I had the opportunity earlier this year to review the new Pocket Genius Animals and the Pocket Genius Sharks books from DK Canada. Not too long after I posted my reviews for these two books, I got offered the opportunity to review the ebook version of each of them. Wanting to see how these books would be on the iPad, I accepted and received the two books in the e-book format.
Designed with interactive features specifically for use on the iPad, Pocket Genius: Animals is a new and exciting quick reference encyclopedia for young adults. Featuring a fresh and striking design that is sure to appeal to the middle grade audience, this guide offers a unique catalog-style presentation, which clearly lays out individual species with concise and punchy text covering all of the essential information. Spreads provide details on animal anatomy, full-bleed action images, comprehensive lists of species, along with key facts and unique features about each. Easy-to-use widgets bring the animals to life, and include swipe-through galleries with pinch-and-pull ability to expand the size and detail of the photos embedded, soundless videos of the animals in action, and audio capturing individual animal sounds in the wild. These encyclopedias are perfect for back-to-school, summer reading, and every month in between!
Designed with interactive features specifically for use on the iPad, Pocket Genius: Sharks is a new and exciting quick reference encyclopedia for young adults. Featuring a fresh and striking design that is sure to appeal to the middle grade audience, this guide offers a unique catalog-style presentation, which clearly lays out individual species with concise and punchy text covering all of the essential information. Spreads provide details on shark taxonomy, full-bleed action images (including one of a shark feeding frenzy), comprehensive lists of species, along with key facts and unique features about each.
Easy-to-use widgets bring the pages to life, and include swipe-through galleries with pinch-and-pull ability to expand the size and detail of the photos and embedded, soundless videos of the sharks in action. These encyclopedias are perfect for back-to-school, summer reading, and every month in between!
My Thoughts
What is great about the ebook format is the fact that you can have interaction with them with the use of videos. However, there isn’t any sound attached on the videos at this point in time. Keep in mind that interactive e-books are quite new and that have videos and sound incorporated in them can bring the size of the ebook quite large. Consequently, even if the sound is missing in these videos, it is interesting to observe the behavior of the animal as you watch it. The best part is that you have the ability of enlarging the video so it can take the full screen visualization. With an iPad it is fabulous because all the kids can snuggle around me and watch it at the same time.
Each ebook is divivded in section – a bit like the hardcover book. For example, in the Animals e-book, the Mammals is a section where you can find information about animals belonging to this category like the elephant, the koala, the platypus, and the naked mole-rat – to name only a few of them. To change section, all you simply have to do is click on the next dot at the bottom of the page and it will bring you to the new chapter in the e-book.
The more I discover the DK ebooks, the more I appreciate the way they are organized. I must confess that at first I had reservations about them but now that I have discovered a few of them, I think it makes sense to present the information that way. First of all, when you open the book, the iPad immediately bring you in the landscape position for it. Honestly it makes sense because you get a bigger and better view of the page. The navigation between the chapters is easy to follow as well once you know how DK does it. Like I mentioned it before, clicking on the dot will bring you to a new chapter within the ebook. Once you are in the chapter, you simply flick the pages or pick one shown in the ribbon at the bottom of your screen. It is so simple and easy to use that a young child can use it.
For each animal/shark you will get a page giving you information on it and you can see the animal/shark with an image.
These ebooks are not encyclopedias but they are marvelous to entertain a child while you wait at an appointment or if you are travelling on the road. And the best part of it is that if your child can read, he/she will also learn facts about animals and sharks which covers the science lesson of the day in a way!
You can download Pocket Genius: Animals and Pocket Genius: Sharks on iTunes. Each are priced at 2.99$.
Disclaimer: Thanks to DK Canada for sending me the above mentioned e-books for review purposes. I was not monetarily compensated for this review. Please note that the review was not influenced by the Sponsor in any way. All opinions expressed here are only my own.
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