Category: Puzzle »

I am delighted to introduce readers to a new universal role-playing app, Wombi Treasures which allows children and adults to travel the world and go on expeditions looking for relics from the past.

This terrific app opens up to a world map complete with X’s marking spots of interest. I enjoy how this app takes a global approach with sections that may include North America, Central or South America, Europe, Africa, or Asia.

I have been uniformly impressed with the look and style of the Wombi apps, and Wombi Treasure is no exception, as this app is lovingly reminiscent of Raiders of the Lost Ark, with a period, distressed map and vintage airplane and pilot wearing period bomber jacket and scarf circa 1930’s.

A tap on one of these X’s brings players into the P.O.V. of specialized period equipment used for digging up treasure. At left of the screen is a view of the exact area where one is looking to excavate. Drag a finger across the center screen moving around until the view finder lines up with the area one is looking for, adding a nice level of difficulty to this terrific app.

It is also worth noting that a red button can be pressed to mark the spot for digging with a red X making it easier to find the correct spot, as help is sometimes welcome when searching more desolate areas such as the deserts of Egypt.

After finding the correct spot to dig in, one will be brought to a new screen that may not look like much at first. Here is where the work comes in, as one uses archeologists' tools to uncover treasures such as a mattock to break through rocks, a hand broom to brush away sand, a trowel to dig up loose earth and a sifter as well as a pair of gloves to pick up objects by hand.

Do try various tools to see if one can make any headway. If not, players will know by an audio hint and continue to find the correct tool for the job.

The uncovering of treasures can be time-consuming in real life, and this is touched upon here as a fair amount of time is needed to chip away at, dig, sweep or sift earth looking for any signs of something hidden below, adding to the suspense my son experiences while exploring this app.

The magic of first seeing a treasure take shape - first dark and hard to see as it is slowly becomes uncovered and sometimes needing to go through two distinct layers such as ice, rock, or sand - never loses its newness. It is good to know that the placement of these dig sites are both plentiful as well as random, so no game will be the same, keeping the newness alive as my son plays Wombi Treasure again and again.

Adults will smile at the treasures uncovered and based on real artifacts such as the iconic King Tut’s coffin, Roman gold coins, Native American spearheads, Norse artifacts or a Ming vase found under plywood boards and presumably hidden so that they would not be destroyed during China’s Cultural Revolution.

When the five sites have been dug and the treasures have been collected, this game ends on a high note, with the adventurous pilot Scouty showing off what he has found in a museum exhibit.

As is mentioned in the parents' section of this app, Wombi Treasures can be used as a springboard for children’s interests in history and archeology, but there will be some parents and many children who will not understand the significance of what has been found.

I am not looking to change the style of these Wombi Apps, language-neutral and with few explanations necessary, but I would love an option to be able to tap the pieces after being sent to the museum to be told what the artifact is as this information may be needed if parents and children want to search further about these points in history.

Even with this note, Wombi Treasures is the new family favorite app in our house. My son loves both to search for the area in which to dig as well as to use various tools to excavate, and I always get a kick out of seeing what treasures has been chosen to be included.

I can’t recommend Wombi Treasures strong enough, reminding me a great deal of another recent Wombi app, Wombi Detective.

Wombi is a Swedish developer that knows how to make wonderfully realized role-playing games for children that really draw in kids as well as adults.

I can’t wait to see what they come up with next.

StoryBox 2 is a second installment of the digital magazine StoryBox, based on the award winning children’s magazine of the same name and based in the UK.

Because my son has begun to enjoy published children’s magazines at this point, I am always interested in reviewing their digital equivalents.

StoryBox 2 consists of five different sections: a short story as well as two non-fiction sections, an area of games and activities and a second chapter to Polo - a serial cartoon without words.

I do enjoy the Storytime selection, A Night At School, about anthropomorphic animals spending the night at school to avoid a wolf who had been spotted near by, as this story includes an appropriate amount of suspense relatable to my son who I am sure would have a range of emotions regarding the idea of spending the night at school.

There is a very nice moment when the animal children meet the wolf for the first time, realizing that this animal is old and means them no harm - a moment that I think children will keep with them for some time.

Based in the UK, the narrator, to an American ear, has an accent as well as speaks a little quickly but should not be too much of a problem for children to listen to. It is also worth noting that one can record one's own narration - always a good option to have.

I was also quite impressed with the information explained in the Wonder with the Wizkid area of this app, as children learn alongside a curious alien child, allowing children to tap this character’s speech bubbles as Wizkid asks all kinds of questions - here about why humans have five fingers.

I especially like how more in depth the information gets as children then turn the page, tapping to read and hear more about this subject, comparing human hands to those of other animals such as cats, monkeys or fish.

