Gro Book: The Adventures of Sophie the Sweater

Gro Book by Gro Play is a book that may bring some nostalgia to some parents. It's one of those stories where you can choose different what happens in the story at various points and see where it leads you. I not only like these stories because I think they're fun, but also because I like that it leads kids to think about plot and storytelling while experiencing a story on many levels.

Given the multiple paths of the story, I think turning these types of books digital can be advantageous and really take it to the next level, which is why I chose to review Gro Book. Price: $3.99

Device Requirements: Compatible with iPhone 3GS, iPhone 4, iPhone 4S, iPhone 5, iPod touch (3rd generation), iPod touch (4th generation), iPod touch (5th generation) and iPad. Requires iOS 4.3 or later. This app is optimized for iPhone 5.

Developmental Appropriateness: The story is fun with a reuse, environmental theme, especially given the format. But don't expect a story that has a great moral or memorable message - it's a story that works with the format. It's fine - but I would not say that the format particularly enhances the story itself. It's a little difficult to pinpoint a target age as I think the book is appropriate for a range of ages. I'm going to put it at 7, which is on the older side because I think 6 yos can more fully take advantage of all the different paths of the story. At this age, they can remember paths they chose before, and also now also make connections between some of their choices. Don't get me wrong, a 5 yo or younger will fully enjoy this story as well. Rating: 4/5 (aim for around 6 years).

Balance: There's not too much here in terms of taking advantage of the features offered by tablets. The software of course helps the path choosing, so that you're not keeping your fingers on certain pages and flipping forward to a specific page to see what happens like back in the day. But otherwise, there's just narration and the option to turn it on and off and to take away or add the text. I'm not sure how I feel about the latter. There's certainly something to be said for just listening to a story - but maybe not in ebook format where kids have come to expect some level of interactivity. There's actually a lot of text - so with no interactivity on the pages and no words to follow, kids may get bored. The simplicity is fine, there's just not much that elevates the experience. Rating: 3/5

Sustainability: With so many paths, there's certainly re-read value here. Some of the paths repeat so don't expect a new story each time at every turn, but there's enough different paths to keep you interested at least the first few reads. Rating: 4.5/5

Parental Involvement: Nothing explicit here. It would have been nice to include some questions for parents to ask while they read or after - especially to compare and contrast the different paths. Rating: 3/5

Total: 14.5/5 = 4 stars

*I received this app for free for review purposes


Trend Alert: Check out these other great apps that let you take part in the story:

For those looking for more interactivity and a classic story in a new way: Little Red Riding Hood by Nosy Crow

For those with younger Elmo fans: Elmo the Musical -Storyteller


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Little Monster at School

Little Monster at School was created by Wanderful, Inc. and is based on the book by Mercer Mayer originally published by Living Books and may already be familiar to many of you. It follows Little Monster and his day at school, the lessons he learns there and shows you his friends. It includes a fully functional Spanish version (any text in the illustrations change to Spanish too!), with possibly more languages to come, making the price a little more understandable. Price: $4.99

Device Requirements: Compatible with iPhone, iPod touch, and iPad. Requires iOS 4.0 or later.

Developmental Appropriateness: This is a really cute and relatable story, with some great interactive features. Kids can really take part in the "lessons" at school with Little Monster. When they work with numbers and letters on the chalkboard, kids can tap on the numbers and letters to hear them labeled and practice right along with the class. Aside from the functional interactive features, kids can also follow along with the text highlighting and also tap on individual words to hear them repeated. They've really added some great touches to bring the story alive and give it a different feel from the print version.

Where I do wish there was more is for it to provide prompts or a review at the end for deeper learning. (While it may seem unfair to criticize for this as I've rarely seen this done in e-books, it's time to raise the bar!) The story actually covers a lot here - routines, school lessons, helping friends out, being different, etc. Some of this may not come through with just the story itself.
Rating: 4.5/5 (aim for around 4 years).

