The story of Jesus’ birth (and beyond) as told by illustrations and hefty portions of Scripture.
Beginning with John the Baptist’s impending birth and ending with Christ’s baptism (at age 30) makes the title a bit of a stretch. Comprised of “Nazarene School Black and White Pictures” that have been colorized, the Renaissance-style characters appear to have been cut out and hung over the backdrop, which makes them 3-D-ish. The “amazing effects” listed in the developer’s description consist of bobbing characters, extinguishable flames, moveable clouds and occasional sound effects (none of which are amazing). Chunks of Biblical scripture are interspersed between image screens, but there's no narration. One illustration depicts the aftermath of King Herod’s edict to kill all male children under the age of 2; it’s not gory, but a pile of dead babies on the floor may disturb some. There are 11 language options and though the developer claims that tilting or turning the device will switch the text from one tongue to another, that feature is buggy on the iPad 2.The best thing about this app is the musical bonus feature, which offers six a cappella songs that sound like a cross between Enya and chanting monks.
A dull digital parade of scripture and spiffed-up Sunday school pictures that add neither depth nor dimension to the season’s celebration. (iPad storybook app. 5-10)