This section also includes some Fun Facts about evolution, and I admire how it is explained that although scientists don’t know why exactly humans have five fingers, there is much that we do know about the subject. I want my son to begin to understand that for some questions, there are no good answers, and that this can nevertheless be ok.

Animal World is another very nice non-fiction section that discusses the world of stags, adult male deer.

There is a lot of information for children to absorb both by reading as well as listening, and I learned some interesting facts about these animals here as well. The illustrations included are wonderful, highly detailed and attractive, but it would have also been nice to see some actual stag photos.

Pull-up window tabs are also included that cover such information as where do stags live, what do they eat and what size do they grow to, but I wish more information were included than “They are a lot bigger than you” to describe the rough drawing of the scale between a child and stag, which could have been more fully explored.

Fun and Games is an interactive area of this app that contains traditional activities such as a Dot-to-Dot, coloring or spot-the-difference pages. My favorite pages from this section involve the tapping to count different vegetables during snack time and a puzzle exercise where one drags puzzle elements which fit into the image of the larger page consisting of a maze that is then completed with the drag of a finger. I do wish an eraser were offered as a tool to aid children as they complete the dot-to-dot and maze activity, and it would also be great if one could tap for hints or simply see the completed Find the Difference page as children may not complete this section without help.

Polo is the serial comic of StoryBox. Without words, this story is dreamlike, picking up from the end of the first chapter where Polo, a dog character, travels up into space from his bedroom window. This adventure continues into a new venue promised for the next installment. I do love the gentle storytelling of Polo, but I do wish each chapter were a little longer as I simply would love more.

Do note that one can tap these comic book-inspired panels, enlarging them to full screen as one wishes as well as recording one’s own stories based on what is seen. Although I don’t often make my own recordings when narration is included, I see great benefit to being able to have children record their own stories - here told without words and wonderful for their creativity. This music included here is also perfectly relaxing, making this section especially desirable at bedtime.

Although I don’t think that a few of the activities such as a single coloring or Dot-To-Dot pages are what make this app stand out from others in iTunes, I truly enjoyed learning about the topics of human hands and stags as well as the other included stories, making this an easy application to recommend.

This is the second in a series of StoryBox applications. If interested, please read my first StoryBox review on GiggleApps as well.

Living Stories: The Lost Heart is a new storybook by Ravensburger Digital. I really appreciate many of the elements used within this application as the story, about a girl who finds a robot who is missing a heart is quite well written and also includes music, narration and illustrations that combined make for a lyrical experience.

Borrowing from classics such as The Wonderful Wizard of OZ and possibly Alice in Wonderland, the narrative of this story with its pacing and the various unexpected characters one meets on their adventure is very impressive. Although going on a quest to find one’s heart is not exactly a new concept, I am won over by how this story unfolds.

This app contains interactions that sometimes add to the magical experience in subtle ways that I really appreciate a great deal, such as the interactive depiction of how this robot lost his heart and why he needs a new one, complete with simple yet captivating music which is also used as the score for this app in general and creates quite a moment within this story.

I also really enjoy the moment when the duo finds a tunnel that may lead to wondrous lands, guiding them finally to a place where all the things are different as well as the tapping of gears shining brightly like stars in trees and the other poetic hotspot sound within another beautifully moody moment of this application.

The illustrations included are lush and colorful with images that fade from sepia-toned into full color for a nice effect, as do the mild animated details such as the rain effects found in many of these pages.

What I was not fond of, however, is that also included are some more generic interactions such as the ability to knock down a tower of blocks or open a wardrobe allowing a toy to roll out across the page in a bedroom scene, the ability to flush the toilet, run the sink or bathtub in a scene taking place in the bathroom or the inclusion of a malfunctioning blender or popping toast from the toaster in a scene in the kitchen.

I find that these interactions can distract from what is wonderful about this story - a tale that I would enjoy without any interactions at all. Although it may seem counter-intuitive to some if only the meaningful interactions were included, devoid of anything standard and distracting, this book would be an even richer experience.

Even with these notes, I am a huge fan of the ability to tap a question mark to see where all the hot spots are hidden within each page - an inclusion that should be a part of every storybook.

Also included is a jigsaw puzzle on each page of this storybook, found with a tap within a pull-down window of this app. Personally, I did not use this function much so as not to be taken out of the story, but these puzzles are of a high quality, with pieces that snap together in a way quite satisfying when the correct parts come close to the correct areas of these puzzles.

Even with the included notes, I really have enjoyed the time I spent with this storybook and its included mythology. I do look forward to more Living Tales by Ravensburger. I would love to seem more editing in terms of including only the important, sometimes poignant, interactions to achieve the most meaningful experience possible.

