WHAT DO DOOZERS DO?
(reviewed on February 15, 2011)
Based on the 1980s Muppet TV show Fraggle Rock, this app reveals the secret lives of Doozers, the little worker bees (who actually look like diminutive green snowmen) who continually build edible structures for the oblivious Fraggles. What the Doozers do is work, constantly. With their helmets, tool belts and work books (but, curiously, no clothing), they engage in large-scale, underground public-works projects. The structures they build, made from radish dust that's been turned into sticks ("Make it tasty; make it quick!"), are eaten by the Fraggles, making room for more construction. It sounds like a perfect coexistence, but an undercurrent of class resentment seems to surface in the text and imagery. As illustrated, the shaggy Fraggles are happy-go-lucky, music-playing hippies. The text sniffs, "But Fraggles never build or scheme. They'd rather join the swimming team." The lesson is that good work is its own reward and the Doozers do it happily, but readers may be left wondering if those little green drones need to form a union. Narration in the app is solid and well-paced, if a little in lockstep with the verse. There are options for highlighting read-along text and flipping pages automatically. Like the Doozer lifestyle it portrays, the app does its work efficiently. (iPad storybook app. 2-7)
