nonfiction

“A slightly buggy but
enticing introduction to philosophy…”
from let the thinking begin!
interactive e-books
AESOP’S TALES
Aesop
Translated by Hedley, Emma
Progetto Rosetta
$2.99 | Feb. 4, 2012
1.0; Feb. 4, 2012
Shoddy, sloppy and badly translated,
this collection of five fables is as baffling
as it is crude.
Apparently “[translated] from Ancient Greek” by Casanova
into Italian and then translated into English, according to the credits
page, this collection includes short, lightly animated versions of
“The Fox and the Grapes,” “The Grasshopper and the Ants,” “The
Lion and the Dolphin,” “The Fox and the Crow” and “The Tortoise
and the Hare.” There’s no voice narration, which is a blessing,
given the clunky, near-indecipherable text that accompanies each
story. The conclusion of “The Fox and the Grapes,” for instance,
offers this stunner of a garbled moral: “Those who do not succeed
in realising their aims because they are not able to do so, often disdain
that which they did not succeed in doing.” Good luck parsing
that one, kids. Most disturbingly, each tale of wretched animals in
moral quandaries ends with a near-naked old man (Aesop, presumably)
whom readers must dress in order to unlock the moral. The
old man shows up five times in five separate states of partial nudity,
leaving readers to wonder if he may have a serious problem. Even
apart from these significant problems, the app also suffers from
poor navigation, lackluster artwork and leaps of logic too big to
ignore even for a fanciful children’s app. For the record, lions and
dolphins cannot shake hands.
It’s a mess, riddled with typos, botched wording and
grating sound cues. The moral here is obvious: The person
who fails to steer clear of this app will find much to regret.
(iPad storybook app. 3-6)
THE COMET
Baldassarre, Ivano
Translated by Bianchi, Emma
Illus. by Glioti, Andrea
bitLuna
$1.99 | Feb. 13, 2012
1.0; Feb. 13, 2012
Three kids—Anna, Gino and Mark—
are stressed out by the demands of modern
student life and the distractions of the digital age. Their
lives are therefore improved when a passing comet renders all
the technology in their town of Sourapple useless.
The friends find that they’d rather go outside, making out
shapes from clouds and playing hide and seek. It’s a nice message,
shown in simplified, modern cartoon art and well-executed sound
effects that represent many of our modern conveniences as annoying,
bleating boxes. The app’s art style and sprightly interactive elements
are nearly enough to make readers forget that every page
is burdened with far too much redundant, overwritten text. Mark,
for instance, “was a busy bee! He had school in the mornings, followed
by afternoon lessons for violin, swimming and French. Not
to forget football training and his school homework of course!”
The English narrator is a young boy, an effect that is charming at
first, then increasingly grating as the text goes on and on (and on).
There’s also a set of navigation icons that, confusingly, move to different
parts of the page depending on the scene. The app is stuffed
with extras, from coloring pages to videos; “The Comet Song,” presented
with lyrics, is as catchy as it is endless.
The irony of a story about digital distraction presented
on the iPad won’t be lost on readers, and, like a lot of the technology
we have that’s unaffected by passing comets, the app
itself is a bit of a mixed blessing. (iPad storybook app. 3-7)
BUFO’S MUSIC
Baldisserotto, Zak
Illus. by Zeta, Roberta
Kite Edizioni Srl
$4.99 | Feb. 19, 2012
1.2; Feb. 19, 2012
Music changes a toad’s life.
Poor, sweet Bufo. For a toad he’s just
flat out of luck. With slow reflexes and bad
eyesight, he’s the butt of all the other toads’ jokes. But one day, in
a chance meeting with some musical insects, Bufo begins a leap of
discovery that changes everything. This tender toad story engages
from the get-go, with original music throughout, Zeta’s textured,
childlike illustrations and interactive bonbons on every page.
Toads leap and catch dragonflies; stars twinkle and have songs of
their own; a virtual chorus of insects provides its own soundtrack.
Although the narrative is amateurishly written and runs a bit textheavy
at times, there’s plenty to slide, tap, swipe and move around
on the pages of Bufo’s world, so his story doesn’t lose momentum.
Clever, well-timed sound effects enhance the story, and the navigation
is swing-in-a-hammock easy.
All toads considered, this is a story for the misfit in all
of us. (iPad storybook app. 3-8)
THE GARDEN OF EDEN
BelugaBloo
BelugaBloo
$1.99 | Feb. 21, 2012
1.0; Feb. 21, 2012
Another ho-hum, didactic Bible
story warning kids about the dangers of
disobedience.
