Sam and Ben

Sam and Ben was created by InteractBooks, LLC. It's a story about twins and celebrates their similarities and differences. So if you have or know of young twins, or even young siblings, this may be a book for you. Price: $2.99

Device Requirements: Compatible with iPhone, iPod touch, and iPad.Requires iOS 3.2 or later

Developmental Appropriateness: This is a heart warming story that parents can find useful to read with their child to highlight how everyone has similarities and differences, whether its with twins, siblings, or friends. So it's an appropriate subject matter. The illustrations are watercolors, which may be more appreciated by parents more than children. If your young child is not used to watercolor drawings, it may be more difficult for them to recognize some of the more abstract and smaller objects. Remember that research has shown that young children learn better from books with realistic than cartoon drawings. Rating: 4/5 (aim for around 3 years)


Balance: Although this book is meant for parents to read with their child, I'd like to see some more attention given to the text - like bigger font or text highlighting - something. There is sometimes quite a bit of text, so let's make some good use out of it, even if it's just bringing attention to it to improve print concepts for these young kids. There's a lot of hotspots - mostly related to the story. So again, given all the hotspots, the text can really just get lost. Also, there are activities at the end of the book and you can access just the activities from the main menu. I kinda like this, so that the activities are much of a distraction from the book, but add a little more fun for the kids. Rating: 3/5


Sustainability: Kids like stories, and there is even a bit of poop humor in this one. Kids will enjoy the hotspots and the activities may keep them coming back. Rating: 4/5


Parental Involvement: This is really meant for parents to read with their child. So ... Rating: 4/5


Total: 15 out of 20 : 4 stars


Disclosure: I received this app for free for review purposes.