Category: Social »

Pango Playground for kids is a charming universal app for babies and toddlers which adults will enjoy a great deal as well. This app opens up to a very nice assortment of children’s toys such as train tracks or building blocks. Do choose a scene and tap on a number flag 1 to 4 to be taken to a new area. All of these scenes are variations on the same basic assortment of toys, different colorful building blocks, train tracks and chunky wood blocks crafted to look like familiar characters from the Pango series of applications. The magic happens when any and all objects are tapped to be transformed into other objects such as a swing, slide, sea saw, rocking horse or merry go-round as seen in the first area of this app as well as a beach, garden and space themes as seen throughout as well. Tap the train for it to start moving along the tracks. A tap of the tree will make it bear fruit that will drop to the ground; a block will transform into a hopscotch course that a wood block animal will delight in jumping through. Balloons may be popped and cars may be driven. Flip a sun to its nighttime moon side for a lights-out sleepy moment. There is just so much to interact with here that it is difficult to avoid the ramblings of someone very impressed with what they see. I also admire the delightful, upbeat music and sound effects, especially how each tap of an object will trigger a wonderful percussive sound and how classic baby toys such as a wood shape stacker and other traditional busy table activities are included. There are also wonderful fantasy moments such as tapping wooden rain clouds to produce rain that makes puddles for these chunky characters to play in as well as growing produce which these characters can eat. This app is utterly intuitive to use and will hold the attention of any aged child. Although geared towards toddlers, there is so much whimsy here that I can imagine all ages will enjoy this app. Although these pages are cluttered with toys in a way that would make any parent smile, I also appreciate how clean this app comes across, with a stark white background and a hint of shadows seen for each item on the page - subtle yet highly effective in creating a sense of realism that I find quietly captivating. I am also smitten with the choice of including chunky wood characters which are animated, as I love to see these wood pieces come to life in a way more captivating than if they were simply illustrated animals. I utterly recommend this app for families with young children, especially those who fancy wood toys over plastic and have not found any apps yet they feel they can truly get behind. The creativity of this app is impressive, which in turn will lead to many creative moments as children will tap or drag objects and characters for the first time. I must admit that I find something new every time I check out Pango Playground for kids, and I am sure other families will delight in exploring this app as well. I have also enjoyed other apps from this Pango series. If interested, please search for my reviews here at GiggleApps.

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Recently I was given the chance to review the Little People Apptivity Barn by Fisher Price, a play set containing an iPad case that incorporates this device into the gameplay of a related Little People Apptivity Barn app.

Having a five year old son, I was very eager to test this toy, and I must say that opening the box to find a barn reminiscent of my son’s old favorite Little People barn was like welcoming an old friend back into the neighborhood.

My son, like most children, spent many years enjoying different Little People toys including a barn set, but as he has gotten older, his interest in some of these toys has begun to wane as he spends his time working with other building-centric activities.

Understanding that the iPad integrated within this toy, however, is enough to engage my son all over again as he explores this barn and related app.

Out of the box, the Little People Apptivity Barn requires some minimal assembly of snapping the barn to the base of the toy, each made from hard plastic, as well as a rooster detail seen on the top of this building.

After downloading the Little People Apptivity Barn app onto my iPad, I opened the bottom of the base of this toy by rotating and sliding two plastic pieces that when the iPad is placed inside, will successfully lock the iPad into the plastic and rubber case, complete with internal bumpers of sorts that securely hold the device, protecting it from scratches, bumps and other impact.

When I first heard about the chance to review this fun new toy, I asked my husband what he thought about this as we share an iPad.

As first mention, although I am always free to test what products I may like, we were apprehensive about allowing my son the chance to drag toys across the screen of our iPad, activities that may allow more damage to our device than simply tapping and dragging with a finger.

For this reason, we were quite happy to hear that the case found within the base of this toy, including a screen protector, was licensed by OtterBox, a trusted brand that creates protective cases for iPad and iPhone.

When enclosed the iPad does seem quite secure. The home button of the iPad is covered but can be accessed with the slide of a plastic part. Do set the volume to the preferred level as one cannot reach this button or be plugged in to charge while the iPad is in the case - a minor note.

I was impressed with how excited my son was when he first saw this new toy, consisting of the traditionally Little People-like barn attached to the base which when housing the iPad makes up the farmyard play surface.

Also included with this barnyard are two animals - a cow and pig - as well as a rake and watering can, each including sensors which work with the iPad when dragged on its surface.

Two characters are also included - Eddie, a blond boy driving a tractor, and Tessa, a non-Caucasian - presumably African-American child - a lovely inclusion that I admire as children of color are often under-represented in many toys for children.

A piece of a white fence to be attached to the barn is also included that can extend off the play base, encouraging the play with these animals and characters on the surface where this play set is placed - a nice touch.

It is worth noting that when looking at the related app through iTunes, parents may feel confused about the need to purchase separately a complete set of upgrades of this app to give them complete access to each of the five scenes ultimately included.

I am happy to say that owners of the Apptivity Barn are given easy-to-follow instructions on how to unlock this app in full - good to know as I too was confused by the In-App purchases found for this app when I was first downloading.

