Alice in Wonderland

Alice in Wonderland
From Tabtale

About the app

This interactive storybook provides endless hours of pleasure, through its beautiful storyline, fascinating animated scenes, as well as its vivid and colorful animations and engaging interactions.

What's Inside:

* Includes Puzzles as a Free Bonus! * Watch as Alice falls down the rabbit’s hole - interactive animated activity.
* See Alice shrink and become as tiny as a mouse - pure magic.
* Join a colorful birds race where all are winners - fun activity.
* Meet the smiling cat & the Queen of hearts - animated characters.
* Join the Mad Hatter in a marvelous tea party - a joyous celebration.
* Fun Puzzle activities on many pages.

My Thoughts

Who doesn’t know the story of Alice in Wonderland?   I personally remember the Disney cartoon.   Tabtale has a very colorful app telling the famous story to children in the 21st century.   Using an iPad, your kids will be able to discover the beautiful story of Alice in Wonderland.

As I mentioned, the pages are very colorful and bright.   No wonder it would attract the eyes of any kid watching and listening the story.   

Numerous features are included in this app.   Not only your child will have amazing illustrations on each page read but he/she will also have engaging and fun animations in them.   

Three ways to read the story are provided.    The Read to Me option will automatically read each page of the story to the child while the Read it Myself will allow the child to control the reading.    An auto play option is also available to automatically read the entire story to the child.  

Though this app is fabulous, I am disappointed with one aspect of it – the fact that there are ads at the bottom of each pages.    I am not keen in having my child clicking on an ad which will open the website of the advertiser in Safari.    I understand that whoever wants to pay for the ad-free version could do so by purchasing it for 99 cents.   I am questioning the fact that it is offered for free in the first place because honestly little ones can’t help but clicking on the page here and there and eventually stumble on the ad at the bottom.   How frustrated a child can become when something else opens!   Trust me it’s not fun when your child will start yelling and saying “Hey where did it go!” – think of this happening while you drive….    ugh!

So I am not rejoicing when I see apps that says FREE and then realize that there are some ads in it.    No thanks.   Because of this, I will remove the app from my iPad.   I am not motivated enough to pay 99 cents for this story.    I sure hope that this won’t become an habit from the app developers out there.   My child has enough exposure to ads in the regular world, I don’t want her to have more while she uses the iPad.

Free version available on iTunes.  Beware that it contains ads.  If you want the ad-free version you will have to pay 99 cents.

Disclaimer: Thanks to TabTale for sending me the above mentioned product 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.

The Lion and the Mouse

The Lion and the Mouse
From Smartoonz and Tabtale

About the app

The Lion and The Mouse interactive book, is based on the successful TV children show "Little Fables" that’s broadcasted worldwide in more than 50 territories, illustrated in black and white shadow puppetry animation with original beautiful soundtrack of world music.   This fable, tells the story of the small helping the BIG. watch the famous fable come to life like never before with fabulous interactive activities your children are sure to enjoy!

This Thrilling App includes:
★ Meet the Lion for the first time and hear him roar - interactive activity
★ Help the mouse gather food & climb on a big “Rock” - interactive activity
★ Help the Lion lend a hand to the little mouse - interactive activity
★ Watch how the Lion gets trapped in a thicket of vines - interactive activity
★ Send the Mouse to help the Lion - interactive activity

My Thoughts

At first I wasn’t too sure about the images in this story were mostly black.   But after I watched the story and ponder on it, I see the tremendous advantage of not putting too much colors in it.   Why?  Because it helps the child to concentrate on the moral hidden in the story.  

The app possess a rich narrative on every page of the story.    Three options are available on this app.   The Read to Me will let the app read automatically the pages to your child.   The Auto Play will read the entire story to the child without waiting for him/her to turn the pages.   Finally, you also have the possibility to record the narration of the story yourself for your child.   What a great way to personalize the story!   This could be done when the child goes to a sleep over at the grandparents or if one of the parent are going away for a business trip!

The app also contains numerous engaging and fun animations which will entertain the child after listening to one page.    Sounds effects are also included on the soundtrack.

This app is perfect to keep your child busy while waiting in line at the bank or in the doctor’s office.   I particularly like the fact that there is a moral to the story and hope that more fables will find their way on the iPad.

Available for purchase for the price of 99 cents on iTunes.    *** Special Discount - For a limited time only ***

Disclaimer: Thanks to Smartoonz and Tabtale for sending me the above mentioned product 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.