Balance: This is really where I was impressed. First, there are two modes - a let me play mode where kids can tap their hearts out and a read to me mode - standard where you just follow along and the some of "interactive parts" automatically go and it becomes a bit more like watching a tv show. This is actually one of the recommendations we (Cooney Center) made after our e-book report. It allows parents and kids to have two different experiences depending on the purpose of the book reading. In addition to the two modes, there are a bunch of settings so parents can further control the type of experience. One of the settings addresses my personal pet peeve of where the tapping on things can interrupt the text reading or overlap with other interactive features. You can actually turn this off so that nothing overlaps. It'll also highlight where all the hotspots are if you want too. In terms of all the features, there actually are a lot. Most are functional and relevant to the plot, but a few aren't - like finding a hidden object on each page. But, that being said, given the modes and settings, at least the distraction level can be controlled in a way. Rating: 4.5/5

Sustainability: This is an award winning story for reason - it really is a good story! I usually try not to comment too much on the quality of the story because I don't consider myself a children's story expert, but I did really enjoy it. And I think the two modes will really stretch the usage of this app. Rating: 5/5

Parental Involvement: There's a big plus and a big minus here. The plus is that some of the "deeper learning" I mentioned earlier is available through a teacher's resource guide that provides extra activities that go along with the story. You can take a free sneak peek but the full guide needs to be purchased. The minus is that you can't turn off the narration! Children's books, to me, is a great and easy way for parents to spend time with their kids. With the narration here, it kinda takes away from that. Sure, parents can still read along, but it's not quite the same. Could just be a simple setting. Rating: 4/5

Total: 18 out of 20 = 5 stars

Classical Kids

Classical Kids was created by The Children's Group. It's a series of stories that mixes music, history, and storytelling. There's actually a students edition that initial comes free but you have to purchase each story and a teachers edition that comes with all the stories and also notes for teachers on how to incorporate the stories into their lessons. Price: The in-app story purchases are $3.99 each and the complete teachers edition is $49.99.

Device Requirements: Compatible with iPad. Requires iOS 4.3 or later.

Developmental Appropriateness: In this day and age, learning about Mozart and Bach is kinda lost in our curricula. Music classes in elementary school where kids learn to play instruments are hard to come by, so learning about great composers and their life stories is practically non-existent. So Classical Kids is a great idea that can help fill a void in our education system. The original stories were written in 1988 and have sold well as recordings. The question here is, does it work better as an app? I'm afraid my answer is no. It's not that the stories aren't appropriate or that it's worse than the recordings - its just not any better. It does not take advantage of the affordances of a tablet and its interactivity. Each story is about 45 minutes and kids listen to it like a track while looking at static pictures that don't really tell a story on it's own. That's it. There's no text to follow, interactive elements relevant to the plot, animation, nothing. Again, that's fine - but when you consider the length, I'm not sure this will hold a child's attention. If you think about it, most kids' shows are around 20 minutes plus commercials, or if they are longer shows, they are broken up into many independent segments. Yes, the stories here are broken into mini tracks, but the story from beginning to end is pretty long. I think in it's original conception - kids listen, teachers ask questions - it works fine. It's just that the app version doesn't go beyond that. There was great potential to add a great visual elements and interactivity - especially since classical music probably isn't the most popular topic among children. The pictures here aren't the best. The kids look way older than their age and other things just don't match like Bach's wife died at the age of 35, but the picture shows an old woman with gray hair. Details matter, especially when there's nothing else to do but look at the pics! I'm glad to see that they've switched up the pricing a bit, cause otherwise, it may have been better to just stick with the original recordings. Rating: 3.5/5 (aim for around 8 years).

