylized with many details, but I would love to see more clothing choices offered in the future, possibly also including the animals of this book.

The one note that I would like to make is that it is easy for readers to turn the pages of this book, not realizing that more paragraphs of narration and text are part of the page being read - an issue I hope can be looked at for the future.

Even with this issue, Astrid and Siri is a great application for iPad that young children and their family will greatly enjoy, with a relaxing ending that readers will find very satisfying. I would love to see more Astrid and Siri storybooks in the future.