Those amazing and creative award-winning people over at The Melody Book have done it yet again. Following on from A Jazzy Day, Jazzy ABC and Jazzy 1-2-3, they now offer you a tour of world music from within one app.

You can visit Brazil, India, Australia, Spain, Egypt, Kenya and, of course, the US of A, to explore the unique music and culture which is distinct to each country. Fly between destinations by hot-air balloon with your old friends the cartoon cats, learning about animals, food, flags, instruments and sounds from each country. Learn, Play and Create in each place that you visit, recording your creations in your very own travel book using video and still images. Then share your personalised log with your family and friends.

The app is crammed at every turn with well-organised interactions, structured to offer rigorous and meaningful learning opportunities through exploratory play. Illustrations are lavish and vivid. Instrumental sounds are recorded by professional musicians for the best possible listening experience. Music is contextualised within each culture and vocabulary is both accurate and designed to stretch mini-gamers using the app.

Do you know a didgeridoo from a surdo or a nyatiti? If not, then there is plenty for you to learn, too, as you share this app with your children. Ideal for school or home use, Jazzy World Tour is an outstanding learning adventure which will broaden horizons. It guides, enriches and encourages through exploration which, to my mind, facilitates the very best learning possible.

Age range: 2-8

Educational value: world music; instrumental timbre; composition skills; geography; natural history; language development; multicultural awareness

Fun rating: 5/5

Educational rating: 5/5

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]]> http://ipadappreviewsby.gillrobins.com/?feed=rss2&p=1873 0 http://ipadappreviewsby.gillrobins.com/?p=1813 http://ipadappreviewsby.gillrobins.com/?p=1813#comments Tue, 16 Apr 2013 15:15:12 +0000 Gill Robins http://ipadappreviewsby.gillrobins.com/?p=1813

(Read More...)]]> Cognitive Kid, Inc has done it again – this latest series of apps is stunning, both in the quality of its presentation and its content. If you want to inspire young archaeologists, look no further than these apps, which are crammed with facts, interactions and animations.

All three apps are fronted by the cartoon characters Ansel and Clair, who visit various dinosaur digs. Dr Lindy Bones, the palaeontologist for all three digs, helps readers learn about fossil tools, before sending them off on their own fossil dig. Reveal bones, bring them back to the surface, then go on a detective journey to find out about the world in which the unearthed dinosaur fossils actually lived. Take photos, record them in your personal Travel Log and create your own knowledge bank. There are countless hours of learning and entertainment contained in these three apps – it’s impossible to convey in words the vast quantity of information included.

The apps are absolutely bursting with facts – all of which are thoroughly researched and therefore accurate. They are intuitive to use, with clear hints to access information. But the apps are also entertaining – young children will enjoy swiping through the sand and soil to reveal the buried bones, while older children will love the facts, names and scientific data. These really are educational apps at their very best, appealing to a wide range of ages and interests and harnessing every aspect of touch screen technology to a central purpose.

Age range: 4 – 9

Educational value: science; history; geography; geology; zoology

Fun rating: 5/5

Educational rating: 5/5

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Cretaceous Dinosaurs

Jurassic Dinosaurs

Triassic Dinosaurs

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Cretaceous Dinosaurs

Jurassic Dinosaurs

Triassic Dinosaurs

Based on Mary Engelbreit’s classic designs, you can choose from five dolls (two boys, two girls and a baby) and select their clothes from a wide range of styles.
Dress your doll with a simple touch and swipe – and with the wonders of technology, the clothes won’t fall off because there are no tabs to accidentally tear.

But this app goes so much further. Ask the doll a question and get an answer. Choose from three different houses, each with three rooms and a garden to customise, from the lounge furniture and kitchen fittings to the garden fencing. Take your doll to the park or the beach, before moving to the TV studio in which you can script, produce and record your own show. Will your doll be the centre of a soap opera or the star of a fashion show? The choice is yours.

The opportunities for creative play within this app are almost endless and because the app is so intuitive to use, play is autonomous – no adults directing learning here! I think this app represents touch-screen technology harnessed for play at its best, because it gives a child just raw ingredients. We used to use cardboard boxes for our dolls houses, lots of sticky tape to keep the doll’s clothes on and a tape recorder to create dialogue. Imagine that all rolled into one neat app and you can imagine the attraction that is Breitville.

