How to use this Page

Title: Be Confident in Who You Are

Author: Annie Fox

Illustrator: Matt Kindt

Publisher: Electric Eggplant

Format: iPad, iPhone

Rated: 4+

Current Price: $3.99

Synopsis: A group of middle school kids discuss issues that plague their age group.

Features:

• Musical Score
• Sound Effects

The Greasy Screen says: Usually on The Greasy Screen, we read ebooks geared toward the younger set, since my little Curly is my co-reviewer. But today, Curly took a break while I sat down with Be Confident in Who You Are, a Middle School Confidential graphic novel aimed toward tweens/teens.

Middle school… what a wonderful time, no? Suddenly your once peaceful world filled with playgrounds and playdates is transformed into stress over clothes and being cool. This ebook tackles many pressing issues for today’s tweens, including body image, self-esteem, and peer pressure, and presents them from a middle schooler’s point of view. It’d be hard to find a reader who has not dealt with at least one of the subjects at hand. I personally connected to the chapter dealing with an overweight girl, and another showing someone lose their temper at an annoying friend. Each chapter focuses on a different theme, with a group of friends suggesting ways to overcome their troubles.

The graphic novel format is very accessible, with readers having the ability to zoom in and out of every frame. There are nice, subtle sound effects that enhance the reading experience without overshadowing the content. While I don’t currently know any teenage children, I felt the content was helpful and appropriate without being dorky (as many educational mediums tend to be). Be Confident in Who You Are ends with a terrific message that I think readers of every age can take to heart – “There is only one way to be like them. There are a zillion ways to be like you.” I’ll have to hang on to this ebook for when Curly gets older.

Title: Roy the Little Rabbit

Publisher: LaLafish

Format: iPad

Rated: 4+

Current Price: $3.99

Synopsis: A little rabbit explores and meets new friends.

Features:

• Read Aloud
• Sound Effects

The Greasy Screen says: Roy the Little Rabbit is geared for the toddler set, with uncomplicated words and basic plot line. Roy hops around, meeting new friends, and gets caught in a rain storm. It is a simple story, so little ones looking for more oomph (like my Curly) will quickly lose interest.

Roy’s graphics were a bit too stark for my taste, and some of the sound effects were a bit over the top: when Roy’s new friend Lyn the bluebird needs to fly away, a random chorus of children’s voices chimes in with a loud “BOO!” I did like the repeat text button on each screen, available for little ones looking to hear the words again, but in our case, Curly was itching to get through the story and was not looking for a repeat performance.

If Roy continues to have more eBook adventures, I hope he gets more to do the next time around!

Title: Just Birds

Publisher: Bookpx

Format: iPad, iPhone

Rated: 4+

Current Price: $3.99

Synopsis: An educational look at birds from around the world.

The Greasy Screen says: Just Birds is the latest release in a series of educational animal kingdom eBooks found on Apple’s iBooks app. This was my first time exploring iBooks, for while I do spend a lot of time reading interactive eBooks with Curly, the iPad actually belongs to my husband, so I haven’t downloaded any books for myself. I found the experience to be quite enjoyable, so my hubby better hold on tighter to his favorite toy…

Just Birds is just what it says it is: pages and pages of birds. Being part of iBooks, there is no interactivity, animation, or any of that kind of thing. Typically, I don’t go for non-fiction books because… well… they are usually pretty boring. I like imaginative stories, not stuffy paragraphs of facts. But Just Birds livens up the information by setting it in rhyming verse: a much appreciated effort. The pages are filled with beautiful photographs of a wide array of birds, including ones you’d expect (bald eagle, hummingbird), to ones I was not familiar with (ever seen a blue-footed booby?). At the end, a list of activities you can do with your kids to help them relate to the lives of birds was a nice touch. Curly may be a bit too young to really worry about all the details, but she certainly liked seeing all the feathery friends displayed in all their glory.

Flipping through Just Birds reminded me of reading Ranger Rick when I was little, and I loved that magazine! What little kid is not interested in animals? It looks like this series hit the jackpot.

Title: One Rainy Day

Author: Tammi Salzano

Illustrator: Hannah Wood

Publisher: mytales digital

Format: iPad

Rated: 4+

Current Price: $3.99

Synopsis: A little duck discovers colors as he walks through the rain.

Features:

• Animation
• Interactivity
• Read Aloud
• Painting
• Sound Effects

The Greasy Screen says: I enjoy rainy days, but not as much as the cuddly yellow duck who stars in One Rainy Day. This duck likes to really splash it up, playing in puddles and wiggling in mud. As he romps outside in his watery wonderland, he learns about all the colors of the rainbow. When different colors are touched, their names are read aloud, and the duck himself provides extra commentary when pressed. There are not a lot of animations; the interactivity is mainly expressed through additional sound effects. Still, Curly was engaged throughout the rainy journey, and really enjoyed the painting pages provided through the menu.

One Rainy Day is perfect for toddlers who are just becoming familiar with digital mediums. The story is short and sweet, and there is enough interactivity to keep them engaged without being overwhelmed.

Title: Cozmo’s Day Off

Publisher: Ayers Animation

Format: iPad

Rated: 4+

Current Price: $3.99

Synopsis: Cozmo the alien treks through the stars during his commute to work.

Features:

• Animation
• Games
• Interactivity
• Read Aloud
• Musical Score
• Sound Effects
• Voice Recording

The Greasy Screen says: Just by looking at the screen shots of Cozmo’s Day Off, there is no doubt that it is an exquisitely produced eBook. The story of a little alien frantically trying to get to work on time is jam-packaged with lots of glitz and glamour. The illustrations are incredibly polished, and the interactivity is (sorry for the pun) out of this world. Every page was bursting with hidden animations; I particularly liked a popcorn popper spewing out kernels, and Curly liked anytime music would start playing. Much thought was put into where little fingers were apt to poke, and there wasn’t one disappointing screen.

There was, though, a bit of disappoint from this reader. Within the pages of Cozmo, mini games would randomly pop up, disrupting the flow of the story. I am not against games being packaged with eBooks, but it’s hard to focus on plot when you’re trying to figure out the mechanics of a game that just appeared on the screen. Even with the story being relatively short (10 pages), I found myself forgetting what Cozmo was trying to do in the first place. Curly seemed a bit confused too; usually when we read a story, she asks questions or repeats points of the plot. After reading Cozmo, she looked a bit blank.

Not to say that we weren’t entertained, because Cozmo’s Day Off offers a lot of fun extras. One super cool feature was the ability to record your voice, and then manipulate it to sound really high-pitched or slow as molasses. If only the games were kept as an option at the end, and if the story’s text didn’t disappear after being read aloud (to allow for more exploration, I assume), I am sure this eBook would be one of my top picks. As a playful app, it’s great, but as a book, I’m not so sure.