Once set up, players can explore five sections of this app found in the menu and accessible by a button seen on the top left of the screen.

First, a totally open-ended section talking place on the open farm is offered. Here children can drag around in the dirt their animal characters to see their foot prints as well as hear their animal noises and the clopping of the cow as it walks, as players guide these animals about with the push or drag of their hand.

Do drive the tractor across the screen as well, leaving tracks and making tractor sounds as this app nicely reacts to how children drive this tractor across the page, as faster pushing will dig up the dirt from the ground as Eddie squeals “wee” saying “Check this out...” as children can make him perform donuts across the screen, with this character announcing how fast his tractor can go as he is pushed back and forth across the screen.

Tessa can be moved around the page as well to make her foot prints seen. She also giggles and makes other noises including a few lines of her own dialogue.

One can also drag the other tools or a finger across the screen to leave momentary impressions.

I enjoy a great deal the other interactive elements included within this toy. There is a “baby door" - a physical part of the barn can be opened and closed as this drags across the screen, triggering baby animals to walk free across the page - a favorite detail of my son.

Also included is a brown wood-toned food storage area that delivers hay to the screen with a tap to keep these animals fed.
Do take care of these animals, as one can tap on a plastic water pump - part of the barn which will in turn fill up the water trough for these animals to drink from.

For fun, flood this trough as doing so will make a mud puddle that the animals and children will enjoy playing in as well as giving a new surface to work with - be it driving or walking through, as well as using the other tools included such as the rake, which makes great sound effects when dragged across the screen - be it in the dirt or floored watery area or leftover mud.

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I like how when adding food to the screen or flooding the ground with water, Tessa or Eddie may make related comments to share with others an awareness of these interactive choices made, and I like how the baby animals acknowledge the plastic animal and children characters if they are placed face-to-face.

Unfortunately sometimes the digital animal is actually slightly under the plastic figure, making it a little hard to see - a note I would love to see smoothed out in a future update.

I would also love it if the digital animals would follow an included plastic character around the screen, especially as Tessa happily says “Follow me” to these creatures. As of now, these animals do not follow Tessa as she is moved around the yard.

Adding baby animals to scene is something my son really enjoys doing, and it is cute when a creature moves off screen as more babies are added, as four animals at a time can comfortably occupy this space.

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Another area of this app that my son spends more of his time with is inside the barn where one can help take care of the animals.

Here two animals are included at once - be it a pig and cow that enjoy being brushed and playing with a ball or a horse / sheep combination that enjoy a sponge bath and a teddy bear.

Open the baby door to also allow little animals to join their moms in the barn - a wonderful moment the first time my son realized this is possible.

Be it water, hay to eat, a blanket, being brushed or washed, or a toy to play with, these animals will let their needs be known via illustrations within speech bubbles, but as with the rest of this app, narration will chime in with suggestions if players are slow to relate to these prompts.

Do turn lights out for a nighttime scene with charming, sleeping animals, complete with blankets to cuddle into, which are also used for animal nap time during daytime mode as well.

The Garden section of this app uses the rake to break up the ground to prepare for planting. This tool works well, and I enjoy the look and sound effects of the ground being raked for a very satisfying experience.

Next, children can choose their seeds and plant them with the tap of a finger, water their crops with the included watering can, and pick the produce and add it to a basket with the drag of a finger.

It is worth noting that although the rake and watering can are fun, raking and watering can also be achieved by using a finger as well in case this tool becomes misplaced.

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Do also try driving Eddie’s tractor to prepare the garden instead of using the rake, or for fun, use an animal or Tessa to plant these seeds instead of a fingertip. I also enjoy allowing the baby animals to roam around the garden, kicking the picked fruit and vegetables around as they walk.

The Market Stand is a section that includes letter recognition as children are asked to match missing letters from farmer’s market signs.

Be aware that this section has an additional activity that I first missed, as a button marked with fruit and vegetable images can be seen at the bottom left of the page where one sorts the food by type or color into baskets, placing them on a truck.

The Field is an area of this app that is all about exploring as Eddie can drive his tractor around the farm either by actively moving his tractor or by simply resting this piece of the screen to trigger the landscape of this section moving to simulate driving or walking if using Tessa or an animal character.

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One can also stop to collect fruit with a tap to be counted by the narrator as well as minimally interact with other animals and other details seen.

Although one can drive back and worth across a main path, there is an area not unlike a fork in the road that suggests that children have a choice of what route to take. This third choice is basically a dead end, however as children are not allowed to move in this direction - much to my son’s disappointment.

There is certainly a lot to interact with and enjoy within the Apptivity Barn. My son loves to take care of the animals as well as move these pieces around the screen.

The included animal, child and tool pieces are chunky, a little heavy and feel good to the hand, but based on the relatively small playing surface the iPad offers, these characters are a little large for the page and scenes can get crowded.

It is nice that the rake has a place by the barn one can use as storage as well as a place for the watering can to be kept when not in use. Do leave the four animals and characters to live within the barn when this toy has been put away to lessen the chance of misplacing a piece.

