Category Archives: interactive book apps

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AzawhistleKids

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everything has a home

FREE again for a limited time, Everything Has a Home by Azawhistle Kids is the story of two friends who tackle the problem of a very messy room. Narrated by David Dayan Fisher, it is the story of Tejas who wants to clean up his room and surprise his mom. But… he is overwhelmed by the magnitude of the mess that “someone” has created. His best friend, Lollipop, helps him to organize his environment. Kids lend a hand as they place interactive objects in the correct place. Tejas and Lollipop use yoga & meditation as they inspire kids to tidy up.

AzawhistleKids - Leslie Hendry

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ABC Mouse.com Apps: Mount Rushmore & Grand Canyon

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Mount Rushmore

Grand Canyon

Get ready for summer…

2 FREE interactive books about U.S.Landmarks – ABC Mouse Search & Explore: Mount Rushmore & ABC Mouse Search & Explore: The Grand Canyon. Both books can be read in 3 modes – read to me, read with pause, or read myself. Geared towards young children, these books present fun facts about their respective locations. If you are planning a trip to either place this summer, you may want to take a look at these apps.

Mount Rushmore   ABCmouse.com Mt. Rushmore - Age of Learning, Inc.          Grand Canyon   ABCMouse.com Grand Canyon - Age of Learning, Inc.

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Leonard

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Leonard

FREE again for a limited time – Leonard, a fun interactive story about a young boy with an excellent imagination. When Leonard’s family moves from the city to the country, he is met with the challenge of finding new friends. He searches everywhere – a bug-filled forest, underwater, outer space, a safari, even his sister’s tea party. Kids join Leonard on his problem-solving adventure and encounter interactive surprises along the way. The story has 2 reading modes: read it myself or read it to me. Leonard is a beautifully illustrated, sweet story that your kids are sure to enjoy!

Download link: https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/leonard/id508815860?mt=8&uo=4

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Weird But True

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weird

Did you know that hippo’s lips are about two feet wide? Get ready to learn all sorts of wacky facts with this app. Just updated and FREE – Weird But True, an e-book from National Geographic Kids. Over 625 kid-friendly, wacky facts are presented in a fun & interactive way. Kids can swipe to move from fact to fact or shake their device to generate a random fact. Sound effects and surprises add to the fun! There is a fact finder which kids can use to locates facts by subject – animals, weather, space, etc. The app also includes a “Weird-O-Meter” which kids can use to rate the level of weirdness for each fact. Additional fact packs are available as in-app purchases –  $.99 each. This app won the Spring 2012 Parents’ Choice Award and was chosen as New & Noteworthy, What’s Hot, & Staff Favorites by Apple. Kids will LOVE this app. 🙂

Highly recommended!

Weird But True - National Geographic Society

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Gorilla Band 3D

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gorilla

FREE for a limited time – Gorilla Band 3D, an adorable storybook app from the developers of Ten Giggly Gorillas. Kids enter a 3D jungle to interact with cute gorillas and learn about instruments in this musical tale about the formation of the Gorilla Band of Miss McCann. The story, told in rhyme, has “read to me” or “read myself” options. Readers play an active role as the tale unfolds. Every gorilla on every page has something to say. The more kids tap, the more the gorillas yap! Little ones will be delighted. The developers included 2 original soundtracks  – 1 upbeat and 1 for bedtime. After reading the story, kids can enter the studio section to identify instruments by sound and name. There is also a link to the Gorilla Band Dance on You Tube for kids & parents to watch together. The link has to be held down for 3 seconds to prevent kids getting to You Tube on their own. Gorilla Band is loaded with kid-appeal. It’s no wonder that it was listed as New & Noteworthy by Apple.

Download link: https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/gorilla-band-3d-story-book/id662788357?mt=8&uo=4

 

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Nighty Night

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nighty night

Over 3 million downloads and counting… Nighty Night is FREE again for a limited time. This interactive bedtime app (for kids 1 – 4) 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

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Easter Apps

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Links to a few FREE Easter apps that I have found – enjoy!!

Bogga Easter

FREE March 22 – 23 – Bogga Easter for kids 2+. Kids look for an egg hidden by the clever Easter bunny. When they find it, they can decorate it & take a picture of it. They can also tap the decorated egg with a magic wand to discover the treats inside. Simple to use for little ones!

Bogga Easter - Boggatap

egg head

FREE this week – Egg Head: Baby Touch and Hear, an adorable app for little ones. Kids tap over 20 different eggs to transform them into egg-headed animals: a busy bee, mooing cow, a floating octopus, a hoppy bunny (of course) and more! Parents can work with their kids to learn the names & sounds of each animal or let them discover on their own. Kids can have fun guessing what animal may appear. There is also a movie mode that permits the littlest iPad users to simply watch. Simple, colorful, and cute – a great app for little ones!

Download link: https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/egg-head-baby-touch-and-hear/id607127533?mt=8&uo=4

Bunnyfur

Bunnyfur’s Easter Eggs – an interactive book for toddlers. Kids help decorate eggs, find hidden eggs, etc. Short but cute!

Bunnyfur's Easter Eggs - Interactive Touch, Inc.

