Best iPad iPhone and iPod touch Books For Preschool – Second Grade: Part One

UPDATE: Nosy Crow’s 3 little Pigs now on iPhone – check for my review later on appadvice.com!

Dedicated to Stephanie Sopher and my Face Beavers

The Stay At Home GeekMom Weekend Edition

Best iPad Apps For Preschool – Second Grade

Best Books Part One:

Read Part Two: Click Here

Happy Saturday!

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This weekend I am bringing you the first of what will be an ongoing weekend series.

Please allow time for all the pictures to load, I don’t know about you but I like to see the inside of a book before I buy it. 😉

After so many emails from my friends and readers asking me for suggestions, I decided some Top Ten Lists would be a good thing to post for busy moms and dads who want a brief recap of the best apps for their kids on the iPad and soon the iPhone and iPod touch too.

At least I wanted to make a top-10 list, but there have been sooo many great offerings for young readers on iPad lately, the best I could do was a top 12.

These are in no parituclar order and please remember, these selections are for the youngest readers.

They all get the   

Also please know that The stay at Home GeekMom does NOT think interactive or digital books can replace a real book.

Of course I encourage you to read to your children and encourage them to read, any way you can.

But if you are reading my blog, I’m guessing you already do that! 😉

Ok here we go:

 

Brand new to Pad (two days old new), Moo Media/ LoudCrow Interactive (out of Vancouver, yay for Canadian devs!) brings the first Sandra Boynton offering to the App Store.

It is the Beloved The Going To bed Book for iPad and it is wonderful. Nothing from the original book it lost, but there are just enough objects to touch and animated effects to admire  keep any kid (and parent) entertained. Price: $2.99

I look forward to seeing the rest of Boynton’s library coming to iPad soon, and I hope Moo Media don’t change a thing in terms of presentation and interface. Pump votes for Barnyard Dance next, please.

Another new enrty into the kid-lit genre for iPad genre, comes from a new name, but an old and trusted source.

Former U.K. Scholastic Books execs have teamed up to create a great new independent  children’s book company called Nosy Crow.

The Three Little Pigs – Nosy Crow interactive storybook (iPad) may seem a bit pricey for 7.99, but a) it is still cheaper than most children’s book store offerings, and b) this is one heck of an interactive book.

The book is set to launch for iPhone and iPod Touch any minute so keep your eyes peeled!Look for my upcoming review on appadvice.com.

Nosy Crow has created an immersive reading experience that is never the same twice.

I took some screenshots, but they just don’t do the book justice; the video really shows it off properly so check it out:

Yet another wonderful BRAND NEW iPad book, one for your little monsters, was launched only yesterday, but as promised you can count on the Stay at Home GeekMom to get the freshest apps.

Monsters & Magical Creatures Guide For Kids By Ryan Novak, illustrated by moster-maven, Kari Fry, is a welcome new addition to the App Store.

This book is a whole lot of fun, and contains “factual” information about mylogical monsters and other magical beings, so it’s part book, part edu-app and all very appealing. Price: $1.99. Take a look:

Next up a preschool offering from one of my favorite publishers, Auryn Apps.

I hope you saw their incredible new book for slightly older children, The Little Mermaid -Auryn, if not I urge you check out my review for appadvice.com here.

It’s my favorite kid-lit book in the whole App Store at present.

What I can tell you is Auryn Apps is it a company you can trust. They care deeply about user experience and take user feedback very seriously.

OK, That’s enough about the company, the selection I picked for this feature, is a wonderful pre-school title, Teddy’s Night.

Once more Auryn creates a book that achieves the right balance between tech and text, and the artwork is wonderful. It is a tale about the power of Teddy Bears and is sure to be loved by anyone who still has one. (I do!) Price: 3.99

If you want to check out another book that strikes the right balance, The Rocket Book by Third Bird party! (is anyone else sensing an avian theme to kid-lit devs?) is a beautiful and original choice. It’s also a STEAL at .99.

This is another book I need to show you rather than tell you about so please watch the video:

Last for today, from AppleTree Apps, a company I don’t know at aI picked iReading HD – Puss in Boots to review because it is currently FREE. Get it fast though, it won’t be for long.

Based on this one offering, I can comfortably encourage you to check out any of iReading’s offerings (for all iOS devices) – they certainly have a plethora to choose from.

iReading’s  offerings are more app than book. By that I mean the text of these familiar tales is neither original nor especially well adapted.

That said, they are more than serviceable and I didn’t spot anything that would turn me off like misspellings, poor grammar etc, But they are not literature or fine art.

They range, however, from 1.99-2.99 for individual books and offer many multi-book purchases for as low as 4.99 and they cram these books full of fun features which are intuitive, engaging and entertaining.

In fact since you can even choose a blank page to color on, this is a pretty darn good drawing program for young kids too.

Ok that’s wraps up our first six books, but remember tomorrow I will have the second six for you, and they are all just as wonderful.

And keep in mind the books are NOT in order of preference, they are in the order the screenshots were taken!

Read Part Two: Click Here

Don’t forget to enter my contest to free FREE PROMO CODES for the amazing kid app – Make A Monster and Make A Monster HD for all iOS devices. I have plenty more to give away!

Did you publish, design or develop a book for iOS? Want a review here or on Appadvice.com. Please check my Developers Page.

Finally here is an abridged list of Educational Games and Reading App for ALL AGES, from sahgeekmom.com and from my reviews for appadvice.com.

• News Junkies Rejoice – Thousands of Newspapers Delivered To Your iDevice
• Take A Round-The-World Odyssey with 50 Greatest Photographs of National Geographic.
• The Future of Interactive Text and E-Books Rome: A Virtual History
• Unleash Your Child’s Creativity with Kids Corner.
• Apps for Kids on Dreary Days.
• Great New Creative App for Kids and Zombie Fans of all ages: Make A Zombie
• Surreal Slide Show With Salvador: Dali the Atherly Collection.
• Check out one of my first reviews of one the very best creative toys out there for iPad: Playtime Theater.

And if you want the tools to find the best new app store offering and the best deals check out my App-Stalking Guide – it will tell you everything you need to know!

Happy Reading,

The