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My son has asked for sheep and horse characters as well - maybe an idea for extra pieces to purchase separately - just a thought.

Although the barn should be emptied before flipping over this barn to remove or install the iPad, installing the iPad in this case is very simple and takes just moments, especially important as our iPad gets passed around from different cases or toys a couple of times a day.

I do feel that my iPad is completely secure with this Apptivity Barn, but I was less impressed with the screen protector while the iPad was out of the case, and although Otterbox may have this completely covered, I fear one could gouge or break the thin screen protector when not being supported by an iPad - a concern I am not looking to test in any way, although my son has expressed interest in playing this this set without the iPad installed as well.

It would be great if in the future, a cardboard box - the perfect size of an iPad - could be included, possibly decorated green with farm details, to take the place of the iPad when the device is elsewhere to support the screen protector for when children play with this barn as a simple toy without the housing their parent's device.

Even if this is not necessary, I think this would be a nice inclusion for making this barn more functional as a plaything as without the iPad, this barn seems very empty and obviously missing something - an easy fix with a decorated box that could even be grass on one side, mud on the other.

Even with this note, I am impressed with the attention my five year old is giving the Little People Apptivity Barn. This is a toy that I can easily recommend to families of children who enjoy applications.

I am happy that here the interactions are quite social and charming as one takes care of animals and grows plants in a garden - wholesome activities that adults will feel good about while Eddie and his tractor introduce some moments of action that a child will find equally enjoyable.

Do encourage children to use these included characters, animals, and tools in ways most creative, such as allowing the pig to plow the garden or add seeds to the garden.

Tap everything with a finger as this too will produce sound effects and animations that are found throughout this application - too abundant to mention each one.

The Little People Apptivity Barn is the first toy of its kind, part iPad and part traditional toy that I have had a chance to try out. I am impressed with its quality both as an application, iPad case and play set.

Please be aware that this app can also be enjoyed by those without the related Apptivity Barn, translated nicely for those without the play set.

I am happy to see that the one is still able to open the "baby door" now seen as part of this app during the barnyard and barn areas, as well as other ways of making this app functional for those without the plastic characters or barn toy.

Although my son enjoyed the play set very much, I am happy that he can explore this app simply on our iPad as well, good to know when grabbing the play set and all its pieces may be less than convenient.

It is also good to know that the play pieces can be used even when the iPad is not incased in the Apptivity Barn, as there have been times when my son wants a quick turn at this app while another is working on our device, and it is nice that at times like this my boy can use the included parts but we don't bother switching cases for just a few minutes.

Although I would not expect iPad-enhanced toys to replace traditional toys that children are immersed in on a daily basis, nor would I desire a toy like this to be a child's first or only play set experience, I am happy that the social aspect of the interactions found in the Apptivity Barn creates an experience beyond simply staring at a television or computer screen.

In may ways, the experience is different than those I had with toys growing up, children still need to use their creativity to explore these scenes, especially the case in the open-ended sections of this app, allowing me to recommend the Little People Apptivity Barn and related application.

Avokiddo Emotions - Playful learning for kids is an absolutely delightful interactive app for toddlers and preschool children that will be enjoyed by all ages.

This app is utterly intuitive to children as this application opens to a choice of one of three charming, stylized and cartoony animals - be it a giraffe, sheep or zebra.

After a selection is made, this animal appears on the next page in front of a colorful, simple background where objects can be found at the bottom of the screen which can be dragged to the animal waiting to be engaged by the player.

Various foods and dress-up-like accessories such as wonderfully themed hats, neck ties and other clothing details are included as well as musical instruments and food items are to be found, do experiment with how the animal interacts with each of these objects.

There are no specific instructions for the game play of this app, nor does there need to be, as children draw from their own basic life experiences to feed and dress these animals as well as help with other accessories such as a camera to snap photos with or a sponge to help with washing.

It is hard to express how much fun these animals' reactions to these items are, but they are both engaging and adorable as when given these objects, these creatures express emotions from humor to frustration and even sadness, complete with sound effects and cute animations, as well as expressive language - neutral verbalizations and facial cues to express these varied feelings.

I am smitten with all the surprises within this app - especially how one can pull a lever for a new series of objects to interact with when children grow tired of the first series of animal items.

Another favorite moment is how oftentimes different hats also work to create different themed backgrounds such as a winter hat turning the landscape into snow-covered hills or the nightcap turning the scene to bedtime with lights out for the creature.

I had the chance to show this app to my husband as he passed by the open door to our office. Without a word, I handed him the iPad. He asked my why the giraffe was so sad, so I explained that I took away his disco.

With an inquisitive look, he took hold of the iPad and began dragging objects to my animal friend - again triggering the disco background as well as working with many other props, smiling and laughing for a longer time than I expected him to spend on a children’s app in passing as I waited for the return of the iPad.

Every element of this app is top-notch. The look of this app is charming, with bright colors and animals that express emotion through body language in ways children of all ages will be able to interpret.

This app is completely open-ended and includes over 100 props to enjoy as well as being able to take photos of favorite dress-up moments that children will enjoy.