Wombi Ice Cream is a terrific universal role-playing app for kids allowing players to make and sell ice cream to delightfully crazy animal characters.

Wombi Ice Cream is utterly cute and fun as this app opens with a scene from inside an ice cream truck which looks out over the counter, waiting for customers. Pull the red handle left of the screen to play ice cream music, triggering a customer to come looking for a treat.

Being a language-neutral app, do look at the visual clues in the speech bubble of the animal customer to see what ice cream the animal is looking for - such as pink ice cream. Then scroll to the next pages to see the ice cream selections one can choose from and create a dessert for the customer.

At first glimpse, I thought this was a charming app for toddlers as the requests are pretty basic, but much to my family's delight, this changes as the animals who frequent this ice cream truck become much more specific. They begin to have multiple requests or things to avoid, making this game a great way to flex one’s memory and reasoning as they may ask not just for pink or yellow ice cream, but possibly strawberry or banana and children must decipher what these characters are looking for, at the same time avoiding a list of dislikes as well.

Because of this, the difficulty level for this app is great for pre-school and beyond.

It is also quite creative to allow children to add their own flair to these requests, adding whatever they want to these treats, making this an app ideal not only for working within certain parameters, but a truly open-ended game as well.

Beware, however, that although some of these animals appreciate the added treats to their dessert, paying for their ice cream, others act angry or even disgusted, walking away without giving coins to the register.

My husband and I love the wittiness of these animals acting disgruntled when given ice cream not to their liking, reminding us of clients we have known who have been very hard to please at various other jobs we have held.

I would, however, love to be able to call the angry animal customers back, and try again to build new ice cream to see if I could make things right and get paid, allowing children to fully test their logic skills by giving the grumpy creatures only what they specifically ask for.

The details of this app are quite charming as well, with animals wearing fun, detailed outfits, also including a very nice selection of cones and cups to choose from as well as different types of ice creams, syrups and toppings.

I am impressed by how this app can be used as a memory and logic game by allowing the players to check back with the customer to see what they are asking for again if need be, making this a great choice for many age groups - from toddlers to grade school. Adults will love this game as well, as many nuances are included that make both my husband and me smile - something that I have noticed in all of the Wombi apps I have explored.

For these reasons and more, I can easily and wholeheartedly recommend Wombi Ice Cream as it is both creative and educational.

A Very Mice Christmas is a simple and sweet Christmas app with an interesting sense of style using collage-like illustrations that contain photographic elements to create charming images that children will enjoy. Listen to narration or read this book out loud. Auto tune is also an option. This app is available for both iPad as well as iPhone.

Written in rhyme, enjoy mice as they go Christmas shopping for items such as stockings, a tree, ribbon, or ornaments. It also has a cute ending where all the mouse shop keepers get invited in to share Christmas as well in this cute holiday app.

In my son’s preschool class, they have a family of pet mice that my son enjoys watching. This app is fun for those like my son who enjoy small animals such as mice as here, they are dressed up in little clothing and shop or enjoy warm drinks like little people, reminiscent to me of Beatrice Potter mice using the multi-media style of images instead of drawings that show these creatures darlingly anthropomorphized. Do tap on these mice as well to hear them speak in squeaky, mouse-like voices.

Originally printed as a “Touch and Feel’ book by Wendy Wax, the ability to feel the different textures is hard to replicate, but I enjoy the details throughout this book that hint at a tactile experience.

The best part about this book is that children, with the help of their parents, can create a completely new story based on these images as one can personalize the text and narration with the use of a record feature - a very nice touch that works well here as these collage-like images are quite imaginative, possibly bringing out the creative side of children who can now make their own storybook using these pages as a template of sorts.

A memory game is also included where one turns over tiles in order to look for pairs, also including a hint button that when tapped will narrow choices down by highlighting tiles that may be a match - a nice touch, but I did not like that a timer is also included as I am not a fan of making young children feel rushed.

Also included is a series of three hidden object activities with a nice if not slightly challenging level of difficulty as well as an included hints button that narrows down where to look for the items hidden within.

All and all, a nice holiday app for children, especially those who may enjoy making up their own stories about what they see in these delightful, mousy illustrations.

Chuggington Traintastic Adventure is an app for iPad that my son spends a great deal of his screen time with.

We have a few sets of the Chuggington interactive set at home, and my son loves to build large tracks with them. They work well and stay together well, even on carpet, so I was interested to review this new app as our interactive set is one of three Chuggington sets on the market.

I did not know what to expect from this app, and was curious about my son’s take, as he prefers to build tracks and decorate the surrounding areas with his other toys such as dinosaurs or blocks - with less interest in the trains themselves. I had hoped that there would be some sort of building or laying down of tracks to suit my son’s love of train tables - not specifically trains.

