Monkeys in My Head was created by PaperPlane Co. It's an ebook that aims to help children cope with internal bullies. Bullying, in any form, has become a recent hot topic. I was curious as to how this e-book was going to address this important issue. Price: $1.99
Device Requirements: Compatible with iPad.Requires iOS 5.1 or later.
Developmental Appropriateness: This book is really aimed at an individual who has personally experienced bullying and or has low-self esteem and are beating his/herself up inside. While it does not deal with bully prevention or really even how to deal with bullying- internal or external, it does in the least send the message that you are not alone in feeling these feelings. To the extent that this book may help a child who is dealing with these issues (in a clinical sense), I will have to say that this is not my area of developmental expertise. I think this is definitely a book parents should read first and see if they think it is appropriate and relevant for their child. It deals with a pretty serious matter as poor Pirourette (the main character) has to struggle with these demons inside her head. For a child who may be dealing with similar issues, this book may be a good way to get the conversation started. Alone, the book may not offer any "solutions." For kids who may not be experiencing these issues, the book may be a little confusing and contains some inappropriate and aggressive behavior from the monkeys and a frustrated Pirourette who screams, "Shut up!" I would definitely say that the recommended target age by the developers of 4 and up is too young for the approach of this e-book on this more mature topic. The "coping" that takes place in this book - where Pirourette mentally "cages" the monkeys requires some cognitive strength that a younger child may not understand yet. Rating: 3/5 (Aim for around 8 years)
Balance: In terms of the e-book features, this book is pretty stylized in terms of the art and overall feel. The focus is on the story and less on literacy development. The text doesn't highlight, it's presented in different fonts and sizes - so probably not as beneficial for improving reading skills, which is fine. The interactive features are kinda sparse, but when they are there, they are related to the story. Rating: 4/5 Sustainability: This is a hard one. I think for the very specific group of kids, they might identify with this and love it. But overall, when comparing to other books and picking out any book to read for fun or bedtime, or whatever, this isn't going to exactly be the go to book. Rating: 3.5/5 Parental Involvement - This is absolutely a book a parent should read with their child, at least the first few times. It begs for conversation beyond the book. This book does a good job of starting the conversation with kids who may need it - its up to parents/teachers, etc. to follow up and finish it. Rating: 4/5 Total: 14.5 out of 20 - 3 stars. Disclosure - I received this app for free for review purposes.
A Garden for Pig was developed by Kane Miller Books. It's a story about a pig who lives on an apple farm and gets sick of eating just apples and wants some vegetables - a cute story about a pig and his food. Price: $3.99
Device Requirements: Compatible with iPad.Requires iOS 4.2 or later.
Developmental Appropriateness: The topic is is appropriate and timely, given the whole organic food trend, and animals are always popular characters with kids. Surprisingly, even though this e-book does have some interactive elements, it feels like a physical book that's been pdf'ed. Not that it's a bad thing. The illustrations are great on their own and I don't think the little extra "e-book-ified" elements really add all that much. Actually, the illustrations are "multi-media" and looks like newspaper was used to make the trees and stuff like that which I think would actually look better in person rather than on a screen. There are some recipes and a bit more information on specific vegetables that are sprinkled throughout - a nice touch, but not kid friendly. They do not read aloud and are not written on a kid's level. There's narration and some light sound effects here and there, and that's more or less it. Again, there's nothing wrong with that - but I'm not rating on how good a book this is, but how good of an e-book this is. Basically, it's a cute book, but folks might prefer just the plain ol' print version. Rating: 3.5/5 (aim for around 5).
