The Snow Ball Digital Book Review

As a family, we are immersed in technology.   I love my iPhone, iPod, Kindle, iPad (and of course my laptop & desktop computers.)  That love is shared by all of my children.  I download more apps for them than myself, and I'm always on the lookout for fun and/or educational apps.

We recently downloaded an interactive book -- The Snow Ball, by David Steinberg and illustrated by Liz Conrad.  It's about polar bears playing in the snow, and is delightful!  Children can choose to read the book independently, or have the book read to them.  On each page, there are interactive features in the illustration that kids can touch and watch what happens.

Lydia really enjoyed the book, and has watched it multiple times on our iPad and her iPod.  She giggles at the polar bears throwing snowballs every time!

Here's a brief video of her playing with the interactive story book, The Snow Ball:



I was wondering how David Steinberg felt about this new media, and this is what he shared:

Interactive e-books will never take away from the joy of holding and reading a good old-fashioned book," said Steinberg, "but they add a whole new dimension into discovering and experiencing books.

The idea of an e-book app like 'The Snow Ball' is to give kids the chance to immerse themselves in the world of the book,  taking the time to discover all the surprises tucked away on each page.  From an educational standpoint, what an amazing way for emerging readers to navigate their own learning.  Kids can choose whether to follow along with the word highlights as the narrator reads to them, or use the read-myself mode to try it all by themselves. 

As an author, I have to say that I love having these new tools in my storytelling kit.  I'll never stop loving books, but I admit that I've grown a little crush on my iPad these days, too.

Along with the Snowball book, (retails for $1.99 in both iTunes and Android app stores) there is a fun, free Penguin game that has the kids sliding penguins around on the ice.  I synced the game to my boys' iPods, and they both noticed it and played with it.  They thought it was cute, but definitely aimed to the preschool market.

If you want to check out the book, here are the links to find it on iTunes and and the Android store.

Check out the free game at iTunes and the Android store.

Learn more about David Steinberg at his website.

*Disclosure:  I received an advance copy of the interactive book and the game, in exchange for my honest review.  No additional compensation or consideration was provided.*

Review: Bob Books Reading Magic App (iPad and iPod Touch)

Bob Books was one of the tools I used to help my boys learn to read. I remember thinking they were ridiculously simple, but then realizing that was what made them amazing.  Both boys quickly mastered the small words and short sentences, which gave them almost-instant satisfaction and a confidence boost.

I fully expected to make them available for Lydia, and already have a few sets on the shelves ready for her. When I was contacted about the Reading Magic app they recently released, I was excited to try it out!  There is an app available for the iPod Touch and iPhone, as well as one for the iPad.  We tried both out, and the video shows Lydia using our iPad and the Reading Magic app.



As you can see, she enjoys it!  I was surprised at how quickly she picked it up.  I really liked the fact that you can change the settings so that when they are matching the letters to the word, you can choose from actual letters, or the phonic sounds.  Since she is so comfortable with her letters, we set it for phonics.

She thinks the change from black and white to color is interesting, and laughs at how the characters jiggle on the screen.  I like that they kept the same simple line drawings and backgrounds -- but added the color as tasks are completed in the app.


This gets a 5 star, thumbs-up score!

I'm really excited that I can share a code with one of my readers so they can try it out. Let me know if you want to try the app on the iPad or the iPhone or iPod Touch.  They are 2 different downloads, but the app works almost exactly the same on each platform.

To enter the giveaway, click HERE to jump to the giveaway form.  Before you click, take note of the giveaway name and mandatory question so you can fill in the blanks on the form.  Also, be sure that you have an iPad, iPod Touch or iPhone to install the app. (Link to my giveaway rules can be found to the right)

Giveaway Name: Reading Magic
Mandatory Question: On which device will you install Reading Magic?

This giveaway will end on January 7, 2011.  Good Luck!!

*Disclosure: I received 2 codes to download the Reading Magic app for the iPod Touch and the iPad.  I also will receive a code to give to one of my readers.  No additional compensation was provided.  All opinions and thoughts are my own and Lydia's.*

Review: Punflay ABC Numbers iPad App

We had the chance to check out Punflay's ABC Numbers app for the iPad.  They included the alphabet as well as the numbers, and Lydia has had a blast playing with the letters and pretending to trace the letters on the screen.  Here she is!




*Disclosure: Thanks to Punflay for sending us a promotional code to try this out!  No further compensation was provided.*

Review: Mother Goose iPad App (and Giveaway!)

Lydia (3yo) takes over Bo's iPad whenever she has the chance.  I recently added another app for her, which means that Bo uses it even less.

This video is of her playing with the Mother Goose Reader by My Own Kid Books, LLC.  As you can see, she has no problem navigating through the app and choosing different nursery rhymes. She is adept at touching various areas of the screen to find out what hidden things may appear (sounds, pictures, etc.) and delights in listening to the rhymes being read.



Do you have a preschooler who loves nursery rhymes?  I have TWO codes to give away for this great iPad app.  Winners must have an iPad to use the code.

Giveaway will end August 5, 2010.  Review my giveaway rules here.  Fill out the giveaway form by clicking here.  (Entries left in the comments will not count! Please use the form for giveaway entries and the comments for comments.  thanks!)


Giveaway Name: Mother Goose
Mandatory Question: What is your favorite nursery rhyme?

*Disclosure: I received a code to try this app at no cost to me.  No  other compensation was provided.  All content is my own.*

Review: iPad Apps for Little Ones

We recently had the chance to try out 2 new apps for the iPad that are geared towards young kids.  We tried out My Numbers and Baby Explorer, developed by PunFlay.

These apps are well-designed and very colorful. They are geared towards the youngest iPad users, and since Lydia has been using my iPhone since she just turned 2, they didn't hold her interest now that she's 3.  If we had them last year, though, I know she would have enjoyed playing with them! 

I would say that the Baby Explorer game is geared towards kids 6 months - 2 years, while the My Numbers game is for those 18 months to 3 years, depending on their number skills.   If the My Numbers game went above the number 10, it would have been more useful for us.

The iPad screen is larger than the iPhone or iTouch screens, so it makes it much easier for little fingers to play on. Lydia did go through the games a few times, and laughed at the different sounds.  She enjoyed changing the color of the buttons on the Numbers game. She quickly caught on, but they kept her amused for a little bit during a recent long car drive.

I think they are a great tool for young kids.  These apps make waiting and long car drives much easier, as it gives small children something interesting to do.  They're an interesting learning tool, and allow kids to develop their hand/eye coordination as well as learning new skills.

If you have an iPad, it's always handy to have a few distractions loaded for your kids.  These games don't require an Internet connection, and while they're a bit noisy, they are appropriate for car rides or waiting rooms.  

I'm interested to watch what else this company develops and hopes they come up with apps for preschoolers! They do have a number of games out for the iPhone and iTouch as well.

You can check out all their offerings at punflay.com and purchase all their apps in the iTunes App Store.


*Disclosure: I received codes to download these 2 games through a blog tour set up by Mama Buzz for Punflay.  No further compensation was received. All opinions are my own.*