I appreciate how easy it was for me to empathize with these animals as I enjoy making them feel happy, smiling and showing their pleasure with nuances that I have a hard time putting into words as well as feeling a little bad if I scare these creatures with an alarm clock or horn or feed them them less than favorite foods.

Even though these animals may express displeasure at what is being offered to them, I am happy to say that these moments of animal sadness and annoyance are momentary, not over the top and are still rooted in silliness in order not to upset the children using this app.

There is an incredible amount of cheeky humor included within this app that I can highly recommend for families with young children. Do not be surprised if older children and their adults love this app as well.

I can also see this application being used in Special Education settings as children can practice their abilities to recognize different emotions as well as some social cause and effects, trying to predict whether or not a character will appreciate or dislike being fed their favorite food as well their reaction to it being taken away from them.

Also of note is how these animals look directly into what is perceived as the eyes of the player - great for fostering eye contact - a difficult thing for some spectrum children.

For these reasons and more, Avokiddo Emotions - Playful learning for kids is totally worth the download. My son and I have also really enjoyed this developer's other app, Beck and Bo, a wonderful puzzle app of sorts that includes great style and richness. If interested, do check out my review of this other app here at GiggleApps

The Terrifying Building in Eyeville is a thoughtfully written and wonderfully illustrated children’s storybook app.

This is a very personal storybook developed by Joel Grondrup as his daughter was diagnosed with retinoblastoma, a rare cancer of the retina.

The Terrifying Building in Eyeville is an allegory for this cancer as a small man named Kanser arrives in Eyetown after falling off the back of a truck during a rain storm. He knocks on the door of Mr. Nice and asks if he can start building onto Mr. Nice’s home as he is a traveling builder who looks for houses to build onto.

Mr. Nice allows Kanser into his home where Kanser takes over building, spreading his strange project throughout the house, building upwards and outwards, affecting the entire community until Eyeville has to be removed to protect the entire country - a sad loss for all, but tolerable as another Eyeville, a town exactly like the first, can now be called home.

I can’t say enough about how impressive this story is. The illustrations are wonderful, quirky and stylized. The included narration is excellent, clear and easy to listen to, and the character of Mr. Nice is well developed.

The storyline of this tale is well thought out, with a beginning, middle and end which may seem obvious, yet my experience with other children’s stories is that not all writers have a handle on a dramatic structure, so when so very well done, it is worth pointing out.

I praise Grondrup’s ability to create the character of Kanser who is definitely ominous and foreboding - possibly more so for adults and older children who can see the ties to cancer, but without being overwhelming for young children.

The sadness of the devastation of cancer is also touched upon here with wonderful grace, again never maudlin or overly upsetting, yet quite moving in this town’s sad acceptance of their loss of Eyetown.

The layers of metaphor are very well incorporated without being over the top, such as the hero of this story being President Sharp, who organizes the removal of Eyeville for the good of the country when Kanser tried to build down the road, representing to me the spread of cancer to the ocular nerve, and surgical cure - that being the removal of the eyeball.

I have great ambivalence in critiquing this personal and in most regards is perfectly realized storybook, especially as this tale is not explicitly to be looked at as the perfect allegory for this disease. It gives me pause, However that Mr. Nice allows Kanser into his home, wanting in some way to help Kanser, as this allows the building to begin - even though express permission is never granted.

I actually find it quite captivating and a little sad how things became out of control after Mr. Nice takes a blind eye to Kanser’s antics - an excellent metaphor for finding a concerning lump or unusual bruising and making the assumption that it will just stop on its own, as failing to act on signs of possible cancer is not desirable.

I do wonder, however, if there are unintended messages about “nice” people or kids getting cancer because Mr. Nice does not stop Kanser, as he hated to say “No” and make people feel sad.

In some ways, I appreciate this moment as parents need to be advocates for their families even if this makes them not “nice” to some doctors when asking for a second opinion or when asking for their concerns to be heard when they have a feeling that their child is sicker than doctors have been able to determine.

Having said this, I do hope children will not internalize the moment Kanser is allowed in - a moment that is nicely touched upon when Mr. Nice, feeling guilty for allowing Kanser into his home, is calmed by President Sharp, who explains that Kanser will build wherever he goes and can’t be stopped. For many, this will negate my concern, possibly making this app a great tool for discussing the complex emotions that Mr. Nice feels that others may face during diagnosis and treatment as well.

I do, however, wonder about how Kanser moves into this town, as he travels to Eyeville on the back of a truck during a rainy night. This truck is “barreling” down the dark, slippery road and hits an old oak branch that had fallen into the street, swerving and dropping Kanser from a biohazard-marked box on the back of the truck.

I can’t help but wonder if Kanser would have bypassed this town if the truck had not been traveling at a more reasonable speed in bad weather, and if this detail to a link of cancer being triggered by a faulty gene or environmental cause - or possibly just a clever, cinematic way to introduce Kanser into this story.

I enjoy the fact that there is so much to think about in this multi-layered story and recommend this app for any family whether or not their family has been touched by cancer.

The message that stands out to me is that decisive action is necessary in the face of cancer, wonderfully expressed in this app. There are many ways to interpret this story, and I am sure different readers will enjoy it on many levels.