The main section of this app, Build and Play is a sprawling area complete with tracks. Choose a train from the roundabout to wake up and take for a ride. Personalization is included, such as which train to choose, as well as attachment cars or other fun choices such as headlights or a speed booster. Drag a finger from the front of the train around the track anywhere the track can take you. There is a vastness to this track which makes up for the inability to move these tracks by oneself, and my son loves moving the cars around to different areas of this app, such as the the quarry or safari area in this engaging, surprisingly relaxing application.

One will notice coins floating over the tracks. Passing under these coins will cause the train to stop and be given a selection of train elements such as buildings, traffic stops, bell, or light post, which corresponds to the coin in question, then dragging the object where arrows show, further adding details to this app.

Seventy-eight of these coins exist, and I am sure that many children would adore this added, sticker-type element. However, my son honestly found these coins intrusive in his free play, enjoying this app even more after having found all of these coins. He is now free to move about the screen dragging long paths for these trains instead of having to stop every few inches.


I do not consider the inclusion of coins to be a huge flaw, but my son would have really appreciated the chance to have a free-play mode for this section, also being able to drop the correlating coin elements anywhere he desired on the screen, allowing more creativity as well.

I do like the ability to change the angles from which one is looking at the track with the pinch and zoom of fingers, but I wish one could see the track looking straight down as well as the entire track as a whole in order for players to get their bearing when looking for a specific location as well.

Players are able to look at the train elements they have earned through these coins in the My Collection section of this app, but I wish narration explained each item as kids new to Chuggington may not remember the specific buildings they gather. A series of video clips are also included that my son has enjoyed viewing.

There are four adventures also included where children will take more of a guided tour in these narrative-based sections, as the children follow specific paths laid out to perform certain acts such as gathering rocks from the quarry or other adventures.

Even though my son was not a huge fan of the coins, the number of hours he has spent with this app is quite impressive and shows no sign of slowing down in terms of interest.

Because of this, Chuggington Traintastic Adventures would make a great choice for children to use during traveling this holiday season, or merely as a gift for young train lovers.

It is simply not possible to pack up a train set for children to bring with them, so this app is perfect for all the down-time kids may experience. This app would make a nice gift of substance for any child who enjoys trains.

My son finds this app quite relaxing as do I, having fallen asleep next to him as he plays, listening to the included music which I find both upbeat as well as relaxing.

Although I have been somewhat critical during this review, I can recommend this app just the way it is, as Chuggington Traintastic Adventures is on the short list of apps for my son to spend time with.

Team Umizoomi Carnival HD is an application which brings the hit TV show Team Umizoomi to life in this interactive storybook application. A version of this app is also available for iPhone.

My son really enjoys this TV show which focuses on early math skills in a way that is upbeat, bright and very engaging as the audience is asked to participate, leaving silent pauses during the show while children answer. My son always responds with exuberance so I was eager to review this application allowing him to interact with this story, both by furthering the story as well as other interactive hotspots.

Much like the TV show, the gang within this tale goes on an adventure where needed - here to find a boy’s lost stuffed bunny left at a carnival. Help the Umi Team as they ask questions of other characters, gather information and finally solve the case of the missing bunny.

Some nice visuals are included as educational tools, such as "over, under, around and through" with the use of fun foods and carnival balloons, a great explanation of these actions. There is also a puzzle one must complete to create an airplane to ultimately save bunny, which children will enjoy.

I do wish for re-play value that some of the other details could be mixed up a bit, as I enjoy needing to find and tap the white bird with two feathers to ask for her help or completing a pattern to stop the merry-go-round - great for number and color recognition as well as basic cognition, but it would be if these colors, numbers or other details could be random so the experience and answers needed would be different each time this tale is read.

I do also wish this story was a little longer, but it may suit those with short attention spans nicely. A few arcade-style balloon popping games are included that aid in number awareness as well as a sticker section.

Even with these notes, this story will be appealing to children who are fans of the show as well as other young children interested in beginner math concepts as well as colors, shapes and going on a helpful adventure.

Wombi Detective is wonderful new universal interactive role-playing app that allows children to solve mysterious crimes.

I really enjoy this app, as I do other Wombi apps as they can be enjoyed by adults as well as their children.

The sense of style is terrific, including a moody film noir look that I have not seen in other children’s applications.

To play, this app begins with the close-up of an old-fashioned black rotary telephone on a desk next to a classic green banker's lamp, with damask wallpaper on the interior of this room, presumably the office of the detective seen in the fun, vintage inspired intro video which opens this app. These are period details that make me smile, even if they are over the head of my almost five year old.

