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CINDERELLA

Name: CINDERELLA
Author: Chocolapps

developed by Chocolapps ‧ RELEASE DATE: Oct. 21, 2011

A bland retelling, well stocked with pedagogical features.

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A sweet version of the tale, with Disney-style cartoon illustrations and a carriage full of literacy-building tools.

With help from her matronly “godmother, who was a fairy,” Cinderella meets and weds the Prince, forgiving her stepsisters Drizella and Anastasia (her stepmother vanishes after an early cameo) and going on to live at court “happily, with the Prince and their many children.” The text and an optional audio narration that comes with both highlighted words and auto-advance can be switched between French and English on any page. A swinging cord visible on every page (even the credits) pulls down a menu of further options—pronouncing individual words at a touch, displaying for selected words either a brief definition or a small image, even highlighting all the vowels. The illustrations are not touch sensitive, but they move or transform smoothly. In fact, touching the screen isn’t a good idea, as it seems to derail the app, causing all sound to cease until the “play” button is tapped; multiple touches create a sort of pantomime as the characters continue to move silently, cause the menu bar to flicker, set off a page turn and sometimes disassociate the text from the art.

A bland retelling, well stocked with pedagogical features. (iPad storybook/educational app. 6-8)

Pub Date: Oct. 21, 2011

ISBN: N/A

Page Count: -

Publisher: Chocolapps

Review Posted Online: Nov. 15, 2011

Kirkus Reviews Issue: Dec. 1, 2011

- BOOK REVIEW
THE ADVENTURES OF PETER PAN
developed by Chocolapps

- BOOK REVIEW
ELEANOR'S SECRET
illustrated by Rebecca Dautremer & developed by Chocolapps

- BOOK REVIEW
THE THREE LITTLE PIGS HD
developed by Chocolapps

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HENRY AND MUDGE AND THE STARRY NIGHT

From the Henry and Mudge series

by Cynthia Rylant & illustrated by Sucie Stevenson ‧ RELEASE DATE: April 1, 1998

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Rylant (Henry and Mudge and the Sneaky Crackers, 1998, etc.) slips into a sentimental mode for this latest outing of the boy and his dog, as she sends Mudge and Henry and his parents off on a camping trip. Each character is attended to, each personality sketched in a few brief words: Henry's mother is the camping veteran with outdoor savvy; Henry's father doesn't know a tent stake from a marshmallow fork, but he's got a guitar for campfire entertainment; and the principals are their usual ready-for-fun selves. There are sappy moments, e.g., after an evening of star- gazing, Rylant sends the family off to bed with: ``Everyone slept safe and sound and there were no bears, no scares. Just the clean smell of trees . . . and wonderful green dreams.'' With its nice tempo, the story is as toasty as its campfire and swaddled in Stevenson's trusty artwork. (Fiction. 6-8)

Pub Date: April 1, 1998

ISBN: 0-689-81175-6

Page Count: 48

Publisher: Simon & Schuster

Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010

Kirkus Reviews Issue: Feb. 1, 1998

Categories:

CHILDREN'S ANIMALS

- BOOK REVIEW
A BOOK OF LOVES
by Cynthia Rylant ; illustrated by Cynthia Rylant

- BOOK REVIEW
HORNBEAM BY AND LARGE
by Cynthia Rylant ; illustrated by Arthur Howard

- BOOK REVIEW
HORNBEAM GETS IT DONE
by Cynthia Rylant ; illustrated by Arthur Howard

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BIG CHICKENS

by Leslie Helakoski & illustrated by Henry Cole ‧ RELEASE DATE: Feb. 1, 2006

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With wordplay reminiscent of Margie Palatini at her best, Helakoski takes four timorous chickens into, then out of, the literal and figurative woods. Fleeing the henhouse after catching sight of a wolf, the pusillanimous pullets come to a deep ditch: “ ‘What if we can’t jump that far?’ ‘What if we fall in the ditch?’ ‘What if we get sucked into the mud?’ The chickens tutted, putted, and flutted. They butted into themselves and each other, until one by one . . . ” they do fall in. But then they pick themselves up and struggle out. Ensuing encounters with cows and a lake furnish similar responses and outcomes; ultimately they tumble into the wolf’s very cave, where they “picked, pecked, and pocked. They ruffled, puffled, and shuffled. They shrieked, squeaked, and freaked, until . . . ” their nemesis scampers away in panic. Fluttering about in pop-eyed terror, the portly, partly clothed hens make comical figures in Cole’s sunny cartoons (as does the flummoxed wolf)—but the genuine triumph in their final strut—“ ‘I am a big, brave chicken,’ said one chicken. ‘Ohh . . . ’ said the others. ‘Me too.’ ‘Me three.’ ‘Me four’ ”—brings this tribute to chicken power to a rousing close. (Picture book. 6-8)