Balance: There were some attempts made to incorporate some extra features. But those too fall short. First, there's a quiz, but it's really like a fill in the blank worksheet meant for teachers to print out. Kids cannot actually fill in the answers on the device. There's a metronome, but no instrument to play. There's a recording, but again, not music to make. Yes, obviously, it's meant to be used in class with real instruments. But why not both? What's the point of putting it on an iPad then? Rating: 2/5

Sustainability: I would love to see kids more interested in composers. Does this app make that happen? I'm not sure. The stories themselves are nice - they are told in a very conversational way and make a great audio book (which honestly, is what I basically ended up using it as) - but I'm reviewing this as an app, not as the original audiobook. I think kids now have a certain expectation for an app and the iPad. And this does not fulfill it. Unless kids have been assigned to listen to the story as homework, I don't see kids returning to this one on their own, given their other app options. Rating: 2/5

Parental Involvement: The teacher notes is great. It breaks each story down and gives plenty of discussion questions. However, it only comes with the teacher's edition, which is quite pricey. Improvements to the quiz section would also make this better for parents, especially those who may not have the time to carry out a "lesson." Rating: 4/5

Total: 11.5 out of 20 = 2 stars

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

A Garden for Pig

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


Total: 14.5 out of 20 = 3 stars

The Rooster Who Lost His Voice

The Rooster Who Lost His Voice was created by iMagine machine, LLC. This is a great example of how some apps are really starting to blur the line between whether it's a book or a show. Rooster is definitely a story, told in a folktale kinda way - but it doesn't have any text and is 18-minutes long, putting it in a category all on its own Price: the initial 3 pages are free, but to purchase the full "book" is $4.99

Device Requirements: Compatible with iPhone 3GS, iPhone 4, iPhone 4S, iPod touch (3rd generation), iPod touch (4th generation) and iPad.Requires iOS 4.0 or later.


Developmental Appropriateness: This is a well-done story with great graphics and effects. On the spectrum of book to show/movie, this leans heavier on the show/movie side. One of the few book feature is the tone of the story is told like a classic tale, not like a tv show or movie. And while some scenes advance on their own, there are moments where the child must "turn the page". But even this is not the typical swipe, it's pulling a rope, like you would to close or open the curtains to a stage show. This little pull feature along with very limited interactive features is just enough to make sure kids are still paying attention and not just passively watching a show. The main interactive feature is I guess comprehension questions. Kids have to choose what "gift" they think the characters are giving. I like this "active thinking" idea, and I think it's an important feature to have especially in this format, but I think there could be more feedback here. The picture options at least need a label as they are not always obvious what they are. And the answers require background knowledge not given by the story so a little reinforce/feedback would be nice to make sure kids "got it". 


So, since there is no text here, is this as "literacy-focused" as a book? Are apps like this one even meant to be thought of as "literacy-focused"? There is no doubt that listening and I guess in this case, watching a story has great value. I guess I'm just wondering where do we draw the line - do we need to? Rating: 4/5 (aim for around 5 years)


Balance: The developers really kept it simple here in terms of interactivity, but I don't think they lost anything in terms of engagement. Not sure where to put this, but one feature I'd like to see added would be a page menu or something. 18 minutes can be a bit long for a story - depending on the situation, and there's no way to jump to a certain page - you start from the beginning each time. Actually, mine froze once, and I had to just scroll through everything again to get to where I was. Rating: 4/5


Sustainability: I think it's a cute story kids would keep coming back to. It'd be great if the questions switched up a little so that kids don't already know all the answers if it's a repeated reading.  Rating: 4/5


Parental Involvement: So without the text, it kinda takes away that co-reading experience that books automatically give. But perhaps this will free up the parents to elaborate on the story and provide some  "active thinking" prompts that could go along with the comp questions. Rating: 3/5


Total: 15 out of 20 = 4 stars


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

Reading Raven

Reading Raven was created by Early Ascent, LLC. as a phonics-based reading app. It's a step-by-step instructional sequence for 3-5 year-olds. With all the literacy apps out there, can the Reading Raven stand out? Price: $3.99

