Twas the Night Before Christmas Illustrated Interactive Story with Music Review

Twas the Night Before Christmas Illustrated Interactive Story with Music is an app from the developers at Once Upon an App, which contains both a storybook as well as hidden images that children can find while listening to the story. In this deluxe version, a twenty-eight page coloring book has been added as well.

This classic story about a first-person account of Christmas Eve has taken on many forms, both in classic storybooks as well as in many applications. This version has a lovely antique quality that many adults and children will find appealing as well as very nice narration and background music which is quite soothing. What really differentiates itself from other versions of this story is the option of viewing this in storybook form or of choosing the hidden pictures mode of this app. Here, the pages are in black and white until the player spots the image in question; only then does the page turn into full color and the story continues. There is also the option of coloring in these black and white pages.

I like the hidden images being included in this app, appreciating that they are of moderate difficulty, even for adults. I especially like that while some of the pictures to be found are real objects, such as a doll lying on a bed, becoming easily visible as the page turns to full color, while other times the pictures to be found are those that are abstract, like the outlines of people found hidden in the branches of a Christmas tree or in the creases of bed linens and all but disappearing as the page gets colored in. Added hints may be useful for when the player gets stuck, which can happen in this sophisticated puzzle game. Briefly highlighting the found image while on the colored page may also be helpful.

The coloring book included is well-done, with the ability to color any of the black and white pages bringing a lot of content to this coloring book. The thirty colors to choose from as well as a variety of brush sizes, eraser plus other options all make for a quality coloring book that gives this app relevance past the Christmas season. Parents should note that although this is a universal app, the coloring book is only available on the iPad, and although the hidden pictures are included on the iPhone version, they look and play best on the iPad’s larger screen.