THREE LITTLE PIGS CLASSIC

Name: THREE LITTLE PIGS CLASSIC
Author: ADS Interactive

developed by ADS Interactive ‧ RELEASE DATE: Sept. 26, 2012

With so many superior versions of the same story available for the iPad, it's difficult to recommend such an unpleasant,...

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Slapdash, inconsistently styled and needlessly grim, this off-putting take on the traditional tale is an unwelcome slog through cold mud.

Because it's in the public domain, many app developers have gone hog-wild with "The Three Little Pigs." While the ADS Interactive version may not be the worst of a large lot, it's one of the most puzzling. Strange design choices include making the storybook display in portrait mode instead of landscape, with no option to change the orientation, the inclusion of lengthy text passages in a gigantic font on most pages, and instances where objects like hammers or pieces of wood can be flung around the screen to no effect. The artwork has a split personality, with illustrations of the main characters taken from the L. Leslie Brooke 1904 edition and placed against crudely rendered backgrounds. The text is a lightly revised rendition of the same book; the pigs who build their homes of straw and wood are gobbled up by the wolf, and the brick-building pig eventually boils and eats the wolf for dinner after a series of interminable-feeling mind games. The image of that pig chowing down at the dinner table, head bobbing, will be more than most parents will want to share with young readers.

With so many superior versions of the same story available for the iPad, it's difficult to recommend such an unpleasant, halfhearted effort. (iPad storybook app. 4-7)

Pub Date: Sept. 26, 2012

ISBN: N/A

Page Count: -

Publisher: ADS Interactive

Review Posted Online: Oct. 30, 2012

Kirkus Reviews Issue: Nov. 15, 2012

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LITTLE BLUE TRUCK LOST AND FOUND

From the Little Blue Truck series

by Alice Schertle ; illustrated by Jill McElmurry ‧ RELEASE DATE: Aug. 18, 2026

Fun times, fond friends, and a festive farmyard setting—little ones will be charmed.

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Beep! Beep! Beep! Toad and Little Blue Truck get ready for a hayride.

After the titular vehicle is loaded with hay, Toad is nowhere to be found. “Beep! Beep! Beep! Where are you, Toad?” asks Little Blue Truck. All the barnyard animals look for him. Sheep searches the meadow. Goose and Duck check the pond. Others pitch in, too, but Toad seems to have disappeared…until Hen hears snoring coming from the pile of hay in the back of Little Blue Truck. Although the text’s scansion is imperfect in places (adults may want to pre-read to ensure a smooth read-aloud), the bouncy meter and rhyming text nevertheless capture the energy of the search and the farmyard community’s concern for Toad’s safety, making this a solid storytime choice. Eye-catching illustrations with rich, fully saturated colors balance the right level of detail while still highlighting the animal that is the focus of each verse. By introducing one farm animal at a time, Schertle also helps the youngest readers begin to identify barnyard animals by name and understand their unique farm homes. Traditional animal sounds are part of the text, and listeners will add them to their vocabulary. It all ends with the promised hayride, bringing the tale to a joyous ending.

Fun times, fond friends, and a festive farmyard setting—little ones will be charmed. (Picture book. 4-7)

Pub Date: Aug. 18, 2026

ISBN: 9780063436121

Page Count: 32

Publisher: Clarion/HarperCollins

Review Posted Online: July 20, 2026

Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 15, 2026

Categories:

CHILDREN'S SOCIAL THEMES | CHILDREN'S TRANSPORTATION

- BOOK REVIEW
LITTLE BLUE TRUCK AND RACER RED
by Alice Schertle ; illustrated by Jill McElmurry

- BOOK REVIEW
LITTLE BLUE TRUCK MAKES A FRIEND
by Alice Schertle ; illustrated by Jill McElmurry

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TIME FOR SCHOOL, LITTLE BLUE TRUCK
by Alice Schertle ; illustrated by John Joseph

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HOW TO CATCH THE EASTER BUNNY

From the How To Catch… series

by Adam Wallace ; illustrated by Andy Elkerton ‧ RELEASE DATE: Feb. 1, 2017

This bunny escapes all the traps but fails to find a logical plot or an emotional connection with readers.

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The bestselling series (How to Catch an Elf, 2016, etc.) about capturing mythical creatures continues with a story about various ways to catch the Easter Bunny as it makes its annual deliveries.

The bunny narrates its own story in rhyming text, beginning with an introduction at its office in a manufacturing facility that creates Easter eggs and candy. The rabbit then abruptly takes off on its delivery route with a tiny basket of eggs strapped to its back, immediately encountering a trap with carrots and a box propped up with a stick. The narrative focuses on how the Easter Bunny avoids increasingly complex traps set up to catch him with no explanation as to who has set the traps or why. These traps include an underground tunnel, a fluorescent dance floor with a hidden pit of carrots, a robot bunny, pirates on an island, and a cannon that shoots candy fish, as well as some sort of locked, hazardous site with radiation danger. Readers of previous books in the series will understand the premise, but others will be confused by the rabbit’s frenetic escapades. Cartoon-style illustrations have a 1960s vibe, with a slightly scary, bow-tied bunny with chartreuse eyes and a glowing palette of neon shades that shout for attention.

This bunny escapes all the traps but fails to find a logical plot or an emotional connection with readers. (Picture book. 4-7)