Wizard of Oz

Wizard of Oz
from TabTale

About the app

This interactive storybook provides endless hours of pleasure, through its beautiful storyline, fascinating animated scenes, as well as its vivid and colorful animations and engaging interactions.

What’s Inside:

* Includes Puzzles as a Free Bonus! * Help the fairy greet Dorothy & Toto when they arrive to Oz - interactive activity. * Follow the yellow brick road & meet the scarecrow, a lion & the tin man - fun activity. * Watch how the kind Wizard helps reveal a heart, a brain & real bravery - pure magic. * Help Dorothy spray water & make the witch of the west shrink - animated characters. * Watch how Dorothy clicks her heels and returns home safely - a joyous celebration. * Fun Puzzle activities on many pages.

The Wizard of Oz is part of a line of rich interactive storybooks by TabTale. See all our books.

Features:

• Beautiful HD illustrations joined with a rich narrative on every page.
• Enjoy numerous engaging and fun animations on every page.
• “Read to Me” - automatically reads each page of the story to you.
• “Read it Myself” - allows you to control the reading yourself.
• “Auto Play” - automatically reads the entire story to you.

My Thoughts

Ah!  The Wizard of OZ…   A movie that I watched numerous times when I was younger and still to this day.     This app retell the famous story and includes activities to do throughout the story.  The child can also interact with the app by tapping on items and make them move.  

The graphics and color are marvelous and will definitively attract my little girl.    The reader takes her time to read the story and also includes various tone in her voice to attract the interest of a child.   The story is different than the one seen in the movie but I must be honest in telling you that I have never read the original story so I do not know if this app is based on the original story or not.  

Thought this app is fabulous I am disappointed  with something that is found at every pages of the app…

This app is free which means that at the bottom of the screen you get advertising.    I have mixed feelings about this.   On one side, I like the fact that it is free but on the other side I dislike the fact that my child can touch the advertising and open up the internet to go to the product announced.   Besides, when this happens, the app itself closes.   Yes I can find it in my repertoire at the bottom when I double click on the button but when I select it it re-opens the app from the beginning not from where it was when I mistakenly clicking on the advertisement.    And when you are a child of four years old, how would you know that you have to double click.   It is disappointing that the app doesn't`t reopen to where it was…  However, you have the option of removing the ads right from the start page where the title is.   But the down side of this remove the ads button is translated in a windows opening and telling you that to get an add free version, you have to pay 99 cents.    My question is simply this one:   “Why not charging from the bat for the amount suggested?   Children these days are bombarded with ads and advertisement.   They don’t need to have more while using an app for entertainment on the iPad.”

Personally  I am not impressed with the fact that my child can click on the advertising part at the bottom of the page.   Consequently, I will not leave this app on my iPad because I am not comfortable to have my daughter to click on an ad located at the bottom of the page.  

As mentioned, the app is free on iTunes but if you want to ad free version you will have to pay 99 cents.

Disclaimer: Thanks to TabTales for sending me the above mentioned product 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.

Rock ‘n Elephant

Rock ‘n Elephant
From TabTale

About the app

Rock 'n Elephant is an original interactive story by Dorit Leshnick that encourages children to tune into their emotional intelligence. Join Rock as he embarks on a journey to find his best friend, Elephant.   Along the way, he meets up with different “rockmates” - a rolling pebble, a soft pile of sand, and a fiery flintstone.  Each encounter leaves Rock with a profound insight which helps him connect to his inner self.   By the end of his journey, not only does he find Elephant, but he also finds the most important thing of all....himself.

My Thoughts

This cute story will help your child to be able to discover himself or herself when he/she plays alone.    Having friends is nice indeed but at the same time it is good to play alone every now and then.  

The child will also find beautiful illustrations as well as interaction throughout the story.  

This specific app has two reading options – Read to Me which will read each pages of the story to you as well as Auto Play which will automatically read the story to you .   The narrator is changing voices while reading the story as well as taking her time to pronounce the words slowly so that children can enjoy the story.

Having storybooks on the iPad/iPhone is very useful when you have to wait at an appointment or simply while driving the car.   

This story is beautiful but I have mixed feeling with the teaching inside of it.    It is definitively not Christian based as it does mentions the millions of years of history…   It feels as though the book is bending toward new age ways of thinking with words like

everything is right here!

everything around you is changing every moment…

and

he’s where he’s supposed to be, just like you and me!

I must admit that I am not a big supporter of  that way of thinking.   I am not comfortable to let my child go through this book.   However I realize that not everyone think like me so if you find the app interesting Rock ‘n Elephant is available for download on iTunes for the price of 0.99$.

Disclaimer: I received the app 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.

