Book Reviews
Can you tell me how to get to…tons of wonderful educational videos and games for preschoolers? Just like the neighborhood itself, the Sesame Street companion app (Sesame Workshop, 2014; iOS and Android) is the place to be: a free account gives a child access to a large selection of games...
When I was a Mr. Rogers’ Neighborhood–watching kid, we almost never got to see the insides of the buildings in the Neighborhood of Make-Believe. I burned with curiosity about this. What was inside the castle? Or X the Owl’s tree?I may never know the answers to these questions, but today’s...
Based on Susan Meddaugh’s picture book series about a loquacious canine, PBS Kids's long-running television series Martha Speaks aims to bolster children's oral vocabulary. The Martha Speaks Word Spinner (PBS Kids/WGBH, 2013; iOS and Android) app, a “family-style party game — but with a distinctly Martha twist," entertainingly reinforces that...
Toca Boca apps are well-loved in the Horn Book offices, and Toca Life: Hospital (Toca Boca, April 2017; iOS, Android, and Kindle Fire) is no exception.As the app opens, you are presented with a multi-level hospital on a busy street with mountains, a river, and several swaying trees in the...
In Artgig's Jump Numbers (2016; iOS only), you play a badger-like creature tasked with getting "Snortles" to safety after the destruction of their home.The eight levels in each of six different regions (Summer Sea, Fungal Gulf, Arctic Expanse, Boulder Bay, Darkshade, Lava Lake) are set up with basically the same...
Measure Up! by PBS Kids (2016; iOS and Android) introduces concepts of measurement in a series of activities and videos based on its educational television shows. In a frame narrative, programming "hosts" Dot, Del, and Dee explore an island. Each of three locations on the island highlights a specific type...
The Exploratorium’s Total Solar Eclipse app (may 2017 ; iOS and Android) will be at its coolest on August 21. That’s when a total solar eclipse will take place over the U.S., and the app will make livestreams available from several different views. There’ll be live, hosted coverage in both...
These STEM-oriented nonfiction apps can help intermediate students brush up on knowledge for the coming school year — or invite them to explore an engaging new subject.What if we measured our lives in units other than hours, days, months, and years? Would life "feel shorter? Longer? More absurd? More precious?"...
Mother Gray and Little Blue (Oken Studios Limited, 2017; iOS and Android) is an interactive storybook app about a mother gray whale and her baby's migration north during the winter. They need to leave their lagoon off the coast of California and join the other whales at “the top of...
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