Age range: 3 – 7

Educational value: autonomous play; clothes and fashion; internal decoration; creative storytelling

Fun rating: 5/5

Educational rating: 4/5

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Meet a vast array of hunches in this story, from the Happy Hunch to the Real Tough Hunch, and the Homework Hunch to the Very Odd Hunch. In fact, there are so many hunches in this rhyming story that the central character is not the only one whose mind gets muddled. Eventually it all ends well with a Munch Hunch, but not before some classic Seuss antics explode across the pages.

The message to dawdlers everywhere is to trust your own hunches; a message given with the customary dose of humour and wacky images. In this app, you can record and share your own voice, choose from three reading functions and enjoy professional narration and soundscapes for each scene. Pages pan and zoom and words can be highlighted for emerging readers.

If you love Dr Seuss, then this app will make a valuable addition to your Seuss digital library – and maybe you could track down a few hunches of your own that don’t appear in the book!

Age range: 4 – 7

Educational value: rhythm and rhyme; humorous storytelling

Fun rating: 4/5

Educational rating: 3.5/5

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The hat, unfortunately, refuses to do as he wishes. As soon as he removes one hat, another one appears, so he is taken to the King’s throne room, where the King tries in vain to stop the hat replicating. Poor Bartholomew is shot at with arrows, subjected to magic spells and examined by the wise men, while the hats continue to multiply relentlessly. Eventually the 500^th hat appears on his head. But this hat is different – read the story to find out how it ends for all the key players.

Illustrations are black and white line drawings throughout, with only the many red hats as colour splashes in each image. All the classic Seuss features are present, with three reading functions and highlighted words. Readers can record their own voices to share in-app.

Although this story is a departure from the much-loved Seuss formula, it retains the expected Seussian humour in words and pictures. So join Bartholomew Cubbins in his adventures and find out what happens to one boy when life suddenly takes an unexpected turn.

Age range: 4 – 8

Educational value:  humorous story telling

Fun rating: 4/5

Educational rating: 3.5/5

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Brad, the family dog, starts the story off by introducing the music-loving Norwoods, each of whom prefers a different style of music. Dad likes inspirational singing and he demonstrates its effectiveness on the golf course. Mum likes jazz, RJ likes hip-hop, Brad likes opera and, of course, Brandy favours R&B. But there are problems when they are together, as they can’t agree on whose music is the best. In the end, it’s Mum who comes up with the solution, which is both humorous and sensible – buy the app to find out what she suggests!

In addition to learning about musical styles, readers can enjoy vibrant illustrations, animated character reactions, and three different play functions. But this is not just an app about musical styles, it also teaches children how to resolve family conflict in a fair, reasonable way that leaves everyone happy.

The app also introduces children to the concept of individual taste. Accompanying teaching notes on the developer’s website provide listening challenges and plenty of support to encourage children to identify and share their own favourite music. At its surface level, this is a story app which shares some musical fun with its readers. But it is actually so much more, demonstrating the language of music and its unique power in developing communication skills.

Age range: 2 – 6

Educational value: musical styles; resolving conflict; personal taste

Fun rating: 4/5

Educational rating: 4/5

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The app begins by introducing Parker Penguin, a chick who learns all about life in the Antarctic as he grows into an adult. Join Parker as he waddles, slides, swims and hunts. Learn about growlers, predators, habitat and adaptation from the pop-up text boxes. Then join Parker on his long journey to find a mate and create a penguin choir as he meets her.

Help Parker care for his mate Penelope’s egg while she sets off on an epic journey for food, then swipe their chick’s down from his body to reveal the adult plumage below. Then off the cycle goes again as their son embarks on his own waddling, sliding, hunting and swimming adventures.

Fascinating facts are crammed into every page of this app, accompanied by music, child narration and two reading functions – Read by Myself, and Read and Play. Words are highlighted, blue dots provide a gentle nudge towards interactions and the navigation icons require double taps so that accidental page turns are avoided.