Answer the phone, and players will meet the victim of a theft, who explains in a way most amusing and language-neutral that the thief was wearing a mask as well as the item taken such as watch, teddy bear or pearl necklace.

Bottom of the screen are question buttons that one can tap to locate more clues to find the perpetrator - specifically eye color and a description of the hat they were wearing and their height, here described by a color that will match the height of the criminal as they are measured against a wall in the police lineup found in the next scene.

After this information is gathered, use the knowledge gathered to weed out the correct suspect from the lineup, each an interesting anthropomorphic animal person as are the victims of these crimes.

When the thief is found, go to his house and use a series of three photographic clues to search for what has been taken. Look closely at these photos, and drag them to the general area of the property they may fit, such as garage area, beach front, main house, forest behind back or the area under construction. Then search the premise to find the stolen property with a series of interesting mini-games that may include the use of a metal detector or a shovel to dig with.

My family loves how inventive this app is - with a great use of suspenseful film noir type music that really sets the tone. Adults will love playing this game as much as children will.

I was kind of surprised, in a good way, about the level of difficulty this app has as a memory game as well as testing basic cognition because there is much information to remember and decipher as one studies the police lineup. It is also nice that one can pull up the notes taken from the bottom of the screen as a reference, and there is no penalty if one chooses the wrong character except for some smug sounds heard before the player is asked to take another crack at the lineup - a nice touch.

There is not a lot I would change in this great app, but I do wish the different objects that have been stolen as well as the property areas to search could be more random as the same items and areas tend to come up over and over again - a minor note I would love to see looked at.

My son really loves this app as well as enjoys the moody opening that includes a chance to see the detective owl before this game turns into a first person role-playing game as if the player is himself the owl detective. My boy wishes there was more screen time with the owl, dressed in a fedora and other period dress, wanting to answer the phone and hand it to the owl instead of taking on the role of detective himself - an interesting comment about one of my son’s new favorite apps. Having said this, I think Wombi Detective is just about perfect the way it is, making it an excellent application to recommend to families.

Readers should familiarize themselves with Wombi if they have not done so already. They have developed a series of very nice themed puzzle apps as well as other applications, but I feel that Wombi has hit its stride in the last two role-playing apps for kids - Wombi Toys and Wombi Detective, apps that have become top new favorites for my son - high praise to be sure. I am greatly interested to see what new apps Wombi will develop next.Their new app Wombi Ice Cream is a cute and immersive role-playing application as well, to be reviewed by GiggleApps as well in the near future.

Toddler Maze 123 is a positively delightful first maze application for iPad that will be utterly appealing to toddlers, preschoolers and their adults.

This is a wonderfully intuitive app where players drag a car following a road spreading across each screen that contains points of interest along the way, consisting of individual mazes with charming themes that keep these activities engaging for children, such as driving a race car across the screen to the finish line, reuniting a bear with his mother, or helping an ambulance drive to a hospital. Arrows are included to move children in the correct direction and helping friendly characters move in the correct direction in this charming application.

Twenty mazes of increasing difficulty are included, starting out very simply with a straight line and working their way up to full mazes that young children will need to contemplate before solving.

Some unique aspects are also included such as involving two or more characters who need to be dragged where they need to go, sometimes testing children’s cognitive abilities about knowing what animal lives in which home - such as spider to web or bee to hive.

Also included is a hint button that parents have the option of including within these mazes which will include a dotted line one can trace to the end of each maze - a nice touch for young children during the later mazes with more difficult puzzles.

Parents will also really appreciate the fact that one can presumably print these mazes once they have been sent via email to oneself or a friend, allowing children to practice these mazes in real life, not just with the drag of a finger across the screen.

Each of these mazes is bright and colorful and includes extra interactive hotspots to enjoy with the tap of a finger - really nice details that children will enjoy. Very pleasant and relaxing music is also included that parents will be happy to listen to while sharing this app with their children, making this app very easy to recommend and a favorite early maze for children.

I have always been fond of mazes, as they are great for problem solving, hand/eye coordination and fine motor skills. There is a great deal of polish within Toddler Maze 123, really making this app stand out among others like it in the iTunes store.

Toddler Maze 123 is one of many great apps by GiggleUp Kids Apps which my son and I enjoy a great deal, especially their previous app Happy Little Farmer, also reviewed here at GiggleApps. They are developers worth getting to know.

Wombi Toys - a toy workshop for kids is a new interactive app that my son is really enjoying.

My son always get so much out of immersive role-playing apps, be it mini-games or more open-ended adventures which allow my son to cook for animals, plant a garden, pretend to be a doctor, fix a car or play tea party.

For those parents who know exactly the genre of app I am talking about, it is worth getting to know Wombi, a Swedish developer with a wonderful sense of style.