This app allows one to read, listen or follow along with text while also listening to included stellar narration. The pages of this book, when not in reading mode, turn themselves as if on Auto Play, which works well. I would also have liked a way to pause the page turns if needed as well as a menu of pages, especially as this story has a nice length to it, and it would be helpful to pick up from where one stops if necessary.

Even with these notes, The Terrifying Building in Eyeville is a memorable, beautifully crafted application that adults will enjoy, possibly on a different level from their children.

GazziliMath is a charming and fun math app that includes six bright and colorful animal-themed sections that focus on a variety of early math topics.

GazziliMath is part of a series of engaging educational applications which include scripted narration which lead children through each exercise that include learning about numerals, counting, adding one, the concept of ten, subtraction and halves - nicely increasing the difficulty of these sections.

Children will be drawn into the world of GazziliMath as they use animals during their visit to Gazzili Park, visiting different areas of this park - very zoo-like in the different animal habitats that one visits.

Also nicely included is a musical section where children can unlock a new instrument when completing each section. This page is lively with animation as animals play these instruments which sound very good and truly quite musical as one can tap these instruments on or off to mix together different sounds.

The one note I do have for this app is that it would have been nice to see and hear each number counted if the objects in question are tapped when children perform the simple math asked of them in this app.

I do like, however, that included settings allowing one to keep or remove the wonderful spoken instructions that lead children through these activities as well as muting the narration but having the option to include the words to be read by oneself, as well as other narration and text combinations. The sound effects as well as music can be silenced separately as well - always a nice touch.

GazziliMath is a very nice choice for an early math app. The interactions are math-based and although other hotspots exist that include mild animation and sound effects, they are never random or distracting, making this an app worth checking out.

There is a new series of educational apps for iPad that parents and educators should be aware of - namely, Leo’s Pad.

These apps - three that are currently available - are unique as they star interesting historical characters as children, specifically a young Leonardo da Vinci, Galileo Galilei and Marie Curie allowing this trio to be apart of unique science-themed interactions such as color mixing to create fuel with the help of Marie as children help assist Galileo build a rocket or help Leo work on interesting contraptions such as a catapult or unique vehicle, the gyro racer that has both elements of science fiction as well as a fun representation of the inventive ideas da Vinci is known for - much to the amusement of adults as well as children.

These appisodes are full of interactions that always further the storyline and are never distracting and include activities also found in other apps such as drawing, tracing or sorting, yet these tasks here are used to keep children fully immersed in the world that has been created within Leo’s Pad.

The look of these apps is marvelous, with computer generated images that rival CGI games geared towards adults, including the look of these characters, their hair and facial expressions - elements not always well realized in 3D computer-generated images such as this, with a resolution quite fine as well as bright and colorful, also including many moments of wonderfully lush landscapes further creating a world within Leo's Pad apps.

I must admit that I was a little hesitant regarding the idea of Leo’s Pad including child versions of these great scientists, to me reminiscent of the Muppet Babies, to me a lesser show staring animated Muppets that toss away the history of the Muppets characters meeting for all of them to conveniently be babies together, applicable here as it is obvious that in terms of time periods and location, that it is impossible for these three scientists to have been childhood friends - an adult concern that I let go of when I saw the overall quality of this app. Parents, however may want to explain who these characters are based on as well as the historically accurate time periods in which the characters lived.

The first of these apps is free, with the rest of these apps available for in-app purchases - add-ons that I am not typically keen about, but this is a rare time when this format works well. It also includes free glimpses of paid appisodes allowing parents to get a feel for what they are purchasing.

Parents and educators also may be interested in the free Parents' Pad section of this app which analyzes the progress made in these apps for each child's account, as multiple children can have their personal data saved within.

A lot of information is offered within the Parents' Pad and can be overwhelming at first glance. Do take the time to fully explore what this section has to offer, being an area that teachers will also find helpful for keeping tabs on the progress of their students within Leo’s Pad.

It is nice that children’s social intelligence is also touched upon here as seen in an area where the child, Leo, and Leo’s pet dragon all paint together, each with his own easel but sharing the paint brush, asking children to wait their turn. Although this section means well, I don’t think it translates as children are left staring at their blank canvas as others paint at the corners of the page - simply not engaging and also setting them up for frustration.

I would prefer watching others paint pictures directly as this is more interesting and gives children a chance to empathize with their painter working hard on his project so as not to steal the brush back. I simply could not help thinking during waiting my turn that Leonardo da Vinci has multiple easels to share but only owns a single paintbrush? I also am not a fan of making children share in general, preferring to set time limits and then pass along the toy or item in question to other children when ready.

Even with this note, there is an undeniable level of top quality within these apps and an obviously high level of work that has gone into Parents' Pad as well. The ability for difficulty of the tasks within this app to adapt to the ability of the user is quite interesting and makes these apps worthy choices for children of varied ages.

It is worth noting that the developers at Kidaptive have plans for 25 of these appisodes in the future, with appisode number four to be released soon. I am interested to see what new adventures these apps will bring, and look forward to more of these apps in the future.

