WITCHY & WILLIAM

A young witch helps a giant out in a simple fairy-tale app.

Witchy is a little girl with a magic wand and a pointy hat who, one night in bed, is approached by a giant named William. “I am looking for something to eat,” he tells her before munching on Witchy’s stuffed rabbit. Witchy learns that the giant comes from an arid place, so he can’t grow fruits or vegetables. With a little magic, Witchy is able to fix the situation. The app features simple ink-and-watercolor illustrations, and the app design takes a minimalist approach, using hand-drawn icons and page-turn animations with few frills. Each page has a few interactions, such as a sound effect or objects that can be moved. Most helpfully, a question mark on each page reveals the hidden ways to trigger these. Unfortunately, the text has dodgy punctuation throughout, likely the result of its translation from Dutch. A bigger problem for many may be the story itself. Witchy willingly goes along with the giant, a stranger who suddenly shows up in her room, without permission. And it’s not a giant her own age; as drawn in the story, he’s a balding, middle-aged giant with white hair. So much for stranger danger.

Other than that creepy giant elephant in the room, Witchy’s story isn’t exactly bewitching, save for the tidy design. (Requires iPad 2 and above.) (iPad storybook app. 3-7)