This Arthur app makes great use of humor to help make reading skills fun
Arthur and Muffy have planned their birthday parties for the same day, which kicks off a round of problem-solving and a lesson in conflict resolution.
Chock full of action, this app puts equal focus on reading skills, storyline and sense of fun. The text is available in both Spanish and English, and one can easily change the languages back and forth on each page. Every page is fully animated and interactive. Features range from silly fun—the students’ drawings on the walls act out hilarious vignettes, and two kitchen chairs produce an impressive musical sequence—to animations that serve to move the story forward. For instance, when readers swipe to turn the first page, Arthur gathers his things and heads off to school. Options on the home page give detailed tips for parents on how to use this app to build reading and language skills. Extensive teacher resources explain the educational features built into the app to help tailor it for individual learning needs. “Patience mode” requires readers to wait until one activity is finished before starting another; “page story completion” ensures that the whole page has been read before interactions are activated. With all the care put into the features, it’s too bad the art is quite pixelated.
This Arthur app makes great use of humor to help make reading skills fun (. (iPad storybook app. 4-8)Pub Date: Jan. 4, 2013
ISBN: N/A
Page Count: -
Publisher: Wanderful
Review Posted Online: March 26, 2013
Kirkus Reviews Issue: April 15, 2013
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SEEN & HEARD
Continuing to find inspiration in the work of Virginia Lee Burton, Munro Leaf and other illustrators of the past, Long (The Little Engine That Could, 2005) offers an aw-shucks friendship tale that features a small but hardworking tractor (“putt puff puttedy chuff”) with a Little Toot–style face and a big-eared young descendant of Ferdinand the bull who gets stuck in deep, gooey mud. After the big new yellow tractor, crowds of overalls-clad locals and a red fire engine all fail to pull her out, the little tractor (who had been left behind the barn to rust after the arrival of the new tractor) comes putt-puff-puttedy-chuff-ing down the hill to entice his terrified bovine buddy successfully back to dry ground. Short on internal logic but long on creamy scenes of calf and tractor either gamboling energetically with a gaggle of McCloskey-like geese through neutral-toned fields or resting peacefully in the shade of a gnarled tree (apple, not cork), the episode will certainly draw nostalgic adults. Considering the author’s track record and influences, it may find a welcome from younger audiences too. (Picture book. 5-8)
Pub Date: Sept. 1, 2009
ISBN: 978-0-399-25248-8
Page Count: 40
Publisher: Philomel
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: July 15, 2009
SEEN & HEARD
A friendship tale with solid messaging and plenty of fun sounds to share.
In this latest in the series, Little Blue Truck, driven by pal Toad, is challenged to a countryside race by Racer Red, a sleek, low-slung vehicle.
Blue agrees, and the race is on. Although the two start off “hood to hood / and wheel to wheel,” they switch positions often as they speed their way over dusty country roads. Blue’s farm friends follow along to share in the excitement and shout out encouragement; adult readers will have fun voicing the various animal sounds. Short rhyming verses on each page and several strategic page turns add drama to the narrative, but soft, mottled effects in the otherwise colorful illustrations keep the competition from becoming too intense. Racer Red crosses the finish line first, but Blue is a gracious loser, happy to have worked hard. That’s a new concept for Racer Red, who’s laser-focused on victory but takes Blue’s words (“win or lose, it’s fun to try!”) to heart—a revelation that may lead to worthwhile storytime discussions. When Blue’s farm animal friends hop into the truck for the ride home, Racer Red tags along and learns a second lesson, one about speed. “Fast is fun, / and slow is too, / as long as you’re / with friends.”
A friendship tale with solid messaging and plenty of fun sounds to share. (Picture book. 4-7)Pub Date: March 25, 2025
ISBN: 9780063387843
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Clarion/HarperCollins
Review Posted Online: Jan. 18, 2025
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Feb. 15, 2025
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