Absorbing diversion for both old hands and first-time fliers.
A trio of cartoon scenes positively laden with animated surprises will rivet tap-happy 2-year-olds.
By way of helping to focus readers, the app allows them to follow one particular young traveler from check-in to boarding to in-flight antics. In addition, viewers can move other passengers (including a cowboy whose gun is confiscated by smiling agents) through a security gate, then get a variety of craft airborne in the background while a jet taxies up to unload, reload and depart. The third scene is a cutaway of the jet in the air, and tapping each seated figure—or, for that matter, the stowaway mice scampering about down in the luggage compartment—sets off a bit of action. These range from making a bored witch transform the sleeper in front of her into a frog to paging a flight attendant for a cocktail. A simple control board even lets children “fly” the jet. Touching signs, birds, a small red dragon, the sun or nearly any other item in each scene activates further animations, some of which last several seconds or change each time. There is a pop-up visual index that even very young children are likely to find superfluous, as well as toggles for both the tinkling background music and the bright, funny sound effects.
Absorbing diversion for both old hands and first-time fliers. (Requires iOS 6.1 and above.) (iPad seek-and-find app. 2-4)Pub Date: July 31, 2014
ISBN: N/A
Page Count: -
Publisher: wonderkind interaktionsmedien GmbH
Review Posted Online: Sept. 13, 2014
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Oct. 1, 2014
Young dino fans will enjoy it, though their grown-ups may not.
What sounds did dinosaurs make? We don't really know.
Litton suggests some possibilities while introducing sophisticated vocabulary in a board-book format. Five dinosaurs are featured: Tyrannosaurus rex, Stegosaurus, Pterodactyl, Diplodocus, and Triceratops. For each species there is a brief description that highlights its distinctive features, followed by an invitation to hear and repeat the dinosaur's sound. There is no explanation for why scientists think T. Rex “roared,” Stegosaurus “howled,” Pterodactyl “screeched,” Diplodocus “growled,” or Triceratops “grunted.” The author tries to avoid sexism, carefully referring to two of the creatures as “she,” but those two are also described in stereotypically less-ferocious terms than the male dinos. The touch point on the Pterodactyl is a soft section of wing. Readers are told that Diplodocus “loved splashing in swamps,” and the instruction is to “tickle her tummy to hear her growl,” implying that this giant creature was gentle and friendly. None of this may matter to young paleontologists, who will enjoy finding the tactile section on each creature that triggers the sound. Despite extensive directions in small print, most parents and libraries won't bother to change the battery secured by a tiny hex screw, but while the battery lasts, the book will get lots of play.
Young dino fans will enjoy it, though their grown-ups may not. (Board book. 2-4)Pub Date: Sept. 1, 2015
ISBN: 978-1-58925-207-3
Page Count: 12
Publisher: Tiger Tales
Review Posted Online: Aug. 4, 2015
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Jan. 1, 2016
Parents of toddlers starting school or day care should seek separation-anxiety remedies elsewhere, and fans of the original...
A sweetened, condensed version of the best-selling picture book, The Kissing Hand.
As in the original, Chester Raccoon is nervous about attending Owl’s night school (raccoons are nocturnal). His mom kisses him on the paw and reminds him, “With a Kissing Hand… / We’ll never be apart.” The text boils the story down to its key elements, causing this version to feel rushed. Gone is the list of fun things Chester will get to do at school. Fans of the original may be disappointed that this board edition uses a different illustrator. Gibson’s work is equally sentimental, but her renderings are stiff and flat in comparison to the watercolors of Harper and Leak. Very young readers will probably not understand that Owl’s tree, filled with opossums, a squirrel, a chipmunk and others, is supposed to be a school.
Parents of toddlers starting school or day care should seek separation-anxiety remedies elsewhere, and fans of the original shouldn’t look to this version as replacement for their page-worn copies. (Board book. 2-4)Pub Date: April 1, 2014
ISBN: 978-1-933718-77-4
Page Count: 14
Publisher: Tanglewood Publishing
Review Posted Online: May 18, 2014
Kirkus Reviews Issue: July 1, 2014
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