Balance: I like the addition of recipes and info on the vegetables and gardening- could have gone farther. And maybe the recipes could have been separate from the story. Some of the other interactive features seem to really just for fun and possibly distracting and don't add much.Rating: 3.5/5
Sustainability: It's a cute story with some humor. Kids will come back for the story, but probably not for the interactive features... Rating: 3.5/5
Parental Involvement: The cards for recipes and extra info encourage parents to elaborate on the points and do some cooking! It's a nice way to lead into cooking together. And perhaps to get kids to eat their vegetables too! Note that this food focuses on gardening and home grown food, but the recipes are not necessarily "healthy ones" - just so that that's not an expectation. Rating: 4/5
i Learn with Boing: Savannah Adventures! is another cute educational app from Tribal Nova. While the previous installment, iLearn with Boing: Iceland Adventures! focused on literacy activities for preschoolers, Savannah focuses on math activities for the same age group. Price: $2.99
Device Requirements: Compatible with iPad.Requires iOS 4.0 or later.
Developmental Appropriateness: A strength with Tribal Nova apps in general is that they do a good job of making the activities have a game like feel. In this case, there are three activities led by animals found in the Savannah targeting counting, specifically quantity-number association, order - counting forwards, backwards, and skip counting, and calculate - early addition and subtraction. As with Iceland, some nice features are the leveling through each activity, adapting to kid's progress, rewards, and the parent center.
Where it falls a little short is with the details. First, the labels of the activities are a little misleading. "Counting", I think is really enumeration because kids have to judge how many objects are shown and then tap on the corresponding number in "Whack a mole" style. "Order" is actually counting, because it's just all different patterns of counting or getting the frog to jump to the different numbers on the lily pad. Finally, as is, the "calculate" activity is not really calculation but more counting or kinda early or precursor to adding and subtracting. Other little details that could be improved is in the feedback/prompts/scaffolding features. For example, in the counting/enumeration, it would be nice if kids could tap on the items and hear them counted. As is, if you tap anywhere around the objects, it just tells you how many total there are. Kids should be able to be given the objects, asked, how many, and then they can count them by pointing, pushing, grouping, etc. The activity I could see the most improvement is with the calculation activity where kids have to go and catch a target number of ostriches and put them on the truck. At times, there are already some ostriches on the truck, so kids have to "add" x more to get the target number or in the higher levels, there are more than the target number of ostriches on the truck, so kids have to "subtract" x amount. I think the adding and subtracting could be made more obvious - as is, it just seems like a counting activity. Like the already present ostriches should be separated from the to be added ostriches so that kids can see that, for example, 3 already there ostriches + 5 added ostriches =8 total. And that should be highlighted by some voiceover feedback before the truck drives away. In general, the activities are good, - these little details just add a little oomph to help learning. Rating: 3.5/5 (aim for around 4)
Balance: I think the activities have struck a good balance between fun game features and keeping the focus on learning. Again, there are just little details that could be improved - like the objects that are to be counting in counting could be bigger and made more functional. Rating: 4.5/5
Sustainability: The activities are cute, and I see an nice new feature here is that once you've been playing awhile, when you start again, you can pick what level to start with and it gives you the recommended level as well. The rewards are nice and you can go to the reward world to play with them. For more competitive kids or kids who might find going through the levels repetitive, a score or high scores list might be nice, especially with the two-player activity. It seems to take time into account, so it could be easy to convert that into points. Rating: 4/5
Parental Involvement: All iLearn apps are linked to a parent center which provides how well kids are doing on the specific activities and if kids have multiple iLearn apps, parents can see what topics they are spending time with. Parents are also given a brief explanation of the target skills within the activities. Parents can stay involved by reviewing. It'd be great if there were then suggested activities parents can do outside of the app that targets their kid's strengths and weaknesses so parents can share and link to the real world. Rating: 4/5
Total: 16 out of 20 - 4 stars.
Disclosure: I received this app for free for review purposes.
Mini Fish Tale was created by Bakul Books. It's an e-book about a girl who receives 2 fish for her birthday and one dies and she needs to figure out what to do to make the lonely fish happy. It also includes closing and puzzle activities with marine life trivia aside from the e-book. Price: Free
Device Requirements: Compatible with iPhone, iPod touch, and iPad.Requires iOS 5.0 or later.