As with all Nosy Crow apps, animation, interaction, word, sound, colour and shape are all carefully balanced to create a genuinely multimodal learning experience. Parker Penguin is great for sharing but is also ideal for young children to engage in individual play within the app.

This app is just as captivating as its earlier partner Franklin Frog, both of which are must-have additions to every young learner’s digital library.

Age range: 5 – 7

Educational value: biology: life cycles

Fun rating: 4/5

Educational rating: 5/5

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Visit the Pet Park where you can play with cats, dogs, guinea pigs, rabbits and birds, then help to feed the animals at the Finer Pet Diner, a place where every animal is lovingly served the food which it likes best. Investigate suitable pet beds at Pet Beds and More, then join in as an episode of a Pets of Gerpletz TV show is filmed.

This app, written in the customary Dr Seuss rhyming style, is crammed with useful information about feeding and caring effectively for a range of pets. Learn about their needs as they grow up; consider how to keep a pet safe and healthy, and reflect on how it might impact on your family’s time and space.

Readers are encouraged to think about issues as wide-ranging as putting harmful things out of a pet’s reach, using gloves to clean out a cage, what to do when you go on holiday and how often to visit the vet. End the app with a trip to the pet shelter to see how many animals need a loving home.

This is an excellent educational app – it is a classic Seuss story in its own right, but it is also packed with the sort of information that children need to consider before getting a pet. Thing 1 and Thing 2 provide information cards about pet care and bolded words throughout the story provide an interactive glossary. In addition to the usual features of these excellent apps, this book includes some animation and opportunities to interact in games with the different pets.

This is a must-have app if you are thinking of getting a pet and want your child to understand the commitment, hard work and pleasure that a pet can bring. It would also provide an entertaining way to learn key facts as part of a science curriculum.

Age range: 5 – 10

Educational value: caring for pets; understanding animals

Fun rating: 4/5

Educational rating: 5/5

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Although the touch-and-feel textures and smells of the original book cannot be replicated, the story is nevertheless charming. It is told in rhyming couplets as a mouse buys a ‘soft woolly’ stocking, some ‘shiny and sheer’ red ribbon and a ‘glittery’ star before sharing Christmas with his friends.

The images of this app conjure up a festive feel with their use of colour. There are 3 reading modes to suit a range of reading abilities, the facility to record the narration and even to write and record your own text.

When you have finished reading and recording the story, explore the Match Memory Game and Spot the Difference games to develop skills in matching and observation.

Reading this story with toddlers will introduce them to some vocabulary of texture which can then be developed around the home. Find your own woolly, shiny, sheer and soft objects, then extend your toddler’s vocabulary to include rough, scratchy, spiky or smooth. Use this story and the opportunity of Christmas to develop your child’s language skills.

Age range: 2 – 4

Educational value: vocabulary of texture; colour; picture matching; observation skills

Fun rating: 3/5

Educational rating: 3/5

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Regardless of the troubles in your life, this quirky Seuss story app reminds readers that there is always someone worse off. Pity the poor people of Ga-Zayt who are stuck in the traffic on Zayt Highway Eight. Feel sorry for Herbie Hart who has taken his Thromdibulator apart – so thoroughly that he is unlikely to ever be able to rebuild it. Empathise with poor Ali Sard who has to mow the grass in his uncle’s back yard, even though it grows again as fast as he cuts it. To add insult to injury, he is paid so little that at weekends he has to paint flagpoles.

In this world of unshlumped Borfin’s, Crumple-Horned Schlottz and wamel-faddles, everybody is worse off than Duckie. Even poor Mr Potter, the T-crosser and I-dotter is to be pitied. And when it comes to the Bee- Watcher – you need to read the story!

Background audio enhances the enlarged artwork and professional narration. There are the customary three reading modes and the word zoom function to support early readers.

This is a story to be enjoyed and shared by adults and children alike. Dr Seuss’s absurd wit in both word and image will restore all readers to good humour, even after the most gruelling day.

Age range: 3 – 9

Educational value: rhythm and rhyme in creative storytelling: emotional literacy

Fun rating: 4/5

Educational rating: 4/5

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