ANDREW ANSWERS
(reviewed on February 15, 2011)
Sharply written, with expressive animation that wouldn't be out of place on a Nickelodeon cartoon show, this app takes a simple joke and amusingly ups the stakes all the way to the White House. The story, written by comedy scribe and poet Katz, is about a schoolboy named Andrew who exasperates the adults around him when they ask him to recite words starting with specific letters. A word that starts with I, if you please? "Impossible," Andrew says. C? "Can't," he replies with total confidence. Teachers, parents, the school board and, later on, the president of the United States beg Andrew to cooperate with their requests, but none of them grasps that Andrew's answers are correct until the end. Clever young readers and word nerds will appreciate the pitch-perfect wordplay. The app also features a few short games that break up the narrative by using the iPad's tilt feature to, say, guide Andrew to the principal's office or a car to a specific parking space. They aren't really necessary, as the story works well on its own, but they don't impede progress either. It's brightly, effectively narrated by TV-personality Marc Summers (who made his name by not talking down to kids on shows like Double Dare). Here's a word for Andrew if he's asked for another starting with W: Winner. (iPad storybook app. 5-10)
