The Three Little Pigs- Nosy Crow interactive storybook Review

Posted by Amy Solomon on March 24th, 2011
iPhone App - Designed for iPhone, compatible with iPad

The Three Little Pigs- Nosy Crow interactive storybook is an absolutely wonderful take on this classic story with versions available for both iPad and iPhone. This app has excelent illustrations, music and interactions that I appreciate, possibly more than my child who also really likes this book. One can enjoy this story with or without narration, and there is a plethora of things to explore here, no matter how you choose to read this book. Do move your device around a bit to see the wonder of their 3D effect; it is the best I have seen.


I feel fortunate that my son and I have had a chance to experience many versions of this classic tale, now having been turned into many story book applications. For us, this story never gets old and I am always excited to see how different developers bring this story to life for their specific project. This brilliant adaptation of the Three Little Pigs is a variation of the more modern and less violent version than the one first published in the 1840’s, here without the deaths of either the pigs or the wolf, making it possibly more family-friendly than the original. This story about three sibling pigs who go into the world on their own with varying degrees of work ethic and house construction is very classic in nature, but its style brings a freshness that one cannot resist.


I can’t say enough about the animations used here; they are as top-of-the-line as I could imagine with a wonderful palette of bright and bold colors, some of which look deeply saturated. I have seen a lot of takes on 3D but this is the best that I have seen. For example, when the device is moved, one can see many different perspectives, making the story new to the reader every time the story is read, and it is also nice that one can zoom in with the spread of fingertips to see even more detail. The nuances used here are fantastic, as the three little pigs - two boys, and a girl - have banter that is reminiscent of conversations of real, precocious children, an element that I may have appreciated more than my son as I can see him in the silliness and wit of these pigs although he may not. It is nice that blue dots included to encourage tapping, sometimes as a prompt to make a pig talk or as a hint to another interaction.

The interactions are plentiful and very well done, I especially making these pig kids talk, as well as building the pig houses and blowing them down, and it is nice that one is given the choice to tap a microphone icon as well as blow directly into the mice, something I don’t encourage my son to do on our pricey iPad. It is also fun to tap various characters and objects as this makes them jump, move or summersault up into the air. The wolf is wonderful here, and I give the developers credit for hitting the right note with him. He is definitely out to do the pigs wrong, but I don’t worry about him being too scary for young children. I don’t want to give anything away, but his method of chasing after the pigs has become an iconic moment in all of my ebook story experiences, again with a spot-on use of color! Also of note is the wonderful music used here and how each character has their own theme music, I especially enjoy the wolf's which is full of suspense and very different sounding from the rest of the app.

I like greatly the thoughtfulness of the reading choices given, as readers can watch the story play out much like a video, read the tale by themselves, or listen to and explore the wonderful interactions peppered through out this storybook in the "Read and Play" mode at their own pace, the choice is up to them. It is nice that the "Read by Myself" and "Read to Me" modes also contain many engaging places to tap, so children don't miss out on the fun no matter how they enjoy this book.

The one thing that I suggest adding in the future would be an option to turn off the 3D if a parent chooses, because I think when the device in the hands of an active and enthusiastic child, their movements may change perspective too often and may make the brilliant effect somewhat distracting.

Nosy Crow has become a favorite developer of mine with this release, and I am eagerly waiting for their other apps to be released in the months to come. They are a group to watch as they know how to make an application where every element is perfectly realized.

iPhone Screenshots

(click to enlarge)

The Three Little Pigs-Nosy Crow interactive storybook (for iPhone) screenshot 1 The Three Little Pigs-Nosy Crow interactive storybook (for iPhone) screenshot 2 The Three Little Pigs-Nosy Crow interactive storybook (for iPhone) screenshot 3 The Three Little Pigs-Nosy Crow interactive storybook (for iPhone) screenshot 4 The Three Little Pigs-Nosy Crow interactive storybook (for iPhone) screenshot 5
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