This adaptation of the Genesis passage
about the Garden of Eden sticks pretty close to the Biblical
text. God creates Adam and Eve. One day Eve is picking fruit
for dinner and meets an “evil talking snake” that aims to “ruin
all good things!” Wanting to be as powerful as God is, Eve takes
home a forbidden apple for dinner and God eventually punishes
the couple for eating what they weren’t supposed to. The
overall visual aesthetic is quite pleasant, with bold, collagelike
illustrations that burst with color. Unfortunately, aside from a
loop of Mozart’s Eine Kleine Nachtmusik, that’s about all this app
has to offer in terms of creativity and distinctiveness. Interactions
consist of a few animals and clouds that barely move when
tapped or swiped (indicated by blinking yellow arrows) and one
page where Adam can be softly ricocheted around the screen.
When they realize they’re unclothed (sans anatomically correct
body parts) they exclaim, “ewww [sic]! You’re naked!” and “Go
put some clothes on!” In “read by myself ” mode, each screen
opens with a crumpled sheet of paper covered in text, which
disappears when tapped, revealing the illustration. There are
also autoplay and “read to me” options.
Preachy, homogenous and bland. (iPad storybook app. 2-5)
A FRIEND TO THE RESCUE
Carson, David
Illus. by Carson, David
Jolly Bubble
$1.99 | Mar. 3, 2012
1.0; Mar. 3, 2012
Written over a decade ago when
the author was 10 and evidently never
revised, this aquatic app sinks under the
combined weight of clumsy prose and a severely limited suite of
rudimentary special effects.
The plot is rudimentary too. With help from a sea turtle and
other friends (plural in the story, if not the title), a lost baby whale
eludes sharks by hiding behind a “giant piece of corral [sic],” then
rejoins his mother at last. In each sparely detailed cartoon scene,
tapping five buttons shaped like shells or other sea life will cause
as many random nautical facts to drop into view. These range
from the uselessly broad “50-80% of all life on earth [sic] is found
in the ocean,” to an awkwardly phrased claim that the “deepest
spot in the ocean is the Mariana Trench and is approximately
35,797 feet deep in the Pacific Ocean.” Tapping anywhere else on
any screen causes bubbles to appear with loud bloops, which is
the only other interactive feature. There is no audio narration or
music, nor options for paging backward or even for starting over.
Extensive editing and a major software upgrade might
raise this wreck, but it will take more than that to keep it
afloat. (iPad storybook/informational app. 6-8)
WORLD ATLAS
Crane, Nick
Illus. by Dean, David
Barefoot Books
$7.99 | Mar. 15, 2012
1.1.0; Mar. 15, 2012
Animations and clever enhancements
give this elementary atlas more flash than
its print version (2011), but the content
remains skimpy and poorly organized.
Built around a really quite cool cartoon globe that can be
rotated at will, the app allows viewers to zoom in on any area or
country. A tap opens a fact box that contains an animated national
flag, basic information such as land area, capital city and (with
location settings turned on) “Distance From Me.” There is also
a handful of environmental facts such as average CO2 emissions
per head and current weather (presumably in said capital). Audio
narration and a snatch of localized music are optionally available
as well. Alternatively, countries or world regions can also be
selected through searchable lists linked to a corner icon or visited
alphabetically using arrows at the bottom. In addition, tapping
on any of the dozens of small buildings, flora or fauna, objects and
human figures that festoon the globe opens a box with a link to
a photo and an assortment of facts, albeit not always clearly presented
ones. The “Brahman cattle” icon, for instance, indicates
that though they are “[o]riginally from India, these cattle are now
popular around the world,” without explaining exactly why it’s
wandering across Brazil. There are no political boundaries except
for country borders, and those are hard to find even at full zoom.
Not useful for reference, though an enticing plaything
for younger armchair travelers. (iPad informational app. 5-8)
LET THE THINKING BEGIN!
Leask, Amy
Illus. by Hughes, Mark
Enable Training and Consulting, Inc.
$3.99 | Dec. 9, 2011
1.0; Dec. 9, 2011
A slightly buggy but enticing introduction
to philosophy, based on the first of a
print series published in Canada (2011).
Squired by Sophia, an extroverted child resembling Dora the
Explorer, young enquirers not only get exposure to broad definitions
and basic ground rules for “Doing Philosophy”—meaning
thinking about or discussing important ideas in systematic, civilized
ways—but considerable drilling down into the topic, too. She
lays out the purviews of metaphysics, epistemology, ethics and
other branches of the discipline in simple but specific language.
This is followed by introductions to five prominent practitioners
(“Hannah Arendt here, and boy, oh boy, did I learn a lot of important
things from philosophy!”) with overviews of their distinctive
“fave subjects.” The app closes with a list of 13 brain benders
like “What does it mean for something to be ‘normal’” Aside
from two screens of appended historical and geographical sliders
880 | 15 april 2012 | children’s & teen | kirkusreviews.com |
| kirkusreviews.com | children’s & teen | 15 april 2012 | 881