After being terrorized by fiendish vegetables, a young boy learns to eat his veggies before they eat him.
Young Albert hates vegetables and adamantly refuses to eat them. Doctor Gravenstein, a mad scientist who creates new beings out of vegetables and human brains, spots Albert and sends his pea henchmen to retrieve him so he can harvest his brain. Albert flees and is chased by various menacing vegetables, the most persistent of which is a vampire made of broccoli. The app is adapted from Osborn’s 2010 ink-and-paper release and appears to be identical in terms of text and graphics. Motion and interaction have been added to the colorful-but-crude illustrations, but these “enhancements” are about as primitive as they could be on a tablet screen. Audio, narration, music and sound effects all deserve above-average marks, but the rhyming text is predictable and bland. Navigation is more-or-less easy once the menu code is cracked, though if the tomato/book icon is tapped, it launches Safari to visit the developer’s website, which requires a re-launch of the app which then begins over again on page one. The opening screen promises broccoli recipes and gardening tips, but they’re nowhere to be found within the app itself.
Apart from automated sound this version doesn’t add much to its paper predecessor; let the diner beware. (iPad storybook app. 4-7)
