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How much should an eBook cost? To give publishers and authors some guidance, we’ve collected spirited defenses of seven different eBook prices–choose the price that works best for your writing.

According to a new and unscientific poll, Nathan Bransford found that 51 percent of his readers thought eBooks should be priced between $5 and $9.99. What is your favorite price point?

$0.99 Novelist John Locke sold more than one million eBooks with this price point: “When I saw that highly successful authors were charging $9.99 for an e-book, I thought that if I can make a profit at 99 cents, I no longer have to prove I’m as good as them … Rather, they have to prove they are ten times better than me.”

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Title: Spike and Orange Ball

Author: Allan Walker

Format: iPad, iPhone

Rated: 4+

Current Price: $0.99

Synopsis: A dog laments over his lost ball.

Features:

• Animation
• Musical Score
• Read-Aloud

The Greasy Screen says: Spike, a cuddly black dog, is sad. His “bestie,” a prickly orange ball, is lost, and his family is set to move any day. What will he do, he wonders, in a new place without his favorite companion?

We’ve all been in Spike’s shoes. Moving is stressful, especially when your most important items get misplaced. I have to say that hearing Spike lament over his lost friend pulled at my heart strings. “I never thought I’d lose a best friend,” he moans. *sniffle!* Read in a low, baritone voice that I often imagine would be the voice of my bulldog if she could talk, the ebook illustrates the small comforts of a dog’s life and how they, just like us, get attached to silly little things.

Spike and Orange Ball is a bit lacking in special features, but Curly and I enjoyed flipping through this story, particularly the final page which shows a photo of what I can only assume is the real-life Spike. This inexpensive ebook will make you smile.

Title: Big Red Barn

Author/Illustrator: Jon Higham

Publisher: Dipali Vaidya

Format: iPad, iPhone

Rated: 4+

Current Price: $0.99

Synopsis: A counting story set in a farmyard.

Features:

• Interactivity
• Read-Aloud
• Sound Effects

The Greasy Screen says: Jon Highman, author of the charming Elly the Reindeer series, really has a knack for knowing what little ones are drawn to. Big Red Barn combines children’s natural curiosity toward animals and desire to learn numbers into one adorable ebook.

Every page features fun, candy-colored illustrations that are so cute you just want to squeeze them, and sound effects of the farm animals. Curly and I both really enjoyed the last few pages, which allow you to hear multiple animal sounds at the same time. Once you start pressing all those buttons, it sounds like a real live farm! If farms were has happy looking and odor free as they are in this story, I would be more inclined to head out to the country more often.

Older kids will not find much for them here, as the text revolves mainly on counting, but Big Red Barn is perfect for the toddler set.

Title: Growing Up Together

Publisher: Sungsil Graphics

Format: iPad

Rated: 4+

Current Price: $0.99

Synopsis: A caterpillar and a sunflower become best friends as they grow up together.

Features:

• Animation
• English/Korean
• Interactivity
• Musical Score
• Painting
• Sound Effects
• Voice Recording

The Greasy Screen says: Growing Up Together is the sweet story of a sunflower seed and butterfly egg who meet each other on the ground, and spend their lives growing up and changing together. As they both continue to evolve, the other comments on their progress, remarking on the beauty of the other’s wings or petals. The story is educational, in that we see the stages of a caterpillar turning into a butterfly, and how the sun and the rain helps the sunflower grow, but it also shows how two different things can work together.

Curly LOVED this eBook. The pages are full of bright, child-like illustrations that just explode with happiness. She laughed and laughed watching a ladybug crawl up the sunflower’s stem, and delighted in having the power to make a raincloud burst with droplets. I liked the story too, as the friendship between bug and flower was so peaceful, and seeing the big reveal of each organism in its final state was beautiful.

Gentle music and cute sound effects enhance the entire experience, and the animations are as brilliant as a rainbow. On one page, a vibrant sun streaks across the sky as the sunflower continues its ascent– lovely! I wish more eBooks were this saturated and gorgeous. There are plenty of extras, including the option to record your voice for the narration, but even without, we truly loved Growing Up Together and will be going back for more!

Title: AlphaBELCH

Author: Stephen White

Illustrator: Tony Neal

Format: iPad, iPhone

Rated: 4+

Pages: 28

Current Price: $0.99

Synopsis: An A-to-Z book about burping animals.

Features:

• Read Aloud
• Sound Effects

The Greasy Screen says: Burping. We all do it! So let’s laugh about it! AlphaBELCH showcases all the hilarious ways the animal kingdom releases gas.

The good news is, the burping sound effects do not play automatically, so one can just read through the cute A-to-Z rhyming story. But why would you? The creators of AlphaBELCH went to a lot of trouble to record 26 unique animal burping sounds, and you can try to deny it all you want, but they are pretty funny. My favorite burps were:
U is for Unicorn – burps that are smell free (burp with a sparkly “ting!” afterward)
M is for Moose – letting loose in a blizzard (yodeling burp)
K is for Kangaroo – burps from a pouch (boing burp boing burp)

And if you think I’ve gone to the dark side by advocating an eBook about burping, the story concludes with a great message about manners. I really enjoyed AlphaBELCH, and if Curly’s giggles are any indication, your young reader will like it too!