Jasper

Jasper in The Great Easter Egg Race is another adventure of Jasper & Smiley. Fluffy the bunny has hidden eggs all over the house for an Easter egg hunt. The first one to find 5 eggs wins!

Jasper in The Great Easter Egg Race StoryChimes... - Siena Entertainment, LLC

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Get Ready for the Lunar Eclipse! – Moon Apps

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A total lunar eclipse will occur on April 15, 2014. It will be visible in North America, South America, and Australia. Partial eclipse begins at 1:58 am EDT. Total eclipse will begin 3:07 am and last for 77 minutes! Parts of Asia, Africa and Europe will see a partial eclipse.

In honor of this lunar event, here are some “moon apps” to share with your kids. 🙂

Goodnight MoonGoodnight Moon is the digital, interactive version of an all-time favorite story. Written by Margaret Wise Brown and illustrated by Clement Hurd in 1947, Goodnight Moon has sold over 4 million copies and has become one of the most beloved bedtime books of all time. Kids help little bunny say goodnight to all the lovely things in the great green room. This educational app features animations and hidden interactions for kids to discover. The cost is $4.99.

Hello to the Moon! - Matchbook Digital LLC

Hello to the MoonHello to the Moon is FREE for a limited time. This gentle bedtime story shares how the moon can make us feel connected to others. Each page has a small animation – a twinkling star, a blinking eye, etc. for kids to discover. Another cute bedtime story!

Hello to the Moon! - Matchbook Digital LLC

moonFREE for the iPhone/iPad, Moon Secrets is a sweet, beautifully illustrated story about the moon told through the eyes of a child. All pages include animations that become interactive when tapped. The story can be enjoyed in three modes: autoplay, read to me, and read by myself. There are also three games at the end of the story – coloring, find the difference, and find hidden objects. This app does include a pop-up ad for PlayTales Gold Bookstore in the middle of the story. You can remove it for $.99. Another cute story for bedtime.

Moon Secrets - Interactive Children´s Book HD - Genera Kids

who stole the moonThis Lite FREE version of the app is really only a preview of this interactive story – specifically the first 6 pages. Who Stole the Moon? is the story of Bertie Brown who loves looking through his bedroom skylight to see the moon. He gets worried one night when he doesn’t see the moon and thinks that someone has stolen it. The full version continues the story from this point on. It also includes games and songs. The preview is beautifully done – great artwork, nice music. It seems like it would make a nice bedtime story – the cost is $4.99.

Download FREE version: https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/who-stole-moon-free-version/id482612887?mt=8&uo=4

Download full version: https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/who-stole-moon-interactive/id499296025?mt=8&uo=4

la luna La Luna is an educational app based on Pixar’s Oscar-nominated short film. This app was selected as “Innovative Kids App” in the U.S. for the App Store’s Best of 2013! It includes the full theatrical release of the short film.

La Luna is a beautifully told fable of a young boy coming to age. It features the original artwork of Enrico Casarosa, the film’s director. The app includes 3 ways to enjoy the interactive story – as a short film, an interactive video, or a storybook. Also included is a fascinating “Behind the Scenes” section which explores the process of creation from storyboard to screen. Kids will learn about storyboards, turntables, sound design, visual design, and progression reel. They will love getting a glimpse of the process that Pixar uses to create its movies. And, the story is absolutely magical!

Highly recommended – do not miss this extraordinary app!! The cost is $1.99.

Download link: https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/la-luna-the-story-project/id657554982?mt=8&uo=4

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Petting Zoo

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Petting

FREE again – Petting Zoo, an adorable app for kids and adults who are kids at heart. 🙂 This educational app combines the charm of Christoph Niemann’s humorous animations with state of the art technology as one scene morphs into the next. The app is simple to use – just swipe and tap the 21 animals to see how they react. The results are delightfully surprising! Kids will discover what an elephant would do in the bathroom, if a dog can breakdance, how monkeys play soccer, and more. This app is suitable for kids of all languages because there are no spoken words. It’s perfect for discussion and predicting what will happen next. It would also be great for story writing. A really fun storybook app – creative, silly, and sure to delight!

Download link: https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/petting-zoo-animal-animations/id602773895?mt=8&uo=4

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The Really Groovy Story of the Tortoise and the Hare

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The Really Groovy Story of the Tortoise and the Hare

FREE again – The Really Groovy Story of the Tortoise and the Hare, an updated version of the classic fable. This fun rendition of the Tortoise and the Hare is set in modern times and told in rhyme. The app has two modes – Read to Me and Read by Myself. The Read to Me mode is professionally narrated. In either mode, kids will enjoy Christina Forshay’s colorful illustrations which fill the pages of this groovy tale. The story also features animations, sound effects, and background music – very nicely put together!

This book would be great to use in a classroom. You could compare and contrast this modern version to the classic tale. The story is also rich with rhyming words. You could use the book full group and identify rhyming twins (look-alike & sound-alike) and rhyming cousins (sound-alike only). Rich in vocabulary, it also makes a great choice for story time! Download it today. 🙂

The Really Groovy Story of the Tortoise and the Hare - BelugaBloo