Fairy Lyly

by New! Srl

Price: 3.99$

May contain `more apps` links

iPhone + iPad

Overall Score: 87/100

version reviewed: 1.2

reviewed: 27/03/2013

Best for: Interactive books, Early literacy, Language

What it is: an animated story (about 26 scenes, over 100 animations).

What you do with it: read the story (or have it read by a parent).

Please note that the app has no interactive elements (tapping on the screen takes you to the previous/next page).

What we liked: the story. Beautiful illustrations and subtle animations. Ease of use. No distracting elements.

What we didn't like: no narration. No bookmarking feature (the story is quite long). Background music gets repetitive after some time.

Free preview: if you are not sure, please see our 'See before you buy' video (below) or try the free version of the Fairy Lyly book.

Appysmarts

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iPad

Beauty and the Beast - Android version

by StoryToys

Price: 4.99$

Android

Overall Score: 87/100

version reviewed: 1.0.5

reviewed: 29/07/2013

Best for: Interactive books, Attention & concentration, Early literacy, Eye-hand coordination, Interaction, Music & art, Personal & social

What it is: An interactive 'pop-up' version of the traditional fairy tale. About 25 pages and 9 interactive 3D scenes.

What you do with it: three reading modes ('read to me', 'read it myself', 'autoplay'). Touch objects in the scenes for extra animations and sounds.

The interactive scenes/minigames include: sorting autumn leaves by the color, creating pies from 3 ingredients, finding the way through the snow-covered maze, playing ping-pong etc (view our video walkthrough for more details).

What we liked: the concept. The story (as the adaptation of the original tale). The activities/games complementing the storyline. Spoken instructions. Easy operation. Quality illustrations and animations. Good narration. Sounds and sound effects. 4 language versions. Store links, more apps link and update messages can be turned off in the Parent Center. Overall look and feel of the app.

What we didn't like: the reading options could be better (the text is not highlighted when read by the narrator). The extra activities get repetitive after you have read the book several times (and they could offer more educational value - some of them are really simple, like the 'dress up' game).

General notes about our book reviews: although when reviewing books, we try not to review the story itself, the general impressions will be reflected in the Overall Score.

The Age Range assigned to books will be usually broader compared to other apps, as they can be useful for both younger (with parent/narrator reading) or older (reading on their own) kids.

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Android

Elfishki™ and The Performance in the Fountain multilingual fairy tale storybook for kids

by Elka Palka Production

Price: 2.99$

May contain `more apps` links

iPad

Overall Score: 86/100

version reviewed: 1.0

reviewed: 01/08/2012

Best for: Interactive books, Early literacy, Interaction, Language, Personal & social, Thinking & problem solving, Understanding of the world

What it is: an interactive fairy tale about an Elf called Rinka who loves playing tricks and dreams about becoming a circus performer.

What you do with it: read the story yourself or listen to the narration. Tilt the device or touch the objects in the interactive scenes to activate animations (e.g. Rinka 'decorating' the fountain statue with foam, Elves driving their vehicles through the town). On each page there are 3 questions related to the page (a tool for parents for discussing the paragraph or the picture with a child).
There is also a bonus activity - a 'look and find' interactive game (find sea creatures hidden in the scene).

What we liked: beautiful story, amazing illustrations, beautiful animations, professional and easy to follow narration, the 'questions' aid for parents.

What we didn't like: text is not 'young reader friendly' (large blocks of text, small font).

Bottom line: another great book from the 'Elfishki' series!

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iPad

Elfishki™ Team and The Unwelcome Guest (in 3 Languages) for Advanced Kindergarten Readers

by Elka Palka Production

Price: 2.99$

May contain `more apps` links

iPad

Overall Score: 86/100

version reviewed: 1.2

reviewed: 11/07/2012

Best for: Interactive books, Early literacy, Interaction, Language, Personal & social, Thinking & problem solving, Understanding of the world

What it is: an interactive fairy tale about an Elf called Vince who delivers ice cream to the children in town with a help of his dragon.