Device Requirements: Compatible with iPad.Requires iOS 3.2 or later

Developmental Appropriateness: There are 3-4 different activities for each age. Parents can select the age and types of activities within the age for their child. The activities are very appropriate and build upon each other. So for example, a 3 year-old activity is to trace letters, and by 5, the activity is to trace words. The feedback is also great, where if you get it wrong, it tells you why. Also, for each age, there are 5 levels. So in each level, you focus on a specific set of letters and letter-sounds and they increase the difficulty of the material (e.g. length of the sentences you see). For the most part, I agree with the leveling. Where I differ is that it seems to focus on lowercase letters first. Research has shown that kids learn uppercase letters first. I'm also not sure about the way they grouped the letters into each level. As I've said before, there's no real pattern to the order in which kids learn the letters. Yes, I think there are some letter-sounds that may be easier than others, or some that are easier to write than others, but then again, you might learn to write the letter "S" faster if your name is Sam. Since parents are already setting the activities and age, it might be good to have an option where they can choose the letters they want their child to focus on. Finally, while the "levels" present different graphics that are fun, the actual activities in each level are identical. I don't think kids will really see them as advancement in levels - but I'm just nitpicking at this point. Great app for learning phonics. Rating: 4.5/5 (age 3-5)

Balance: The different graphics are fun without distracting from the task at hand. (I don't really see where the raven fits in and he kinda has a weird voice.) Rating: 5/5

Sustainability: Given the number of different activities across the age range, there's certainly enough to master in terms of content. Each level shows your progress, but a record of scores may be helpful to encourage kids to repeat a level, especially when they may not have gotten everything correct. Rating: 4/5

Parental Involvement: One aspect I loved about this app is the inclusion of a guide for parents and teachers explaining each activity and what the goals are. However, like I said, I'd like to see some sort of scoring, not only as an incentive for the kids, but more so for parents to review what their kid may or may not be excelling at. I think this is especially important since the parents are the ones setting the activities and difficulty. The scoring would provide at least some sort of crude measure that would help them decide what settings to check. Rating: 4/5

Total: 17.5 out of 20: 5 Stars

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

Kumon Uppercase ABC's - Learn to Trace Letters

Kumon Uppercase ABC's was created by Kumon Publishing North America, Inc. Kumon is one of the largest after school math and reading enrichment programs. So they should know what they are doing when designing an educational app, right? Price: $3.99

Device Requirements: Compatible with the iPad. Rquires iOS 3.2 or later.

Developmental Appropriateness: In the last post, we talked about the beginning steps to learning the alphabet. This app moves us a few steps further in the process - recognizing letter-sounds and learning how to write uppercase letters. In the letter-sounds activity, you are presented with three letters and asked to pick the one that makes the target letter-sound. It is very clear and it has a nice repeating of the letter and letter-sound. In the tracing activity, there are three steps to tracing each letter. First, it shows you the direction of order of each line/movement. Then you have to do it again, with just the direction, but no ordering, and finally, neither direction nor order is given. This is a nice progression to make sure you know how to write each letter. It's a little finicky - as you MUST stay within the outline for it to be correct. However, at the same time, if you draw a zig-zag or squiggly line instead of a straight one, but in the right direction and stay within the lines, it still counts as correct. So maybe some finessing of the program is needed. You can choose to do the letters in order, in random order, or in "Kumon" order. The Kumon order puts it in what they felt are easier letters to write (i.e. "L") to harder letters (i.e. "S"). While the ordering may be true, I'm not sure if it's the best order for kids. As I mentioned in the last post, kids do not learn the individual letters sequentially, but rather by what they are familiar with, such as the first letter of their name or objects or words they see regularly. Thus, the order in which kids learn the alphabet is specific to that kid's surroundings and experiences. Wouldn't it be best to also learn to write the letters in the order that they learn the letters? Finally, at the completion of each letter, you are presented a picture that links to that letter ("A" for Ant). This is a good way to link further enforce the letter to letter-sound, but it never actually says, "A if for Ant" or in anyway highlight the letter A. Rating: 4/5 (aim for around 4 years)

