MONKEY AND CROC

In this simple jungle tale done as an app, Monkey and Croc are both going about their individual daily routines—but, unbeknownst to Monkey, he is quite close to becoming Croc’s next meal as their parallel routines dangerously converge.

Colorful cartoony illustrations fill each screen telling the bulk of Croc and Monkey’s story, with short textual reinforcement to make clear readers understand that as Monkey does something, Croc follows suit, including feeling hungry. Throughout, sentences are kept to just few words per page and often repeat, making this text amenable to beginning readers. Clicking the gear in the upper-left corner of all pages provides both a “read to me” setting and the option of including sound effects. The text is narrated at a reasonable, if not slow pace, and each word is highlighted as it is clearly enunciated. However, the narrator’s voice lacks variation and works against the story’s building tension. The sound effects feature a “munch, munch” effect when Croc is tapped, and, similarly, Monkey makes a stereotypical monkey sound. Despite opportunities for additional sound effects, these two sounds, which grow old quickly, are the only sounds featured.  

Although designed for the iPad, this playful text fails to take advantage of the platform, ultimately providing an only mildly amusing user experience.