Helping My Dad - Little Critter and Just Grandpa and Me - Little Critter are charming apps adapted from the storybooks of the same name, now developed by Oceanhouse Media - great choices for Father's Day.

In these tales, Little Critter tries hard to be helpful to his loved ones although he is unaware of the mess he makes in the wake of his helpfulness.

In Helping My Dad, Little Critter tries his best to take care of his father, creating more work for him along the way as kids are known to do, such as waking him up early on dad’s day off or making breakfast, causing terrible disarray in the kitchen.

Little Critter tries to cut the grass but the lawn mower gets away from him, destroying planted flowers, washes the family car with the windows open, tries to spray paint the house a random color and attempts to remove a bees' nest by swinging at it with a baseball bat. Little Critter even helps “test” a new hammer at a hardware store, each time being unaware of the problems for others he is causing.

Parents as well as children can certainly relate to Little Critter trying his best to be helpful before he is really capable, and I love the tender way his dad deals with all these situations with good nature and kindness.

This title is a more modern Little Critter formatted like a “My First I Can Read” book, with the text found to the side of the page away from the illustrations in order to make these words stand out without distraction as well as to focus on creating easy-to-read sentences with carefully chosen words. Parents may also notice fewer details within the illustrations - not something that will be a concern to children.

Just Grandpa and Me is a classic Mercer Mayer story as Little Critter takes a trip into the city to a large department store to buy a suit - a slightly dated premise that will come across as lovingly sentimental for some parents who remember these types of trips that they may have experienced in their own childhood.

Nevertheless, children of all ages will be able to relate to Little Critter as he sings loudly on the train, makes the most of the store's revolving door, momentarily losing Grandpa and making a mess of the suit choices that Little Critter browses through, all to the annoyance of those around Little Critter, who is oblivious to others.

Parents may enjoy these tales even more than their children as parents can relate to children as they come across as self-absorbed during these early years.

The illustrations in this story are wonderful, full of details that will delight as Little Critter is on his big city adventure. Parents can also use the included sideway glances Little Critter receives while causing a mess or being a distraction to explain to children social mores and how to behave when in public.

I can remember as a child at the local amusement park, there was a sign which read “missing parents” as from the lost child’s view they are not lost; it is their parents who are. This is the kind of delightful point-of-view found within the Little Critter titles - always relatable, humorous and fun on a variety of levels.

Also note the hidden creatures within these apps be it spider, mouse or grasshopper, details found in these titles that translates well to a simple seek and find game.

Each of these titles includes the chance to listen to excellent child-read narration in these first-person storybooks, to read this book to oneself, or to view this book in Auto Play where the pages turn by themselves. A menu of pages is also included, and it is especially nice that one can make one's own recordings as well as share them with others who also have access to the same applications.

As many may know, word and picture associations are a big part of Oceanhouse Media‘s applications, allowing children to tap on an object or character to see the corresponding word printed on the screen as well as to hear it spoken by narration - an option that can now be turned off as can the sound effects.

Little Critter apps are uniformly marvelous first readers as they contain short easy-to-read sentences that are well-written and never come across as childish or condescending - an issue I have had with other early readers. Also nice is the ability either to follow along with highlighted text or to read if a word or paragraph is tapped.

These titles would make wonderful apps to enjoy for Father's Day, as they focus on these familial relationships with great humor and tenderness.

The King's Stilts - Dr. Seuss, as the name may imply is a Dr. Seuss app adapted by Oceanhouse Media, is an interesting story that may be less well known than other works by Dr. Seuss.

I really enjoy this title, written in prose rather than the rhyming style of writing that Dr. Seuss is known for.

This is the story of a king who balances his responsibilities with play, a lover of stilt-walking who enjoys this pastime a great deal. One of his most important duties is to protect his kingdom from flooding as they are protected from water on three sides by thick Dike Trees that are used to keep the water from rising into the community. Yet these trees are threatened by Nizzard birds who devour these levies made out of trees. To prevent this, guard cats are used to discourage the birds, and this system works well when the king is feeling in balance between work and play, taking time to stilt-walk as his reward for all his hard work.

Enter the foil of this story, a terrible man who convinces a child to steal and hide the king's stilts, with a disastrous effect. The king becomes so depressed without his stilts that he is not an effective leader, and the guard cats become lazy and are no protection against the Nizzard Birds which in turn leads to flooding until the child takes a stand and returns the king's stilts back to their rightful owner.

I really appreciate the expository sections of this story, going into great details of the king's day-to-day tasks keeping the guard cats healthy and happy, and in turn protecting the kingdom from the Nizzards and their destruction. Great detail is also given about the geography of this low-lying kingdom surrounded by water from three sides as well as a fully developed character of the king, a relatable character for adults as well as children, who works hard and really enjoys his favorite pastime.

The look of this storybook is also quite interesting, with the heavy use of black, white and shades of grey and red as a single colorful shade that pops for a nice effect.

The look as well as the fable-like storytelling of the King's Stilts is reminiscent of Dr. Seuss’s The 500 Hats of Bartholomew Cubbins, a book published a year earlier that includes this same palette that may seem stark in comparison to other, possibly better known Seuss titles.