Balance: The app is pretty simple. The pictures in the tracing part are even in black and white. Some you can move and some don't. I'd make this consistent. Also, in the letter-sound game, it would be nice to provide the sounds of the incorrect answers so we can hear the contrast. Otherwise, it's a very focused educational app. Rating: 4/5


Sustainability: There are basically no incentives here - it's a drill of these skills. You get a "certificate" that will be emailed to you with your child's name on it when he or she completes all 26 letters. There's no instant gratification for the child, and I'm not sure how many parents will follow through with printing out the certificate. A frustrating aspect is that it does not retain your progress. So you have to start over every time. In the tracing game, you cannot pick and choose what letters to trace, you only have the option of the three orders. This may be an app to do when you have more time, rather than a quick "while waiting in the car" app so that the child can get through all the letters and not just keep doing the same ones in the beginning - in which case will be boring. I guess you can choose the random ordering, but that still doesn't ensure that all the letters get covered. Rating: 2/5


Parental Involvement: Parents can watch over, but this is essentially a one player app. It would be nice for parents to know what letters their child struggled more with - maybe have some record of which ones took more attempts or more time to complete on the tracing or which letter-sounds they did not get on the first try. This way, parents can stay more involved and know where their child needs more help. Rating: 3/5


Total: 13 out of 20: 3 stars


Disclosure: I received this app for review for free from the developers.

Sparky the Shark

Sparky the Shark: A Frighteningly Funny Adventure was created by Biscuit Interactive. It's an original story about being yourself. Price: $3.99


Device Requirements: Compatible with iPad.Requires iOS 3.2 or later

Developmental Appropriateness: The story is very cute and the illustrations are attractive. It uses many story telling devices that are appropriate and engaging to young kids such as humor, a bit of repetition in terms of rhythm of the story, and character development. Given the social pressures kids face in school and the recent attention to issues like bullying, this story is timely. I do wish that someone at the end apologized for being so scared and judging based on appearance so that kids can hear about not just accepting themselves, but not to judge others as well.


As for the "e-book" aspects, the story can be read to you or by you and there are some lightly animated hotspots on each page. The text does not highlight and appears at the very bottom of each page - I guess so you focus on the pictures. I don't know if it was my device (used it on an older iPhone) or what, but I found it to be highly glitchy which affected my overall experience. But it doesn't seem like I'm the only one - I saw some other reviews that cited glitchy usage. First, the narration does not work very well. It got very choppy. Next, I kept being taken back to the previous page even though I was tapping no where near the back arrow icon. Finally, just overall, it seemed to be very freezy. I actually had to watch the demo video to make sure I didn't miss anything. While most of these issues can be fixed, I do suggest adding in some features to highlight the text as well as illustrations. 


** The developers will be releasing an updated version where the device requirements will be with later versions of iOS. The update will resolve the glitches I mentioned. The current version should work fine with later versions of iOS.


Finally, there is a game that you can access outside of the book reading that allows you to dress up Sharky and then take a picture of your creation. This is a great, appropriate addition that is actually relevant tot he story. Rating: 3.5/5 (aim for around 6 years)


Balance: While I applaud the developers for not going crazy with irrelevant hotspots, and keeping them pretty simple, it seems like many of these hotspots should just be automatic light animation to the page rather than "hidden hotspots."  Many of them are just simple motions like Sharky nodding his head or the boat gently rocking that don't seem to be very exciting as hotspots. Also, many of them just repeat through the pages. If you're gonna use hotspots, make them count. Also, why do so many developers make them "hidden?" Do hidden hotspots really make it that much more fun than obvious hotspots (I don't know of any actual research on this)? Seems like the fun is in what the hotspots actually do rather than in finding where they are (unless finding them is part of the plot). I would rather kids focus on the story than on trying to find every single hotspot. Rating: 3/5


Sustainability: A good story is worth reading again. I am no literary expert, but I like this story. And the disguise game is fun - it would be cool be able to use what is created in the game in the story, just as an added incentive to go back tot he story. Rating: 5/5


