A low-budget menu of special features and sound effects does nothing to improve a superficial tour of the states originally published in 2007.
Four dinos and a brashly ignorant bunny hop from state to state, the latter offering wrong guesses about each state's capital (a joke that soon wears thin). The former reel out either common facts or such eye-glazing generalities as, "Indiana is a leader in both manufacturing and farming," and, "Don't forget all the great sporting events in [California]." Comics artist Yeh's crowded, brightly colored style infuses the opening panels with life and energy, but once the tour gets under way, his cartoon figures are pushed to the margins by page-filling views of the states. These are, aside from a few major cities or geographical features, effectively empty space. Readers can swipe along from state to state in fixed alphabetical order or, by starting with the "Explore!" option, either swing through a gallery of page images or cut to any state's page by correctly sliding a small image into place on an outline map. There is no audio other than marching music on introductory pages and little animation beyond figures that can be moved around with a fingertip.
Thin fare for either active or armchair tourists. (iPad nonfiction app. 7-11)
