VICTOR'S COLD

A pleasant animated story with some satisfying features but a poor sense of geography.

When Little Victor’s penguin mommy leaves, he is miserable and cold, so his dad and some other cold-climate animals suggest different ideas to warm him up. “When you’re cold, you’ve got to PLAY!” says the seal, while the polar bear’s suggestion is “you’ve got to DANCE” (the app is irritatingly bi-polar; Victor also seeks shelter in a very un-Antarctic igloo). Predictably, nothing works until Mommy arrives home and picks Little Victor up, both warming him and giving him a chance to reflect on his day: “I’ve made lots of new friends!” The animation and 3-D illustrations are simple but effective, and interactive elements include a matching activity, I-Spy activities and wiping the “frost” off the screen so that the images show up clearly. A little cricket hides on some pages, which can be somewhat distracting. Optional narration is offered in French and English, and there is a sidebar picture menu for easy navigation. The sound effects and music add to the experience, but the multicast narration is somewhat choppy. On one page, Victor disappears from the screen for an alarmingly long time as he floats down in the sea, which might distress sensitive little ones.

A solid effort, geography and glitches notwithstanding.