I honestly prefer the short stories by Dr. Seuss that are narrative in nature without being focused on rhyming language that can seem overly stylized for my taste. Because of this, I am grateful that The King's Stilts was developed into an application to be re-discovered by those who may not have known about this story until now.

I am also happy to hear this lengthy story read by my favorite narrator, John Bell, who does an excellent job reading this detailed and complex story - a great choice for older children who will marvel at the chain of events that puts the kingdom in jeopardy.

Like other Oceanhouse Media apps, one can read this app to oneself, listen to stellar narration, or use Auto Play to turn the page automatically as if watching a video. The words are highlighted when spoken - always a nice touch, as is the ability to tap a word or even a paragraph to hear it read out loud as well as to tap on an image to see and hear it labeled appropriately.

New to these titles is the ability to silence the narration or ambient sound effects individually.

One can also now turn off the interactive "Picture / Word associations" if one wishes to do so as well as make one’s own recording and even share the voiceover with others who have access to this same application.

The zooming and panning of the book's illustrations is always pleasing, allowing readers to view these drawings close-up as well as drawing the reader's eye to areas of the page for a nice effect.

I look forward to more of these Dr. Seuss titles to be adapted, especially stories that I am not as familiar with.

Wee You-Things is a charming app that teaches about diversity in a way that is quirky and delightful.

In Wee You-Things, “You-things” is a term used to represent what makes everyone unique from others - differences that are celebrated within Wee You-Things as lovingly stylized and full of whimsy.

Many interesting characters are introduced in this interactive app with such characters as “Kai with an extra eye” or “Ruth has a purple tooth” that each includes hidden hotspots as creative as the characters themselves.

Although I am not always a fan of storybooks that rhyme, the lyrical nature of this app includes a level of sophistication that I appreciate, adding to the interest of whoever may be on the next page, following within these rhyming parameters.

I really enjoy all the bright colors and all the different characters included as well as the ability to create my own character - either with the use of one’s own photo or by creating a character from choosing face and body elements as well as one’s own “You-Thing” that will be added - both text as well as image at the end of this book.

I can see babies and toddlers simply being drawn into each colorful character as a chance to trigger fun, animated hotspots, while preschool-age children and older will more clearly understand the message of diversity and tolerance for others who are different from ourselves.

I always find apps with an indie, slightly edgy tone refreshing, which is the case for Wee You-Things. I have enjoyed all the wonderfully odd moments this app has to offer - an app worth checking out.

With great enthusiasm, I would like to introduce readers to the new interactive book, The Poppin Princess.

This is a marvelously crafted tale, unique in how this storyline is played out, yet also grounded with classic fairytale elements from stories such as Cinderella or The Princess and the Pea to create a perfect new story that children and adults will adore.

The look of this app is lovingly stylized, with bold colors and perfectly realized illustrations to create the world of this kingdom, said to be “elegant, refined and sophisticated” - words I would use to describe the look of this storybook as a whole, yet also including a modern, almost indie quality as well.

The included music is of an equally high quality, and I am happy to report that the interactions also hit all the right notes, adding to the humor and richness of this story with nothing loud or distracting.

This is the classic story of a prince in need of a mate and of how his parents, the queen and king, test lady suitors to see who is appropriate to become royalty.

I appreciate how I was drawn into this tale, as I became smitten by the cheeky details surrounding Lou, Princess of the Wind, as in time, readers will understand that flatulence has a large part to play in this story, as gassy foods are fed to ladies who are looking to become princess to see how they handle such situations.

Yes, this story includes fart jokes and may not be suitable for all families because of this, but it is impressive how even these moments are handled with grace, making this a lovely story for all but the very most squeamish of families.

I do also enjoy how Lou is in some ways an everywoman, winning the prince's heart while being both quirky as well as regal in her own special way, reminding me how Helena Bonham Carter might be illustrated for a children’s storybook.

Other details I am impressed by is the inter-racial relationship between the blond-haired, blue-eyed queen and the darker skinned non-Caucasian king, with race never made mention of but definitely an item that children will notice.

It is worth noting that this is a French app that includes both French and English versions. There is an option of hearing an excellent narrator who, although having an accent to American ears, does a wonderful job reading this story. Children also have the chance to read along, as the text can be seen if one taps a piece of paper with a wax seal to see this paper unfold, displaying the text of this story, adding to the royal tone as well.

A menu of pages is also available if one pulls down the tea bag at the top right of the screen, indicative of how well every detail has been crafted.

There is an obvious amount of love that has gone into the Poppin Princess, placing it on the short list of favorite storybooks of mine to date - high praise to be sure.

I do hope my mention of the fart jokes has not turned off readers, as this is presented with more sophistication that I have probably expressed. It is delightful in every way - hard to explain really, but I want readers to experience this story for themselves as I did the first time.

I have noticed through iTunes that this story has not yet received any reviews or an average rating, making me wonder if not many families are currently aware of this title. It would be a shame if this beautiful tale fell through the cracks and did not get the recognition it so greatly deserves. For this reason, I highly recommend that families check out The Poppin Princess.

