The iPhone Mom

Lola’s Alphabet Train is the follow up app to Lola’s Flag Adventure. Lola the panda bear is back and this time she’s conducting her very own train. It’s a train that makes frequent stops and at each stop Lola must complete an activity involving letters and reading. Your child’s task is to help Lola correctly complete the activities. When they do that they will earn coins. After finishing several activities Lola will bring the train to a stop at a trinket stand. Your child can use their coins to purchase presents that will fill up the cars of Lola’s train.

Lola’s Alphabet Train works off three different levels which makes it appropriate for young preschoolers through about first grade. Some of the words in the hard level are a bit tricky to spell so it might even challenge children older than that. Lola’s Alphabet Train can be played in English, French, Spanish and German. The graphics are cute and I appreciate the different levels of difficulty.

Price when Reviewed: $1.99

See the app in iTunes

Seller: BeiZ Ltd.

Disclosure: I received a free copy of this app for review purposes.

Hannah Rose Knows is the name of a series of e-books and storybook apps with a message. Titles include Hannah Rose Knows…You’ll Never Regret Doing the Right Thing, The Best Presents Are the Ones You Give, Words Only Hurt If You Let Them and more. The name of the app is Hannah Rose Knows and it’s free. With the app you’ll receive the first book, Hannah Rose Knows How to Make Bad Feelings Go Away. You can purchase additional books from within the app.

I tried out the free book and the story did a good job speaking to children on their level. I liked the way Hannah Rose helped her friend cope with his angry feelings. The narration was well done and I liked the fact that children were used for the speaking parts. When you’re using the app you have the choice of “Read to Me” or “Let Me Color”. With Read to Me you’ll listen as the story is read aloud and watch as the illustrations change. There are no words on the screen, this is a story you simply listen to. If you choose “Let Me Color” you can color in an illustration from the story. As you do this you’ll hear the story read aloud. Finally, there is a button at the top of the screen that says “For Parents”. This brings up the text to the story so you can refer back to it or read it to your child yourself.

There were several things that I liked about this app. The first is the message behind the stories and how they are geared towards children. The second thing I appreciated was the coloring option. I really liked that not only can you color in a picture but you can do it while listening to the story.

Price when Reviewed: FREE but additional stories are $2.99

Seller: Hannah Rose Knows LLC

Have you heard of TumbleBooks? They are talking, animated picture books and our library offers the TumbleBook Library through it’s website. Now TumbleBooks have come to the App Store and are being called “TumbleBooksToGo”. The apps have been created from published picture books and come with narration, animation, highlighted text, music and sound effects. I purchased the TumbleBooks version of Diary of a Fly by Doreen Cronin and my kids are really enjoying it. My only wish for the app would be to have a way to stop the narration and go back and forth through the story on my own.

Price when Reviewed: $1.99

Seller: TumbleBooks Inc.

The fabulous library of Dr. Seuss apps has grown again! Oceanhouse Media has released two new Dr. Seuss e-books – One Fish, Two Fish and Oh, the Places You’ll Go! I haven’t tried out either app but based on what I’ve seen from the Dr. Seuss apps in the past I’m certain they’ll be fantastic.

One Fish, Two Fish, Red Fish, Blue Fish and Oh, the Places You’ll Go are both available for $3.99 in and compatible with both iPad and iPhone.

I just read on the Oceanhouse website that Hop on Pop is coming soon. Now I’m crossing my fingers that Green Eggs with Ham is on the horizon!

We have an amazing children’s department at our local library. During the summer all of the libraries in our area join up for summer reading and the kids can earn prizes for daily reading. One of my children’s favorite prizes is the rodeo tickets and let me tell you it is quite the experience to take your kids to a rodeo on the same night that everyone else in the area takes their kids. The plus side is you know yours won’t be the only ones crawling over and under the bleachers. It’s a loud and long night and we rarely make it through to the bull riding but the goal of earning those tickets keeps my kids buried in books for the first two months of summer. Unfortunately the program ends before summer does so we usually have one last month where no one is reading much at all. I’m sure I’m not the only mom who struggles to keep her kids reading during the summer. We’re blessed with a great community program but I know that not everyone has access to something like that. About a week ago I was sent an email about a free app called The Reading Game. It works as a reading tracking/incentive program and I thought the email was perfectly timed for summer so I wanted to try it out.

The Reading Game has a beautiful feel to it. The illustrations that are displayed in the background look like they’ve come straight out of a fairytale. It’s very simple to use the app. Your child enters in the title of the book that they are reading and it’s number of pages. The next time they return they can record the page number that they are on. The screen tells them how many pages they have left and what percentage of the book this is. As they use the app they will be unlocking rewards. The rewards are silly animations and sounds and there are oodles of them to earn. I thought they were crazy and borderline annoying but my kids felt the complete opposite way. Surprise!

I really like the concept behind The Reading Game and I am all for anything that keeps kids reading. I like the way it keeps tracks of the pages that you have read and how many you have left. My only suggestion for this app is to add in a way to keep track of different reader profiles. I can’t figure out if there’s a way to do this or not. Right now I see all of our books in one list and my kids share the unlocked rewards. It’d be nice to have separate profiles but that’s just a minor quibble. Overall I think this is a fantastic free resource for parents.

