Category Archives: interactive book apps

0

Six FREE “You Tell Me” Stories

|

Oscar Goes to the Zoo

FREE for a limited time – Oscar Goes to the Zoo, a “You Tell Me” story. In this story, a cute little dachshund goes to the zoo and wonders what it might be like to be the different animals that he sees there. In the end he discovers that he likes being himself. Cute story!

“You Tell Me” stories are designed with some special features: 1. They incorporate WordWinks into the story. WordWinks are questions and comments written in red italics. To maximize children’s understanding of the story, teachers often add comments/questions as they read aloud. WordWinks are meant to model that teacher voice. 2. They have a “Retell, Record & Share” section. Kids are asked to order 4 scenes from the story then record their own version of the story to share with grandparents or friends. 3. If you register, you can receive a FREE Oscar Goes to the Zoo activity book by email.

If you have a preschooler or early reader, check out this e-book. I love that it emphasizes “thinking about reading.”

Download link: https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/oscar-goes-to-the-zoo/id587648796?mt=8&uo=4

More FREE books from the same developer:

Oscar Finds a Home: https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/chicken-little-wordwinks-retell/id718443975?mt=8&uo=4w

Goldilocks and the Three Bears: https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/goldilocks-and-the-3-bears/id650117052?mt=8&uo=4

Chicken Little: https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/chicken-little-wordwinks-retell/id718443975?mt=8&uo=4w

Little Red Hen: https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/little-red-hen-wordwinks-retell/id941502676?mt=8&uo=4

Harry and Lulu: https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/little-red-hen-wordwinks-retell/id941502676?mt=8&uo=4

 

 

0

Chalk Box Story

|

Chalk Box StoryChalk Box Story by Don Freeman (author of Corduroy) is FREE today! Cleverly done – this app encourages kids to participate by using the box of chalk to help create the story’s setting and characters. The bonus section of the app lets kids can tap & drag 8 interactive items into the story’s final scene. Very cute!!

The Chalk Box Story, an interactive storybook for kids based on the classic tale by

 

0

Read with Biff, Chip, and Kipper

|

biff, chip

FREE for a limited time – Read with Biff, Chip, and Kipper – Level 1, eight interactive books for young children who are ready to read.  The series stars the characters from the UK’s Oxford Reading TreeRead. The app includes four stories with controlled vocabulary and four phonics books with letter/sound practice.  Each book also features “Tips for Parents” – simple ideas for reading and talking about the story with your child. The books encourage kids to have fun looking for details in the story. Five additional levels of this series are available for purchase. Download these level one for your beginning reader!

Download link: https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/read-biff-chip-kipper-level/id771805962?mt=8&uo=4

0

My Annoying Little Brother

|

MY Annoying Little BrotherFREE for a limited time – My Annoying Little Brother, an interactive book about a girl and her younger sibling. The story, written by Marie Elena Cortés and illustrated by Chris Leathers, was originally published as a book. Kids can choose to read the entire page or individual words. They can also tap on the pages to find sounds and hidden animations. The story is told from 2 perspectives: the girl explains why her brother is annoying AND her little brother explains things quite differently. The ending is sweet! This educational app would be fabulous for a lesson on point of view!

Download link: https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/my-annoying-little-brother/id634247760?mt=8&uo=4

0

Love You Back!

|

imageFREE for a limited time – Love You Back, a touching story about the love between a grandmother and her granddaughter. The app has three modes: read to me, read myself, or autoplay. The app can be personalized by recording the story in your own voice. Sweet!

Download link: https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/love-you-back!/id451554889?mt=8&uo=4

0

Martha Speaks Story Maker.

|

image

Martha Speaks Story Maker from PBS is FREE! Kids can create eight different interactive stories with this educational app based on the 1990s book by Susan Meddaugh. Martha is a dog who can speak as a result of eating alphabet soup. She is the narrator of the stories that your child creates. Kids choose a who (character), a where (setting), and several whats (more characters and objects) to move the plot along. The app presents 128 different vocabulary words that are reinforced in the “word bone zone” which is found at the end of each story. Thanks PBS for another great educational app for young kids!!