Jazzy World Tour is a delightful exploration of music around the world, including the same characters and watercolor stylings as seen in the earlier companion app, A Jazzy Day.

This app opens up with different countries marked with a flag on a world map. Tap to select a flag to explore the related country.

Three sections are included, specifically Learn, Play, and Create.

In Learn, readers will be taken to the country in question, allowing them to read a nicely written section which includes an overview of each area, such as a specific city of note, language spoken and other basic information about geography and culture.

A wonderful variety of instruments as well as animals native to each country are also included. Tap to hear each name, be it of animal or instrument, spoken by a narrator, as well as hear the related sounds, be it creature or musical. Other important items of each country are also represented.

The Play section of this app allows one to tap the animals one has learned about in order to trigger their playing of the instruments - a cute section children will enjoy, complete with slight animations.

Create works much like a sticker book, allowing children to drag animals, instruments and other objects onto the page complete with a country-specific landscape, but this app also adds mild animated elements as well as musical sound effects among these stickers, allowing the animals to play their instruments so that there is a video including these stickers being dragged around the screen during the recording. Save videos as well as photos in the section My Travel Book to view later.

Adults will appreciate the sophisticated instruments included, such as the Oud from Egypt, Agogo from Brazil, Cajon from Spain or Sarangi from India, allowing children to hear instruments they may not typically have the chance to hear played.

I also enjoy the bright and colorful illustrations with marbled watercolor details - a nice touch. It would be nice, however, for the full paragraphs of text to be narrated as well - not just the title word - allowing children to get full use out of the app when spending alone time with the iPad.

Even with this note, parents will be happy to read the many thoughtful facts included within Jazzy World Tour.

I have some interesting news that I would like to share with readers. Toca Boca has recently acquired zinc Roe’s series of Tickle Tap apps.

As readers may know, Toca Boca is a favorite developer of mine, as are the Tickle Tap apps that were developed by zinc Roe a few years back. These Tickle Tap apps were some of the first apps I shared with my son, and they still are perennial favorites that have kept my son’s attention for all this time.

The joining of Toca Boca and the creative minds behind these Tickle Tap Apps has created a true dream team of app developers with the common bonds of highly stylized illustrations, bright and bold colors and whimsical details that produce very high expectations of what is to come from this new developer, Sago Sago.

Sago Sago’s new app is a re-working of one of my son's and my favorite apps, Sound Shaker, now known as the universal app Sago Mini Sound Box.

I must admit that as a huge fan of the original, it was a bit difficult to see an app that I felt married to become different from the app that I know and love, but Sago Mini Sound Box does not disappoint.

This app opens up with the choice of nice, different sounding choice of boxes that nicely demonstrate each of the unique sound choices offered, be it the soothing musical sounds of xylophone, flute, chimes, or piano or the more nonsensical sounds of vehicles honking, dogs barking, farm animals or a variety of novelty sound effects.

Once a choice has been made, simply tap on the screen to see a colorful, musical ball appear on the page. Unlike the original Sound Shaker where these dots can be held to change the note of the instrument chosen, traveling up the scale until the ball cracks open to reveal a bird flying out of what is now perceived to be a cracked open egg, these spheres will not change notes if one’s tap is held, but will instead break open to a number of different animated animals whom I presume will be re-occurring characters within these app - exciting for babies and toddlers, to be sure.

Different notes are still an important element of this app, however, as here, the blank page is broken up into note sections, allowing users to play the page like a piano of sorts, tapping on different areas of the page to make music - a detail not possible in the first application.

Children will also have a lot of fun dragging individual balls around the page, crashing into others for great physics-based animations and sound effects. This app is also a great choice for tilting the device around as this will move all the dots at once around the page much like gravity would affect balls within a glass container.

My favorite detail of this app is the new inclusion of multi-touch, now allowing multiple fingers to trigger interactions at once, be it creating multiple dots at once or dragging many fingers-worth of these fun shapes around the page. I also adore how the balls, if created with multi-touch, are now decorated with a variety of colors and patterns, much like Easter eggs, encouraging the sharing of this app with others as well as helping explore the dexterity needed to place multiple fingers from the same hand down on the page - more difficult for young children that using a single finger to trigger a tap or swipe.

Even the minute details included within, such as the confetti stars seen when balls collide into each other as well as the unique way each animal leaves the screen after cracking out of its dot are a testament to the high production value of this deceptively simple children’s app.

Even though this app was developed with children two years of age in mind, I can imagine younger children enjoying this app a great deal as a distraction as well as older children, possibly playing this app with a sibling as well as by themselves.

Although change is never easy for me, and I must admit I had a range of emotions about the old Tickle Tap apps being acquired and no longer available in their original form, I knew Toca Boca was a developer whom I could trust to do right by this series of children’s applications, and I was correct, now also exposing children who many not have known of the earlier Tickle Tap apps to these new Sago Sago apps.

Having been interested since Toca Boca’s first release, I am now also excited to see what Sago Sago will come up with next, and I do look forward to reviewing more of these apps here at GiggleApps in the future.