Developmental Appropriateness: This is a simple and very basic story and e-book. The only "extra" features are narration and text highlighting. While there is no problem with that, I do have some slight problems with this book, especially when it comes to promoting literacy. First, the text highlighting is not accurate. It does not highlight when the words are spoken. Second, there are a couple of grammatical errors in the text. The main one being "fishes", which appears multiple times. Plural forms of words is something that young kids tend to over generalize and can be confusing given all the exceptions in the English language. As an e-book presented in English, it's very important to get these basics correct because kids pick these things up.
What I DO like are the extra activities. The coloring and puzzles may seem like a standard addition nowadays, but what they've added here are some facts to go along with the picture. Although some of the facts could be reworded to be more kid-friendly, it's a nice way to extend the learning. I wish there was more. Rating: 2/5 (aim for around 4 years of age).
Balance: Everything is simple here. the activities are kept separate form the story. The pictures are colorful, but I wonder if that's enough to keep kids engaged in an otherwise bare story. Rating: 4/5
Sustainability: I think adding the activities with the facts was a nice way to add extra life to this app. But there are only 3 pictures and facts for each. Also, some of the production quality is a bit lower than many other e-books out there - and I think kids will notice. Rating: 3/5
Parental Involvement: Again, with e-books, there's always co-reading. Parents can also elaborate on the facts in the activities. Rating: 4/5
The Tree I See was created by Aridan Books and is a sweet story about friendship and helping each other out. It was conceptualized by a neurosurgery physician assistant and claims to have been designed to help working memory and re-call ability. Let's see how and whether it does so. Price: $0.99
Device Requirements: Compatible with iPhone, iPod touch, and iPad.Requires iOS 3.1 or later
Developmental Appropriateness: This is a solid e-book. The story topic is appropriate for young kids - maybe not totally exciting, but is a cute and heartwarming story about a tree who makes lasting friends in the forest by helping each other out. The interactive features are relevant to the story and tapping on the characters will make them repeat what they've said in the story which is a nice touch to reinforce plot points. A feature I thought had a lot of potential is how the text is presented. It automatically appears in a box as it's being read and then goes away so kids can interact with the pictures. If you tap on an arrow within the text box, it enlarges in the center of the page. I thought this is a great opportunity for parents and teachers to focus kids on the text and help build their literacy skills. However, it does not highlight word by word, repeat if tapped on, provide definitions, etc. It only highlights a few words at a time, and you can press play to hear the entire text read again. It relies on the parent or teacher to provide extra support, enhancement, and reinforcement. So while I like the thought, it could have been taken further.
So what about improving working memory and re-call? From the iTunes description, it says it does so through "consistent illustrative theme and gradual character integration, to maintain focus and assist with the cognitive development of your child." Don't many books do this? Yes, the tree remains constant, and each new friend is added to the picture as they are introduced in the story. So illustratively, the story is updated and provides the cues for plot points, but the text does not update and build upon/repeat the characters as have been seen in many other children's stories. And for re-call, how are we measuring this? I thought maybe there would be prompts for kids to answer questions or to think about what happened in the story, but there aren't any. One great way to improve retention is to make things explicit and to verbalize it, and I don't see that here. So yes, while I think having the characters on the page repeat what they say in the text is nice, I don't otherwise see what else separates this e-book from other good e-books for comprehension and re-call.
Overall, The Tree I See adds some nice touches to help learning, but maybe over-emphasizes the claims. Rating: 4/5 (aim for around 5 years)
Balance: For the most part, the interactive elements help to enhance the story. At times though, tapping on them make them all overlap, especially later on the in the story with more characters involved. Rating: 4/5
Sustainability: It took me a few readings to really start appreciating some of the touches here, so I think parents and kids will too and discover new things with each reading. Rating: 4/5
Parental Involvement: There's no laid out role for parents, but I think the text feature provide good opportunity and a good cue for parents to highlight words or plot points or whatever. Rating: 4/5
Total: 16 out of 20 = 4 stars
Of note: 100% of Net proceeds will be given to Autism Speaks for the month of May and June. Thereafter 10% of our proceeds will continue to be given to Autism Speaks.
Disclosure: I received this app for free for review purposes.
