This week, there are apps based on Sandra Boynton’s bestselling Going to Bed Book, Cinderella, a fairy named Penelope, two stories from Ladybug magazine, and more.
Title: Go Car Go
Publisher/Developer: Caravan Interactive
Available: March 8
Price: $0.99
Background: Users build a car and test it on a variety of courses.
Interactive features: The full version of the game includes 48 levels split over four worlds, each more challenging. "Sandbox mode" allows users to compete with others.
Title: The Going to Bed Book
Publisher/Developer: Loud Crow Interactive/Boynton Moo Media
Available: March 7
Price: iPad $2.99; iPhone, iTouch $1.99
Background: The board book by Sandra Boynton was first published in 1982 and has more than five million copies in print.
Interactive features: “Read to Me” mode features a vocal performance by British Invasion singer Billy J. Kramer; screen fogs up when characters take a shower and children can write and draw in the steam, using their fingers.
Title: Cinderella: A Princess Story
Publisher/Developer: One Hundred Robots
Available: March 4
Price: iPad introductory price $1.99; iPhone introductory price $0.99
Background: Adapted from the book by Elizabeth Cody Kimmel, the app features 40 storybook scenes by illustrator Gerald Gurlais.
Interactive features: Kids can swipe a finger to turn a pumpkin into a coach, change mice into horses, transform a ragged dress into a gown, and help an old pair of shoes become glass slippers. Professionally recorded narration, 40 sound effects, classical music by Respighi and Grieg.
Title: The Penelope Rose
Publisher/Developer: MoBaD Games
Available: February 25
Price: $6.99
Background: A story about how a fairy named Penelope saves roses from being destroyed by coloring them.
Interactive features: Read to Me option and Read By Myself option; 26 interactive 3D elements; music; sound effects; touch-activated character interaction and animations throughout; games; rose painting activities.
Title: Appetites
Publisher/Developer: Clear-Media
Available: February 24
Price: $1.99
Background: The app has 27 interactive video cooking classes. Seven are included; 20 additional classes are available for $.99 each.
Interactive features: Included cooking classes are: Butternut Squash Risotto, Smash Burger, Avocado Spring Rolls with Cilantro-Chili Dipping Sauce, Maple Bacon Pancakes, Guacamole, Agua Fresca, and Spicy Black Bean Chipotle Dip.
Title: Violet and the Mystery Next Door
Publisher/Developer: My Black Dog Books
Available: February 21
Price: $3.99
Background: The story about an imaginative girl who ties on her black velvet mask to become Phantom Girl, is the third book in the Violet series, geared for ages 4-8.
Interactive features: Popups, mini-games, choose-your-own adventure, animated snow, and interactive snowballs.
Title: Max and Kate from Ladybug’s Bookshelf series, featuring two stories: “Max and Kate’s Magic Show” and “Max and Kate’s Safari”
Publisher/Developer: Cricket Magazine Group/Ethervision
Available: February 16
Price: $0.99
Background: Both interactive stories are based on the Ladybug magazine series by Brita Granström and Mick Manning. They are aimed at children ages 3-6.
Interactive features: Readers can select “Read to Me” (narrated by a child actor) or “Read It Myself.” There is an interactive coloring page at the end of “Max and Kate’s Safari.”
Title: TRON: Legacy The Complete Story App
Publisher/Developer: Disney Publishing Worldwide
Available: February 1
Price: $3.99 for a limited time
Background: Tron is a 1982 American science fiction film that spawned a franchise which includes video games, comic books, and an animated TV series. A sequel to the movie, Tron: Legacy, was released last year.
Interactive features: Viewers are guided through the first chapter of the story, with voices from the film. There are 150 pages of illustrated artwork, more than 35 digital stills from the film; two songs from the TRON: Legacy soundtrack composed by duo Daft Punk; and movie sound effects.
To be included in this listing, please send us the app title, the book or other source for the app (if there is one -- original apps are fine, too), when it was released, price, background of the book (including such info as copies in print, when it was released, awards, and brief plot summary), and the interactive elements of the app. Send all apps and promo codes to Jim Milliot, and send news of children’s apps to Diane Roback as well.
