The Gobberwobbly Review

The Gobberwobbly is a wonderful interactive storybook for both iPhone or iPad from the brother and sister developer team, Ice Cream Fine Storybooks. This particular app focuses on the talents of Kate Buss, who wrote, illustrated and even composed and performed the lovely harp music included in this application.

The Gobberwobbly is a sock-eating monster who lives in one’s house. Said to be ferocious, this is actually a very sweet and endearing creature once you tame him and take care of him as a member of the family, but Gobberwobblies, like children, eventually grow up and leave home to become independent.

I find this story incredibly thoughtful and well-written, if not a little sad.

I love this creature, both identifying with the idea of a sock-stealing creature as my son’s socks go missing as well, but also as a parent watching my son grow older, knowing that each teachable moment is one step closer along the long path to my son making a life for himself as an adult - away from home and no longer a little boy, a bitter sweet idea, to say the least.

The ending of this story brings to mind the endings of both Winnie the Pooh and the song “Puff the Magic Dragon” as in both stories, the children in these tales outgrow their imaginary counterparts, but here, it is the creature who asks to become an independent being - something I find really quite moving. I am touched by the progression of time shown in this story to convey the Gobberwobbly as it gets older and more able to take of itself with images simple, elegant, and well chosen, such as the child who “tamed” the Gobberwobbly measuring the creature's height on a wall or the Gobberwolly taking care of its own personal grooming.

The illustrations are excellent as well, hand-drawn with care and painted lovingly with water colors to create images that will stay with me for a long time. Interactive hotspots are also included, but the focus here is on storytelling and the elements of storytelling; illustrations and music are perfectly realized.

This app, along with its soothing harp melodies, would make a wonderful bedtime story for kids who enjoy introspective, slightly sad tales, as this Gobberwobbly leaves the house, possibly never to be seen again, and it is said that “In fact you will most likely forget your Gobberwobbly before he forgets you" - something that I think may upset my sensitive 3.5 year old, as he is blissfully unaware that some day his love affair with his baby dolls will be over and may even be nothing more than a faint memory, if that. Because of this, I am waiting to share this story with my son, along with The Velveteen Rabbit - another story I love that my son is not quite ready for, as in this tale, the main character forgets about his old rabbit when replaced with a new one - a moment that always cuts deep for me, along with other grim details.

To me, The Gobberwobbly story is an instant classic and is a tale that adults may possibly love more than children, who will also enjoy this story, as parents understand all too well the melancholy feelings as their little monster grows.

I appreciate the narration used in this story, read by Kate and Patrick’s mother, whose delivery is very effective and nice to listen to, and it is nice that the words in this app are highlighted when read, but this narration can be turned off as well to read this book to oneself. Both Autoplay and a table of contents are also included, and one can customize this book with the readers name as well, a nice touch.

I have also noticed that the "Ken Burns Effect" is used among these stories developed by Kate and Patrick Buss, a technique which uses the panning and zooming off of a still image, such as of one of Kate Buss's beautiful watercolors, which is typically then incorporated into filmmaking. Here Kate's paintings are used as masters to create narrative moments or moving images from these illustrations, but when this takes place, these images lose focus momentarily and there are pages that contain too much movement, this technique being a little too noticeable for my taste. This is a minimal note on a application of great quality, but something to possibly think about for their upcoming storybooks.

I love the overall tone created within these stories from Ice Cream Storybooks, and even though I don’t think that my sensitive boy is quite ready to hear them just yet, I, as an adult, look forward to seeing what other thoughtful and important tales come from such a creative pair. I greatly look forward to seeing what else these two can come up with.