Parental Involvement: This seems like a story parents would enjoy reading with their child. The message is clear, but still gives room for parents to elaborate on the meaning. Parents should be present to help  keep their child focused on the text/story through the hidden hotspots and possible glitches. Rating 4/5


Total: 15.5 out of 20: 4 stars

Grimm's Rapunzel - 3-D Interactive Pop-up Book

Grimm's Rapunzel ~3-D Interactive Pop-up Book was created by Ideal Binary and is a modern twist of an old tale. For those of you who know me or know about my research, you'll know that I've done many studies with pop-up books. I actually just received the proof for an article on the very first study I ever did in graduate school which showed that young kids do not learn as well from pop-up books as they do from regular 2D books. After a few rejections over many years, the article should appear in the Journal of Early Childhood Literacy in the coming months. Yay! So in honor of my first study, I wanted to review a pop-up app! Price: $3.99

Device Requirements: Compatible with iPhone, iPod touch, and iPad. Requires iOS 3.0 or later




Developmental Appropriateness: You might be wondering how an e-book is pop-up on a 2D screen. Well, every other page or few pages, there's a 3D picture that looks like when you open up one of those fancy pop-up books. However, there are no tabs to pull or fuzzy textures to feel in the traditional pop-up kinda way. Instead, these pictures have simple interactive elements that are driven by the plot. So you can "grow" the flowers that Rapunzel's mother loved so much or pick up the music sheets Rapunzel's dropped from her tower. So do these elements distract kids from attending to the story as I found in my study? I actually don't think it will. First, the interactive elements mostly aren't frivolous and are more realistic. For example, to water the flowers, you would actually tap on the watering can and move it all over the soil as you would when watering plants. However, in a traditional pop-up book, you would not be able to do this. You might pull a tab that springs up the flowers. The action of pulling the tab has nothing to do with growing flowers. Second, the 3D pictures are totally separate from the text. So when the story is being read, either by the voice over or by a parent/adult, there is nothing to interact with on these text pages. Listen to the plot, then do an activity related to the plot, go read more plot. I like this. However, at the same time, it seems like two separate things - the text is for the parent, the activities for the children. The text itself is too advanced for a young reader, so someone needs to read it to them. There is also a lot of text on each page, with minimal pictures. The text does not highlight, so there is nothing for the child to follow. There are some words that are in a different color, but I'm not sure how they picked those words - they seem to have a wide range in difficulty, and it doesn't seem like they are sight words, or come from any reading list. Are they even meant to be vocabulary words? Or is the color there just to break up the text a bit? Also, they choose to have the text justified on both sides, leaving some weird spaces that they filled with random little icons. To little kids who can't read and are looking at a two-page spread with barely any pictures, I have a feeling they'll be looking at these little random icons rather than the text. Seems like the focus was the 3D pictures. Even in the demo video, you'll see that much of it is spent showing you the 3D pictures and not the "normal" pages. Rating: 4/5 (aim for around 4 years of age). 


Balance: As I've mentioned, I like that the interactive elements are separate from the text. However, I'd like to see more emphasis on the text pages. Adding highlight, or at least make the text bigger so kids can follow along more easily. If the highlighted words were highlighted for a reason, some sort of explanation should be given. And get rid of those random things. Find better ways to break up the text that are useful. Rating: 4/5


Sustainability: The story of Rapunzel has lived for many years, so in general, this should be a story kids still want to come back to. The 3D pictures are cool, even if the interactive features get repetitive after many readings. Rating: 4/5


Parental Involvement: The book lends itself to being a joint reading activity. The story is a familiar one for young kids, but it needs to be read to them. The 3D interactive parts are good opportunities to elaborate on the plot or relate elements back to real life. It's a fun activity to do together, but for parents looking to encourage their child to read, they will need to put more effort into guiding their child with the text. Rating: 4/5


Total: 16 out of 20 = 4 stars

My Little Pony: Twilight Sparkle, Teacher for a Day

My Little Pony: Twilight Sparkle, Teacher for a Day is an e-book from Ruckus Media. It's based on the current animated tv series My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic. Yes, this is also the same My Little Pony from the early 90's. I guess everything is getting rebooted these days. Not complaining though - I loved My Little Pony as a kid - I even owned a pair of My Little Pony roller-skates. Price: $3.99


Device Requirements: Compatible with iPhone, iPod touch, and iPad.Requires iOS 4.0 or later.

