I remember my pre-smartphone days. I would carry around an iPod Touch and hand it to the child for tens of minutes worth of entertainment in the car and would enjoy precious moments of zero screaming. Ever since entering the Android ecosystem, however, I have been on the hunt for some mobile applications specifically tailored to children. The screaming has calmed down quite a bit, but every once in a while, the kid needs something to entertain her.
I went through the typical A-B-C and 1-2-3 apps. The 2 year old recently has began to grow a bit tired of these typical apps. (Doesn’t she realize that Android is a newish operating system and we are waiting for developers to step up to the plate?)
Enter Oceanhouse Media. Thanks to the (awesome) Amazon Appstore and its frequent price drops, I recently stumbled across Oceanhouse Media’s vast library of interactive books.
Unfortunately, like many Android users, I struggled for a minute as to whether or not to buy an app from the publisher. I came to the conclusion that should I have seen the physical version of Green Eggs and Ham in Target for $0.99 I would have picked up 3 copies! And then I would be the one reading it and making the sound effects rather than the book doing it for me.
Oceanhouse Media offers interactive books of several popular titles from Dr. Seuss like The Cat in the Hat
Each app has three ways to experience the story:
- The Read it Myself selection allows reading and viewing the book like you would viewing a physical book.
- Read to Me will highlight each word as it is narrated.
- Auto Play will read it to you and your child, but each page turns automatically when completed. This mode makes the experience a bit like a movie for a toddler.
The apps are filled with sound effects, panning in and out, music and high quality narration. Some have little games like “find the mouse on the page” to keep the child interacting with the story.
The apps look remarkable on my Droid X and look equally as incredible on my Asus Eee Pad Transformer. They are also available on the iPhone and iPad. I encourage folks to check it out. They make bedtime stories so much more engaging.
Do you know of any other interactive e-books out there available for the phone or tablet?
aadmin is a contributor at DadPulse. We are committed to providing well-researched, accurate, and valuable content to our readers.