What you do with it: read the story yourself or listen to the narration. Touch the 'lights' on the text pages for interaction (moving or sounds). Touch the interactive scenes to watch animations (e.g. Vince brushing his dragon's teeth with a mop). On each page there are 3 questions related to the page (a tool for parents for discussing the paragraph or the picture with a child).
A bonus activity - a 'look and find' interactive game (find items hidden in the scene and put them in the one of the story's character's backpack).

What we liked: beautiful story, amazing illustrations, beautiful quality animations, professional and easy to follow narration, the 'questions' aid for parents, 3 language (full) versions of the book, the bonus game.

What we didn't like: for some of the children (and parents) the specific layout of this book may not be 'natural' (as for an 'interactive' book): first you read a long paragraph of text, then you 'play' with the illustration. For the target age group (5+) most of the interactive elements may be not too inspiring or entertaining. Large blocks of text and small font don't encourage reading. We were disappointed in the way how the book ends (in terms of the 'graphical' flow of the story: after the final paragraph of text, instead of a beautiful final animated scene, you are presented with the 'credits' page.

Bottom line: beautiful, magical story with amazing illustrations and animations.

Appysmarts

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iPad

Toca Tailor Fairy Tales

by Toca Boca AB

Price: free (was 0.99$)

iPhone

Overall Score: 62/100

version reviewed: 1.0

reviewed: 29/11/2012

Best for: Interactive play, Attention & concentration, Creativity, Eye-hand coordination, Interaction, Thinking & problem solving, Understanding of the world

What it is: a 'dress a virtual doll' app with the 'fairy tales' theme. 2 animated characters, almost 50 fabrics, details and clothing accessories to choose from.

What you do with it: play with the fabrics, details and accessories to create a dress for the character (mix, match, resize, change shape, add buttons, pockets, hats, shoes etc) then save your creation to the library on the device

What we liked: the concept, high quality graphics, number and quality of items to play with (plus the option to use the device's camera and library to create additional patterns or backgrounds), very easy operation with visual guides/tutorials, fun factor (the characters 'respond' in a funny way), no distracting elements, locked out 'parents only' menu, overall quality of the app.

What we didn't like: could have more education value. No option to save a partial creation for further editing. Audio instructions could make this app more accessible for younger kids.

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iPhone

iPad

Little Dragon and Friends

by Captive Games

Price: free

May contain ads

iPad

Overall Score: 47/100

version reviewed: 1.1

reviewed: 08/07/2012

Best for: Teacher & parent tools, Early literacy, Interaction, Language, Understanding of the world

What it is: an app for creating e-books (with fantasy/dragons theme)

What you do with it: create pages of your e-book by inserting and editing backgrounds, characters, objects, texts and speech bubbles (there are over 100 items to choose with). Once on a page, the objects can be edited moved, resized, flipped, rotated). After the book is created it can be saved to library or edited. There is one sample story included.

What we liked: the concept (creating your 'own' books by parents), number and quality of items to choose from, good editing options (e.g. you can adjust colors of many objects, change settings of backgrounds like night/day sky etc), visual guide how to use the app.

What we didn't like: navigation and the editing tools could be more intuitive. No options to change the order (layers) or locking objects on the page. No option to change the font size. An option to share created books with other users of the app would be a nice upgrade.

Note about ads: apparently the app is ad-supported but during our tests we didn't encounter any (a only nagging 'upgrade to full version without ads) pop up. The upgrade available as in-app purchase is $1.99.

Appysmarts

Graphic quality:

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iPad

Best apps for kids: Fairy tales.

Fairy Lyly

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Beauty and the Beast - Android version

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Elfishki™ and The Performance in the Fountain multilingual fairy tale storybook for kids

Show Screenshots »

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Elfishki™ Team and The Unwelcome Guest (in 3 Languages) for Advanced Kindergarten Readers

Show Screenshots »

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Toca Tailor Fairy Tales

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Little Dragon and Friends

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