They have developed a series of really fun jigsaw puzzles of different themes and other apps that I have also enjoyed, so I was super-excited for the release of Wombi Toys - a toy workshop for kids which allows children to play toy-themed mini-games, building or fixing a very nice variety of toys such as wind-up car, painting alphabet blocks or using a hand pump to inflate a ball as each of these games are cute and fun, tactile as well as intuitive.

Children and adults alike will enjoy the stylings of this app, as the main page is an assembly-line workspace of a friendly robot who needs help fixing toys that move down the conveyer belt.

I really appreciate the colors and details found throughout, including the clutter found in the workspace behind the robot as well as the moving gears under the conveyer belt that spin when engaged.

All the toys within, as well as the basic backgrounds - down to the smallest details - are not just wonderfully colored but contain a marbled, almost water colored look that adds texture, a bit of distressing, as well as a great deal of visual interest to this app.

Likewise, the music included is thoughtful, being quite upbeat as well as rhythmic - the perfect music for a robotic assembly-line situation.

Language neutral, this app is devoid of words, be it text or narration, allowing children to figure this application out themselves as they pull the lever down engaging the conveyer belt forward to work on the next toy be it dinosaur or action figure, each with a nice degree of difficulty to engage my son, 4.5.

Puzzle elements are also incorporated, such as the need to dress an action figure, put together a rocking horse or add batteries to a flashlight, with a varied degree of landmarks one can use to complete these tasks. There are moments my son also has had difficulty, as he did not know what he was looking at when it came time to add wheels to a skate board, so it would be nice to include hints for children who feel stuck.

Twenty mini-games are included, and when five of these toys are complete, they are boxed up together and the assembly-line is shut down. Do pull the cord to turn back on the light on the assembly-line if players would like to continue fixing toys.

It is great that so many mini-games are included, keeping my son entertained for long stretches, but it would a good addition to be able to choose a favorite activity instead of the random selections that are offered. I also do find that the same activities are included more often than some, so it would be nice for more of a truly random experience to avoid the same toys more often than others.

Having said this, my son and I enjoy Wombi Toys very much. I appreciate the mix of classic toys such as lego-type bricks and yoyo mixed in with newer toys such as an Xbox-type controller, making this an easy app to recommend to those children who enjoy tinkering around with interactive apps.

I am interested in seeing what new apps Wombi will develop in the future, especially if they continue along this same style of immersive role-playing apps, allowing children to work within specific themes.

Look and Find “Our Big City” is a digital adaptation of the celebrated German picture book of the same name by Ali Mitgutch, said to be the “father and creator of Look and Find books."

Although I do consider myself relatively well-read when it comes to children’s literature, I was not familiar with this series of Look and Find books that the Our Big City is part of.

My son and I do, however, really enjoy these seek-and-find style books, so out of curiosity I looked up this series of books, and I was surprised not to find a lot of information about such wildly popular children’s books from Germany, including any details as to whether or not these books are in print in English.

Because of this, I am delighted to see Ravensburger develop these titles into applications, allowing children who until now may be unaware of these titles.

There is so very much to look at within Look and Find “Our Big City” which consists of seven city scenes such as an airport, zoo, a market or a nighttime scene in an urban area as well as winter in the city.

Do enlarge these pages with a spreading of fingers to show the wonderful details each section includes which will keep children engaged for hours as they share this app with others or by themselves, as these details are terrific for creating one’s own stories.

I enjoy looking at these pages myself, as the airport motif includes a sick patient on a plane being tended to by a doctor, a celebrity being photographed as she leaves another airplane with her entourage, along with other passengers among the chaos of a very busy airport being maintained with cleaning crews, baggage handlers, a mechanical crew and other fun elements.

Other favorite areas of this app is the market square that is unlike the supermarkets many children are used to, including not only the sales of dry goods, milk, bread, sausages and other foods, but other interesting wares such as saws, axes or clocks, as well as artisans at work building sandals, knitting or sharpening knives, creating the look of a European market place that many children will be fascinated by.

I also really enjoy the details found in the city at night as one can see inside apartment windows to view everything from an argument taking place, artist at work, dancers at a disco, or even a burglar gaining entrance into a building. The streets are filled with interesting traffic and other sights to see such as mannequins being changed or people relaxing by a fountain.

It is terrific how many of these characters are caught mid-action, creating dynamic pictures that children will enjoy a great deal, finding a new detail each time one looks back at these pages.

Readers will notice the sound effects incorporated into each of these scenes found with a tap that bring extra richness to these details, such as animal noises at the zoo or the sounds of children at play within the pool or winter scene. I do find, however, some of the other more industrial sounds found in the airport or nighttime scenes involving equipment or sirens to be sometimes loud and distracting. To deal with this, I would love to be able to silence these hot spots with a tap as well to keep this app a relaxing experience.