Download link: https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/martha-speaks-story-maker/id556624499?mt=8&uo=4

0

Pat the Bunny

|

image

Pat the Bunny goes digital and it’s on sale for $.99.

Download link: https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/pat-the-bunny/id430902036?mt=8&uo=4

 

 

0

Walter’s Flying Bus

|

Walter's Flying Bus

FREE for a limited time – Walter’s Flying Bus, a story inspired by the real-life dreams of Walter and his friends (orphaned, special needs children in Uganda.) Walter finds an abandoned bus. With his friends and a little work, the engine soon roars to life! This e-book is inspirational – a celebration of the talents & beauty of every child. It is narrated in English, Spanish and Luganda (a primary language of Uganda). The educational app also includes mini-documentaries of the real-life children featured in the book. According to the developer  – “ONE HUNDRED PERCENT of after-tax profits from App sales go to efforts helping orphans with special needs, including advocacy, care, and adoption assistance grants.” Nice story with a great message!

Walter's Flying Bus - Chosen and Dearly Loved, LLC

0

Nighty Night

|

nighty night

On sale for $.99 – a sweet bedtime app for little your little ones.

Over 3 million downloads and counting… Nighty Night is the perfect go-to-sleep app for kids 1 – 4. The app has it all – cute animals, sleepy lullaby music, great narration, and fabulous artwork. The artwork is beautifully done by Heidi Wittlinger, an Oscar nominated artist. The story is perfect for your child’s bedtime ritual. Kids help to put 7 sleepy animals to bed by clicking off the lights around the farm thus setting the mood for their own bedtime. 🙂 Six additional animals can be added to the story with in-app purchases. The story can be switched from the winter version to the summer version and it can be changed to 12 different languages – English, Dutch, French, German, Italian, Japanese, Portuguese, Russian, Chinese, Spanish, Swedish, and Turkish. This educational app is really lovely and it has been successful internationally.  It won App of the Year 2011 in the “books category” in Germany & the U.S. It also reached #1 in iPad books in the US, Brazil, Spain, Denmark, Portugal, Germany, Sweden, South Africa, Australia Switzerland and Austria! Love this app!!

Nighty Night! HD – Bedtime stories – Story book for children - Shape Minds and Moving Images GmbH

nighty night circus

Fox and Sheep has just released another Nighty Night app called Nighty Night Circus. It is available for $2.99. In this app kids help put eight circus animals to bed by switching off the lights or blowing out candles. Each circus animal wants to show his tricks off before going to sleep – super cute! The app has all of the same great features as the original – cute animals, sleepy lullaby music, great narration, and fabulous artwork done by Heidi Wittlinger. It’s no wonder that Nighty Night Circus is on Apple’s Best of 2014 list!
Download link: https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/nighty-night-circus-bedtime/id931936670?mt=8&uo=4

0

Reading Rainbow

|

Give the gift of reading…

Reading Rainbow is a library of over 200 books and videos for kids ages 3 – 9. This educational app is FREE to download but requires a subscription ($9.99 per month or $29.99 for 6 months) for full access. Once you subscribe, your children (up to 5 per family) will have unlimited access to the interactive books and video trips. This app is similar to the award-winning Reading Rainbow television series that was on PBS from 1983 – 2006. It even features the same host – Grammy winner, LeVar Burton. In less than a year, over 2.5 million books/video field trips have been viewed with this app!

After installing the app, kids fill out their profile (name, age, kinds of stories they like to read) and may choose one free book from one of the 6 themed island in the sky. The books are professionally read and feature “Read to Me” or “Read on My Own” options. They are lightly animated and include interactive activities that add to the story. A sticker rewards program motivates kids to read. There is also an individualized tracking system so parents can see books selected and minutes read for each child.

I must admit, I downloaded this app because of nostalgia. My kids grew up watching Reading Rainbow and we all loved it.I am happy to say that the appeal of Reading Rainbow today is the same as it was almost 30 years ago – Reading Rainbow provides kids with quality authentic literature. If I had a child/ grandchild (ages 3-9) or if I were still in the classroom, I would subscribe without hesitation. What a fabulous resource!

Highly Recommended!

Reading Rainbow - Reading Rainbow