Kids’ App of the Week: Goldilocks and Little Bear
Further stretching the definition of fairy tale, Nosy Crow’s most recent interactive story app for iOS tells the same classic story from two points of view. You can read the story as Goldilocks or as Little Bear. To switch points of view, you rotate the screen. Besides offering a new “twist” on the well known story, early readers are helped by text highlighting, an interesting topic, quality illustrations, and the same wonderful child narration that has set the standard for this genre of app.
There are two modes of play: Read by Myself or Read to Me. The story can be presented in your choice of UK English or US English, and as in other Nosy Crow apps, you can determine how long the printed text appears on the screen (short, medium, or long). Reading teachers love these types of features, for good reason.
In the 17 scenes, Goldilocks gets lost and visits the bears’ home, eating their porridge, sitting in their chairs, and sleeping in their beds; while Little Bear is in Goldilocks’s family’s home – eating their pancakes, wearing their clothes, and reading their books. Nice touches include the ability to rock a rocking chair by rocking the tablet, and the ability to see yourself inside the mirrors in the app.
The bottom line? This is a rich early language/reading experience, combining good interactive design with first-rate illustrations and narration. It’s well worth the download.
Goldilocks and Little Bear
iPad, iPhone
$4.99
Ages: 4 to 8
This review of Goldilocks and Little Bear originally appeared in CTREX (www.ctrex.us).
Read even more great kids app reviews on Yahoo Tech:
Warren Buckleitner, Ph.D., is editor of CTREX (Children’s Technology Review Exchange), a professional subscription-only database for teachers, parents and librarians. Have a look at www.ctrex.us.
Looking for the right children’s apps, tablets or games to add to your holiday shopping list? Children’s Technology Review is offering 25 percent off all subscriptions on Cyber Monday. Use the promocode “CYBER” and get a year of CTR for 25 percent off. CTR Pro includes our weekly newsletter featuring quick looks at new and noteworthy apps. Visit www.childrenstech.com/subscribe and use the code CYBER