The Tortoise and the Hare

The Tortoise and the Hare

Created by Tabtale

About the app

A beautiful interactive retelling of Aesop's famous fable that teaches children an important lesson about the value of determination and hard work. See it come to life with fabulous interactive activities your children are sure to enjoy.

Surrounded by their friends, Hare challenges Tortoise to a race. A race with an unexpected ending! Come join the forest animals and witness the race and the unfolding story.

This interactive storybook provides endless hours of pleasure, through its beautiful storyline, fascinating animated scenes, as well as its vivid and colorful animations and engaging interactions.

The Tortoise and the Hare is part of a line of rich interactive storybooks by TabTale.  

Our Thoughts

Who haven’t heard of the story of the Tortoise and the Hare?  This app is an interactive story which will introduce your young children to the story and include animation for your older ones.

The story is well told to the child and the images are funny and colorful.    My daughter who is three years old has enjoyed listening to it and discovering the interactions included in the pictures.  You can find three ways of reading the story – The auto play actually read the book to you and turn the pages itself, the Read to Me will read each page to you but you have the control on the page turning and finally the Read It Myself gives the control of the reading and the turning the pages.   Three ways of reading this story depending of the level of reading your child is. 

You can also discover various interactions while you read the story and the child can learn each animal by name. 

And don’t forget the lesson to learn from the story.  When you are done with your child, you can use the teaching moment and emphasize the importance of making sure to finish something when you start and that starting fast is not necessarily wise.  

The Tortoise and the Hare app is available for 3.99$ on iTunes.

Disclaimer: I received the app 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.

Noah’s Ark

Noah’s Ark – An Interactive Children’s Bible Tale
Produced by TabTale

About the App

This classical biblical storybook of Noah and the ark provides hours of pleasure through its beautifully told storyline, sublime graphics and fascinating interactive activities and scenes.

God tells Noah to build an ark for him and his family in preparation for the great flood that will cover the earth. God also instructs Noah to bring into the ark two of all living creatures, male and female, along with every kind of food to be stored while on the ark. Noah obeys everything God commands him to do.

After they entered the ark, rain fell on the earth for a period of forty days and nights and flooded the earth. As the waters receded, the ark came to rest on the mountains of Ararat. Noah and his family continued to wait while the surface of the earth dried out. Finally, a dove came back with an olive branch, in sign of dry land. Noah and the animals disembark and disperse over the earth.

The story book re-enacts this beautiful bible tale with engaging interactive activities on every page. Help Noah build the ark. Help the animals embark and listen to their names. Guess which animal it is in the dark from the sound it makes. Navigate the ark, and many more interactions to keep the entire family engaged.

Bible Tale - Noah's Ark is part of a line of rich interactive storybooks by TabTale.

Our Thoughts

First and foremost, I am happy that TabTale is making apps based on stories of the Bible.   The colorful pages have help my daughter to stay attentive during the story.   The creators have also included many special interaction throughout the story.

However, I am disappointed that the story is not told the way it is mentioned in the Bible.   God has brought the animals not Noah’s family.   God has close the door of the ark not Noah.   The story mentions that the ark was built in two days – such a construction would have take longer than that and the Bible doesn’t mention the length of time associated with the construction of the ark. And the story mentioned that Noah’s helped people around him.  There is no such mentioned in the Bible but it does says that Noah was

a righteous man, blameless among the people of his time, and he walked with God.  Genesis 6:9

While you go through the story, you can see the corruption of the people at the beginning of the story. But the text doesn’t go with what you see.   I am disappointed that some information was added to the text of the Bible.  Personally I would have preferred that the story be accurate and not changed as I find important to teach the truth to my children.

As I mentioned earlier, interaction is present in all the reading options you have on this app – Auto Play, Read it Myself and Read to Me.   I am quite pleased with the quality and the level of interaction included on each pages.   It is impressive to see that the creators behind this app have thought of putting a long list of animals to go in and out of the ark.  There is even a guessing game where you have to name the animals in the darkness of the ark by the noise they make.   When you are done, click on the lamp to discover which ones were there. 

The Read to Me will automatically read each page of the story to your child.   The Auto Play automatically reads the book to you and turn the pages.   It is perfect for younger children.    The Read it Myself however will allow the child to control the reading himself.

This app is well done and will be entertaining.   As a Christian parent, I will sit down with my children and point out the disparities between this story and what is written in the Bible.  

Noah’s Ark is available directly from iTunes for the price of 99 cents.

The whole story of Noah can be found in the book of Genesis 6:1-9:17.

Disclaimer: I received the app 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.