After one has spent time simply enjoying the details found throughout these pages in Discovery Trip, also venture into Picture Hunt by tapping the camera at the top of the page which will bring users into a blank photo album that needs to be filled.

Each space within the photo album includes a faint grey tone detail from the bigger illustration that one must take a photo of to fill in these sections.

To start, tap the camera icon associated with one of these grey-toned images which will bring users back to the main page, now greyed out as well except for the full color image seen through the camera. Do line up the sometimes awkward cropping of the guide images as children will be rewarded for accuracy when taking these pictures which will unlock bonus pages of photos to be taken from each theme.

I enjoy the narration included within this section giving instruction as well as congratulating children on their photographs, also allowing kids to re-take a photo to gain more stars if need be, as one needs to collect stars to unlock bonus photographs to be taken within this section.

It is especially nice that the progress completing this album is saved to be continued in the future - an important element with an app with such content.

I would also like to point out that English, French, Spanish, German and Italian are included, in terms of narration in the Picture Hunt section, as well as the market or street signs seen in these motifs - a choice that I appreciate, allowing this app to be enjoyed by many children of different backgrounds.

I feel fortunate to be able to share Look and Find “Our City” with my son, a book my son most likely would not be able to enjoy without the iPad adaptation of this German classic.

If interested, the other titles from this series "In the Country" and "Come with me to the Sea" are also available through iTunes as well as to be reviewed by GiggleApps in the future.

Dinosaur Train Mesozoic Math Adventures is a fun new math app for iPad that will teach math concepts in a way that children will find engaging.

My son really enjoys dinosaurs in general as well as being a fan of the Dinosaur Train, a PBS kids show that this app is based on, as well as math in general from a young age. Because of this, my boy was very excited to hear of this new math app and has been enjoying this app a great deal recently.

Dinosaur Train Mesozoic Math Adventures consists of four main areas.

Through the Window is a very nice counting game, allowing children to count the various objects one sees from different dinosaur periods, such as rocks, trees or bodies of water.

I enjoy the perspective of looking out of the train window at different dinosaur time periods after going through a time tunnel, as they are conversationally asked to pick out different numbers of seen items by dinosaurs Buddy and Tina, ultimately including two items to count per game in the hardest of three levels of difficulty.

Don’s Collection is an area consisting of Don the Dino showing off his various collections, grouped together by type and shown lined up in columns. Listen to Don’s questions about each of these collections as he may ask which column is greater or less than.

This section contains three levels, and I like how the levels vary from easy to medium to hard. In the simplest area, two columns are compared, and the questions can be answered without counting because it is easy to see that one section has many more or less than another, allowing children to follow along with these concepts even if they are new to addition.

In the moderately difficult section, three columns are in use, and the amounts found on each column become closer in number, making counting a necessity and include three columns to focus on.

Later, the number of columns increases to four, and the math becomes more advanced and includes simple ratios such as which column contains half of one or twice of another.

Another area of this app is Life Cycles, asking children to sequence different images that express different points in the life cycles of various dinosaur-related creatures.

I really enjoy this section as children are exposed to the word “hypotheses” as well as rewarded with a short animated sequence which gives more information about these animals, with excellent narration also offering fun facts that vary in detail from the easy to difficult sections.

The sophistication in terms of the sequencing also increases nicely, from three simple pictures often including an egg, small and large animals to organize to animals with more of a metamorphosis, and later adding an unrelated image to sort out as well.

Life Cycles is my favorite section of this app as I enjoy the animation and narration given that explain a great deal about the growth cycles of animals that are both enjoyable as well as educational.

A sticker section, Build a Scene, is also included which allows children to decorate scenes from the Triassic, Jurassic and Cretaceous time periods. Although some stickers are included outright, children will gain new stickers from completing the other sections of this app.

Nice narration is also included within this sticker section which briefly describes these different time periods, but I feel that this element could have gone further with the conversational dinosaur information offered as I think this is a great way to engage children, further building on their vocabulary and listening comprehension.

Children are also able to save their landscapes to their iPad as well as continue working on their backgrounds later.

Parents and teachers will appreciate the section of this app explaining each section, game play and take-away points in a very straight-forward fashion that I greatly appreciate.

Dinosaur Train Mesozoic Math Adventure is a nice early math application for young children which focuses not on math concepts but on their ability to listen to directions as well.

This app will be a hit with children already fond of Dinosaur Train but will be of interest to other children not already familiar with them, as these dinosaurs who guide children through these exercises are inviting and colorful which is also seen throughout this app. I would love to see more narration included about these grand creatures as well as the time periods in which they lived.