Price when Reviewed: FREE

Seller: Legend Apps

I Know My Mommy Loves Me is a sweet story told from a little bear’s perspective. It follows him throughout the day as he lists all the things his Mommy does for him that show she loves him. As a mom I really enjoyed this story because it points out that the little things we do for our children every day (making their lunches, carpool runs, picking out clothes) are absolutely ways we show we love them. My favorite part of the story is when the little bear is talking about how he and his Mommy love to have desserts. We love desserts in our house and my kids are certainly always more positive about being sent to bed after they’ve had a treat!

I Know My Mommy Loves Me comes with a bonus set of ABC flashcards. They’re easy to use – tap on a letter and you’ll get an object that starts with the letter. Swipe the screen to move on to the next letter. The graphics were cute and appealing. This is a nice app with a sweet message.

Brighter Minds is also behind the apps I Know Daddy Loves Me, I Know Grandma Loves Me and I Know Grandpa Loves Me. I have one promo code for each of these apps. Leave a comment letting me know which one you’d like to try. At the end of the day I’ll email out the codes. If more than one person requests a specific app then I’ll randomly pick a winner.

*I Know My Mommy Loves Me works on both the iPhone and iPad. I tested it out on my iPad.

Price when Reviewed: $1.99

Seller: Brighter Minds

Hush Little Baby is a storybook version of the classic lullaby and it has gorgeous illustrations. The entire app has the feel of an actual picture book. You have the choice to hear the lullaby read aloud like a story or sung to you. When you choose “read” you’ll hear the words read aloud and you must swipe to turn the page. When you choose “sing” it goes into an autoplay mode and the pages turn on their own. Hush Little Baby has a great feature that lets you record yourself reading or singing the lullaby. More than one person can record themselves and you can choose the voice you’d like to hear in the app’s set up section. There’s also the option to turn off the voice altogether and play through the app with only instrumental  accompaniment. I turned that on while I was typing this and my son began to hum along while he was playing. I don’t sing lullabies (can’t sing) so he’s learned the tune from the few times he’s played with the app.

My only suggestion for Hush Little Baby is to create an option for automatic page turning in the “Read” mode. All in all we’ve enjoyed hearing a lullaby around the house and the app is very sweet!

Hush Little Baby was designed for an iPhone or iPad. I tested it out on my phone and loved the look of the illustrations. I’m sure they’re fantastic on the iPad.

Price when Reviewed: $2.99

Seller: mytales digital

Disclosure: I received a free copy of this app for review purposes.

Shrek Forever After is the new storybook app from Dreamworks and iStoryTime. The app is done in HD and works on both the iPhone and iPad. I tried it out on the iPhone and the illustrations looked great, I’m sure they’re terrific on the iPad. The storybook app tells the story of the new move, Shrek Forever After. The app does a nice job condensing the plot into a story that’s not too long but not too short either. Spoiler alert – the story gives away the ending to the movie!

The app lets you read the story to yourself or listen to it as it’s read aloud. You have the option of having the text highlighted as the narrator reads. I was pleasantly surprised to discover things to tap on the screen. If you tap on the characters many will talk. There is a hidden ogre doll on each screen. When you tap on him he’ll squeal. These touches add a lot to the story.

Even though Shrek isn’t my favorite character I enjoyed the story and if you’re a Shrek fan you should enjoy this app.

Price when Reviewed: $1.99 (Limited time launch price)

Seller: FrogDogMedia LLC

Disclosure: I received a free copy of this app for review purposes.

Eartha the Sea Turtle is a storybook app with a message about how we treat the environment and the animals around us. I usually have a hard time with children’s literature that focuses on this type of issue. Not that I don’t think it’s important to take care of our environment, I just don’t like how some stories hit you over the head with their point, only to hit you again and again.  Eartha wasn’t like that at all and I enjoyed this story. The message was still there (my kids caught onto it right away) but the way it’s presented isn’t obnoxious. This app comes with a bonus story and I enjoyed it just as much as the main one. The bonus story tells of the real Eartha the Sea Turtle and features photographs illustrating the story. It was nice to learn about Eartha’s background and I’ve decided sea turtles are pretty darn cute.

The app is well done and runs smoothly. My only complaint is I was unable to find a pause button for the story. I’d like to be able to stop and restart if I needed to.

Price when Reviewed: $.99

Seller: FrogDogMedia LLC

Disclosure: I received a free copy of this app for review purposes.

Mandy and Andy – The Seasons is the second storybook app featuring two cats names Mandy and Andy. Their Uncle Tobias and friend Mortimer Mouse are back for this adventure as well. In The Seasons the friends are learning about the different seasons as they play and explore throughout the year. The app begins in summer and works it’s way through fall, winter, spring and then back to summer again. Each page has something interactive on it. You can listen to the story as it’s read aloud or read it to yourself.

Mandy and Andy can be listened to (and read) in English, French, Spanish, German and Japanese. The Seasons also has “Tasks” or activities that go along with the story. You can collect matching leaves off the ground for fall and color in a picture of a picnic for summer. I like the addition of extra activities, it adds much to the story. I thought the app did a nice job putting the seasons into ideas that preschoolers can understand and relate to.

Price when Reviewed: $.99

Seller: BeiZ Ltd

Disclosure: I received a free copy of this app for review purposes.