This app is definitely above average. With a faster response time and a more interesting storyline it could sweep the golds.
Beautiful illustrations carry this so-so app about a bird’s friendship with a spider.
Building a successful storybook app requires a solid three-pronged approach: make it visually interesting; tell a good story; and design it well. It might be said that this offering from Smallbytes Digital earns gold, silver and bronze medals in those categories, which adds up to a good app but not a great one. On the gold platform stands the visual component. Lush, bright colors against a canvas-textured backdrop are virtual eye candy, as the artist eschews traditional primary colors for a warmer, more-eclectic palette. The characters and their surroundings will appeal to young eyes, as they’re simple and easy to place into context. Design and functionality earn a silver medal, as the app is fairly easy to navigate, but transitions between pages are painfully slow. There are several games, including a Simon says–like sequence challenge, and taps summon various animations and endearing sound effects (especially from Rañolo the spider). That leaves bronze for the storyline, which has decent definition and follow-through; it just reads as a bland afterthought to the illustrations and interactions. Text and narration are available in English and Italian, and sound effects remain active even when the narrator is silenced.
This app is definitely above average. With a faster response time and a more interesting storyline it could sweep the golds. (iPad storybook app. 2-5)Pub Date: March 22, 2014
ISBN: N/A
Page Count: -
Publisher: Five5ifty
Review Posted Online: May 13, 2014
Kirkus Reviews Issue: June 1, 2014
BOOK REVIEW
A wandering effort, happy but pointless.
The perfect book for kids who love dragons and mild tacos.
Rubin’s story starts with an incantatory edge: “Hey, kid! Did you know that dragons love tacos? They love beef tacos and chicken tacos. They love really big gigantic tacos and tiny little baby tacos as well.” The playing field is set: dragons, tacos. As a pairing, they are fairly silly, and when the kicker comes in—that dragons hate spicy salsa, which ignites their inner fireworks—the silliness is sillier still. Second nature, after all, is for dragons to blow flames out their noses. So when the kid throws a taco party for the dragons, it seems a weak device that the clearly labeled “totally mild” salsa comes with spicy jalapenos in the fine print, prompting the dragons to burn down the house, resulting in a barn-raising at which more tacos are served. Harmless, but if there is a parable hidden in the dragon-taco tale, it is hidden in the unlit deep, and as a measure of lunacy, bridled or unbridled, it doesn’t make the leap into the outer reaches of imagination. Salmieri’s artwork is fitting, with a crabbed, ethereal line work reminiscent of Peter Sís, but the story does not offer it enough range.
A wandering effort, happy but pointless. (Picture book. 3-5)Pub Date: June 14, 2012
ISBN: 978-0-8037-3680-1
Page Count: 40
Publisher: Dial Books
Review Posted Online: March 27, 2012
Kirkus Reviews Issue: April 15, 2012
Innovative and thoroughly enjoyable.
You think you know shapes? Animals? Blend them together, and you might see them both a little differently!
What a mischievous twist on a concept book! With wordplay and a few groan-inducing puns, Neal creates connections among animals and shapes that are both unexpected and so seemingly obvious that readers might wonder why they didn’t see them all along. Of course, a “lazy turtle” meeting an oval would create the side-splitting combo of a “SLOW-VAL.” A dramatic page turn transforms a deeply saturated, clean-lined green oval by superimposing a head and turtle shell atop, with watery blue ripples completing the illusion. Minimal backgrounds and sketchy, impressionistic detailing keep the focus right on the zany animals. Beginning with simple shapes, the geometric forms become more complicated as the book advances, taking readers from a “soaring bird” that meets a triangle to become a “FLY-ANGLE” to a “sleepy lion” nonagon “YAWN-AGON.” Its companion text, Animal Colors, delves into color theory, this time creating entirely hybrid animals, such as the “GREEN WHION” with maned head and whale’s tail made from a “blue whale and a yellow lion.” It’s a compelling way to visualize color mixing, and like Animal Shapes, it’s got verve. Who doesn’t want to shout out that a yellow kangaroo/green moose blend is a “CHARTREUSE KANGAMOOSE”?
Innovative and thoroughly enjoyable. (Board book. 2-4)Pub Date: March 27, 2018
ISBN: 978-1-4998-0534-5
Page Count: 40
Publisher: Little Bee Books
Review Posted Online: May 13, 2018
Kirkus Reviews Issue: July 1, 2018
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
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