Abby Monkey: Animated Puzzle for Toddlers and Preschool Explorers is a lovely intuitive puzzle app for babies, toddlers and those in early preschool to practice working on simple and cute, chunky-styled puzzles.

Eight themes are included, such as farm and zoo animals, an ice cream motif, xylophone as well as many flowers and vehicles.

Each section consists of a series of empty puzzle areas that need to be filled in with correlated chunky puzzle pieces that children need to drag and drop into place. Babies will be helped complete these puzzles with a sense of “grab” that draws these pieces to their correct holes if needed while offering just enough help.

A few areas are unique to this puzzle app such as the ability to create multilayered ice cream pops, asking children to color-match these elements along with the puzzle piece shapes.

Flowers are also included that one grows as the flower elements such as pots are placed into their rightful places, watching as these pretty plants sprout after being watered, adding some nice sequencing elements as well.

Each of these puzzles includes simple yet sweet animations as a reward for the correct drag and drop that will engage the youngest app users.

Abby Monkey: Animated Puzzle for Toddlers and Preschool Explorers is a charming first puzzle app for children, but there are some issues with the sound that could use some smoothing out.

I do really enjoy the serene happy baby sounds that will really get the attention of other very young people, but there are issues with some of the vehicle sounds such as sirens not turning off after one backtracks out of the noisy animated page found after the puzzle has been completed. These sounds continue to become layered and quite loud even when back to the main menu - a glitch I hope can be worked out soon.

Having said this, Abby Monkey: Animated Puzzle for Toddlers and Preschool Explorers would make a delightful first application for babies and toddlers.

Although I do not think this app may be a perfect match for an older or more experienced puzzle user, my seasoned app tester, namely my four and a half year old son, was drawn to this app’s bright colors, pleasant music, cute baby sounds and fun animated moments - high praise to be sure.

Thud! Presidents is a fun trivia game with a balancing puzzle aspect and includes over 1,000 questions within 40 levels that will keep older children and their families busy for quite some time.

Children and adults alike will enjoy answering these multiple choice questions where they will need to choose the president (from a provided list) who best answers questions such as Who was the earliest president?; Who was the heaviest president?; and Who said certain famous quotes?

Although there is no study section within this app, players can learn from their mistakes and gain knowledge from a process of elimination, whittling wrong answers down until the correct president is the last man standing.

Correct answers then are needed to be stacked on a platform, dropped from a magnet after having been suspended, which can be moved to align these shapes to where players would like them placed for best stacking.

I enjoy that the shapes vary, such as shield, eagle, or star, all having their own unique responses to gravity and physics as they become balanced on platforms which may be flat or on a incline for an added challenge.

Two levels are included: Brainy - which is said to test knowledge and Insanity - said to be more challenging for those who know even more about U.S. history, making this app a family game that adults as well as children grade school and up can participate in.

Thud! Presidents is a fun way to flex one’s knowledge of presidents. I can see this app become a favorite both in educational as well as in family settings past this upcoming election.

My Monster Mayhem is a new universal storybook just in time for Halloween about a girl dealing with the monsters living in her house, causing friction between this girl and her mom.

Left open for interpretation by readers regarding whether or not monsters are real or if these creatures are make-believe, children will be able to relate to this colorful story.

I enjoy these monsters - sometimes wonderfully grotesque, yet still remaining child-appropriate. I especially like the Lumpa-Loofis, a creature reminiscent to me of Jabba the Hut or even ButterBall from Hellraiser, as the Lumpa-Loofis is a monster “who loves to expose what is under his clothes” and enjoys showing off his amorphous belly that wobbles with a tap.

Other another creature is found in the bathtub, specifically a tentacle-laden sink monster demands table scraps, irking the girl's mom as food is left for this monster.

Although I appreciate these colorfully odd characters, as they do contain a Seussian-type appeal, to me the rhymes at times seem a little labored in places for my own personal taste - an issue that is a minor note compared to the unique and colorful monsters found within this story.

Mild yet effective interactive hotspots are included, as is a monster doll that is hidden across these pages and needs to be found each time to unlock some surprisingly difficult and complex jigsaw puzzles based on the monster illustrations found within.

I do appreciate the code that shows what pages this monster-doll can be found on, but it would be nice if one could go to a specific screen with a tap, instead of having to turn the pages of this book.

It is nice, however, how these pages need to be tapped twice to forwarded, cutting down on the accidental page turning that can sometimes happen when little fingers go exploring.

Choices of narration include a woman or a girl as well as reading this app by oneself, and if listening to this story, the words are highlighted when read. It would also be nice to have a choice of an America reader as well to round out the narration choices available at this time - a feature in other apps that I appreciate.