Developmental Appropriateness: The overall theme of My Little Pony and this e-book is the importance of friendship and helping each other. So the topic matter is great for little kids. The e-book can be read in three different modes - Read to me, Read the book, and Read and record, giving a nice option of how involved you want to be. In the Read to me mode it is read in a nice pace and the text highlights accurately as it is being read. There are a few hotspots here and there, not too many, but enough where a child would look for them. It took me awhile to figure this out, but if you tap on the screen with the slightest motion (I used an iPad), I guess it thinks that you're trying to flip the page and it starts the text reading over again. Kids are not precise tappers, so if I was accidentally restarting the text, I'm sure they will too and at a higher rate. Also, there are activities like mazes and "spot the difference" pics inserted every few pages. While these are fun and age appropriate activities, I think the developers overstate their educational value. "Move the adventure forward with narrative-driven activities that include mazes and “spot the difference” that teach word recognition, picture/word association and basic problem solving skills." I think the activities are superficially tied to the plot and maybe hit on spatial and observational skills. However, these activities allow you to collect words that can done be used in a mad-lib type activity at the end of the story - which is pretty cool and a creative "reward" feature. Rating: 3.5/5 (aim for around 5 years)


I also wanted to briefly touch on gender here as I just realized that this is my first review of an app that may have a gender bias. I think it's safe to say that My Little Pony targets girls more than boys. While I don't think we should be encouraging stereotypes of any kind, research has shown that girls start to show a preference towards pink whereas boys show an aversion to pink by 2.5 years. Another interesting study found that not only do girls prefer to play with dolls and boys with cars, but female and male monkeys do the same! Just something to think about...

Balance: Back to these hotspots and activities. I think that the developers showed some control by not adding too many hotspots, and some pages don't even have any. Their intent was probably for kids to tap on them after the text was finished as the hotspots start to sparkle only after the text has been read (read to me mode). But since there are some - kids will probably want to look for them on every page, some more diligently than others, which may become a distraction. I'd like to see an e-book where it is clear that you cannot do anything until the text is finished. As for the activities, I'm wary of inserting activities during the story unless they are clearly part of the story and really does move the plot forward. Although these activities claim to do that, I don't think they quite do. I'm thinking of activities more along the lines of Bartleby's Book of Buttons. Otherwise, it really disrupts the plot and may lead to less comprehension. And even when the activities are part of the story, it could still affect comprehension for some kids - so activities in general are risky if you're really looking to teach them something. Finally, there are some animated clips that actually do move the plot along. There are just a few which seems to be a good amount to make it kinda cool but yet not make the book into too much of a movie or like the tv show. Rating: 3.5/5


Sustainability: The plus of the activities is that you collect words when you finish them. The words can then be used to fill in a story at the end. You can mix and match the words and create silly stories like with mad-libs (yet another throwback - mad lib's came out in the 50's!). This can be a great activity for improving reading, vocabulary, and storytelling. Also, the e-book encourages you to buy into this whole My Little Pony world - there is a feature where you can learn more about each pony. So being tied to the show can be a plus to spark more interest but parents may end up having to buy My Little Pony items like mine did with my roller-skates. I'm also not sure how popular the new show is... Rating: 4.5/5


Parental Involvement: The recording feature is nice - as parents can record their own reading and kids can listen to it even when the parent is not there. Parents can also use the recording feature to encourage their child to read aloud. Within the plot though, I'm not sure how much there is for parents to elaborate on except for the main themes of friendship and helping each other. Rating: 4/5


Total 15.5 out of 20: 3 stars


Disclosure: I received this app for review for free from the developers.