Ansel and Clair: Cretaceous Dinosaurs was created by Cognitive Kid, Inc., the same creators as for Ansel and Clair Adventures in Africa has won numerous "best of" and educational app awards. I have not checked out Adventures in Africa, but was definitely interested in seeing what all the hype was about. Does it live up? Price: $1.99
Device Requirements: Compatible with iPad.Requires iOS 4.2 or later.
Developmental Appropriateness: I totally see what everyone was talking about. This is a great app for learning. Basically, Ansel and Clair go on a journey to learn all about dinosaurs, visiting a paleontologist at his dig site for fossils and then time traveling back to the Cretaceous period to see and learn about the different dinosaurs. It's jammed pack full of information, but with the learning design, it's conveyed in an informal, fun way. There's a plot to carry out the story, time to reflect on the information as you take pictures, time to review through the pictures/travel log, and ways to share the experience through the travel log. It takes important learning tenets and masks it with a fun feature. The information is written in a very kid-friendly way, which is very important given the amount of big words. My only warning would be that if your kid doesn't like dinosaurs, this may be boring as it ALL about learning about dinosaurs and it can also be a bit slow-paced at times. Rating: 5/5 (aim for around 7 years).
Balance: Overall, the interactive features are "functional" in that they either mimic what you are suppose to be doing in that action and or are relevant to the plot. There were a few times when some of the features took multiple and more aggressive tapping to get to work. And I did find some of the pacing to be on the slow side. Rating: 4.5/5
Sustainability: There's load of info that I'm sure kids will pick up something new each time. But again, if dinosaurs aren't your thing, this won't last long. Rating: 4.5/5
Parental Involvement: There's no explicit role for parents, but the travel log can act as a great review or a way for kids to share what they've done. I bet most adults don't know a lot this content either, so adults won't be bored playing along. This would also be great for teachers to use in the classroom. Rating: 4/5
Total 18 out of 20 - 5 stars
Disclosure: I received this app for free for review purposes.
Math Doodles was created by Carsten Studios Inc., by Dan Carstens, an early math hater who later found ways to make math fun. This is a unique perspective for a math app designer! Math is one of the subjects where you often hear kids and even adults saying, "I hate math," or "Math is just not something I'm good at." This is more true in America than most other countries. So any way we can make math thought of as less of a dread is great. Does Math Doodles accomplish this? Price: $2.99
Device Requirements: Compatible with iPad.Requires iOS 5.0 or later.
Developmental Appropriateness: Math Doodles presents three games: Sums Stackers, Connect Sums, and Unknown Square. They are all variations on getting the dice (or whatever representation you choose) to add up to a target sum (9=4+5=3+3+3=8+1, etc). This helps to increase fluency and flexibility in thinking about these otherwise simple, but perhaps boring, math problems. Sum Stackers and Unknown Square a bit more logical thinking as they have an extra layer of problem solving involved (See video). So overall, I think that Math Doodles can attract kids who may not love math, but love puzzles and want to solve things. This is definitely a great way to get them to do some math, all disguised as a puzzle. For kids who are struggling with math, they will probably need some help getting started and to help focus them on the game elements so that they don't get frustrated with the math. So while I don't think that Math Doodles will make everyone love math, it will attract a larger audience than a more straight forward math game. Rating: 4/5 (aim for around 6 years).
Balance: The art work definitely has a doodle-like feel. It's all pretty straight forward. Offering all the different representations is a nice touch without being distracting, but some will be easier representations than others. I wonder if there could be a hint mode for when players get stuck. Rating: 4/5
Sustainability: The different modes of play (race, solve, etc). are good variations. A high scores list would be a great addition to help keep kids going. There's also an easy and difficult setting. Having all three games be about adding might get repetitive, what about other operations? Rating: 3.5/5
Parental Involvement: This is definitely a game parents could play too. There's no multiplayer mode though. Parents and teachers should definitely make sure to relate these math skills back to the classroom. Rating: 3.5/5
Total: 15 out of 20 - 4 stars
Disclosure: I received this app for free for review purposes.
