14 New iPad Books for Kids

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You know me, I’m a big believer that reading is reading is reading — comic books, newspaper, ipad books, . . . all reading counts. Last year after reviewing iPad books for the Cybils I had serious burn out — there were (are) some awful books out there! But, I’ve recently found good iPad books for kids I can recommend to you. 14 in fact. Hope these give you some new ideas for reading.


Where do Balloons Go? $5.99

Author, Jamie Lee Curtis, narrates this charming story that ponders the creative possibilities of what happens to balloons. Each beautifully illustrated page lets you drag, spin, . . . At a restaurant you can pick the olives off the kids’ fingers, on the postcard page, you can use your finger to write a message and email a friend, there’s something fun on every page.


Little Mermaid $3.99

I really love the presentation of this story. Read to yourself or read along with the narrator in this classic retelling of Hans Christian Anderson’s Little Mermaid. Fish swim into beautiful water-colored, interactive illustrations just after each page of text. Press on the page and it looks like your finger makes ripples in the water. It’s a beautiful effect.


Van Gogh and the Sunflowers
$3.99
This book is one of my favorites children’s books for the iPad EVER. Camille Roulin and his father, the mailman in the above image, help Van Gogh move into their town. We see Van Gogh’s paintings through young Camille’s eyes. We can touch each painting to learn more about it. Besides this fantastic story, the illustrations pop out in active 3D, returning to 2D when you turn the page, and amaze me.


Bizzy Bear Builds a House $3.99
Choose to read it to yourself or listen to a narrator. You’ll follow the cute Bizzy Bear to work at a construction site. Gis first job is to dig a big hole. Kids get to help him drive the digger to dig the hole. On another page, kids help Bizzy Bear push sand, or drive the dumper truck. Each page is perfect because the text is simple and readable, the corresponding activity is fun and relates to the story, and the sound effects (purr of the engine, creak of the crane) are fantastic. Throughout the story, kids click on different characters to listen to extra dialogue like, “Those bricks look really heavy.” And since this is a Noisy Crow app, everyone speaks in a British accent which of course, is adorable to us here in the States. LOVE this one! Especially for the preschool set.


It’s Almost Time $4.99
Tick-Tock. There are clocks everywhere in this auditory story – beep, bzzzz, tick, ding ding ding, go the clocks then only soft ticking for 59 minutes until they all start again. It’s just fun — and loud.


Boom Bah! $4.99
Listen to the ting, dings, tongs, tap, tap. A curious kitty investigates all the sounds in the house. Repetitive text tells us “Shh! Listen! . . . 1, 2, 3.” We’re told to nod our head, tap our toe, and join the band. I love the illustrations and simple text. A great story for young children, . . . very entertaining.


Bert and Ernie’s Great Adventures What’s Cooking? $1.99

Cute claymation Bert and Ernie work in a bakery with predictably silly, messy, and unexpected results.


Polar Bear Horizon $2.99
Spring arrives in Alaska and in this fictional story, polar bear and her two cubs emerge from their cave. The cubs follow their mom to look for food. We learn what bears eat, how they don’t slip on the ice, what happens when they meet a male bear, the northern lights, and the story ends with the bears hibernating again for winter. The book adds facts about polar bears, too, which is a nice bonus. A Smithsonian Institution book.


Triceratops Gets Lost $2.99
After a young Triceratops finishes eating one day, he realizes that he’s lost his herd. As he searches for his home, we learn about his surroundings. Ut-oh, a Tyrannosaurus Rex is hunting! Will the herd find him and save him in time? (Of course they will!) Facts about triceratops end this beautifully illustrated book. A Smithsonian Institution book.


Woolly Mammoth in Trouble $2.99
Kids are already familiar with the Ice Age because of the movies, right? So they know about woolly mammoths. In this story, we learn how their tusks help them dig into the snow for plants to eat, how the saber-tooth tigers aren’t good friends, and that the herd provides protection. Soothing classical music plays and sound effects give this book extra special sensory experience. A Smithsonian Institution book.


Penguin’s Family The Story of a Humboldt Penguin $2.99
A penguin father in Peru hatches a baby. The Mother Penguin and Father Penguin take turns caring for their baby. When Baby is about ten weeks, he tries swimming and hunting for food. We learn in the About section that Humboldt Penguins live along the Humboldt Current and are endangered. A Smithsonian Institution book.


What Does the President Look Like? $5.99
I love finding educational and entertaining non-fiction books for kids — and this one is on the iPad! Upper elementary children will enjoy the interesting facts and interactive elements such as a silent movie, a radio address by Franklin D. Roosevelt (very cool!), and a video clip from the famous Kennedy vs. Nixon televised debate. Each of the presidents has his own timeline of events. They include George Washington, Andrew Jackson, James Polk, Abraham Lincoln, Grover Cleveland, Theodore Roosevelt, Franklin D. Roosevelt, John F. Kennedy, Richard Nixon, and Barak Obama.


Real Friends vs. the Other Kind Middle School Confidential $2.99
This is a fantastic graphic novel (comic-book story) about the most important thing in a tween and teen’s life — friends. Chapters like “Friendship Dilemmas” offer situations, advice, and even quizzes. Advice in the so-called friends chapter says, “If one friend seems to be getting her way all the time, something’s not right. It helps to talk about it.”


The Ultimate Guide to Charlie and the Chocolate Factory $7.99
Coming SOON! Have you read Charlie and the Chocolate Factory? This is the perfect companion activity eBook. The Ultimate Guide contains 20 crafts, games, and activities for kids and their families to do together off the iPad. Some of our favorites: Make a Willy Wonka Top Hat, Recipe for Chocolate Strawberry Fudge Sandwiches, Gobstopper Games, Mini Maze in a Box Game, and the Soda Factory recipes.

 

I love the interesting tidbits of information throughout the book. Like “Have you ever heard of a gum called Chiclets? Those small, colored, fruity pieces of gum? There’s a reason they are called Chicklets. They key ingredient is called chicle. Chicle is the sap from the Sapodilla tree, which grows in the South American rain forests.”

The Ultimate Guide to Charlie and the Chocolate Factory won the QED Seal for Quality, Excellence, Design, the “Good Housekeeping Seal of Approval™” for ebooks.

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