Sunday, April 1, 2012

Elfishki and The Giant Cake iPad Interactive Children's Book Review





I was so excited at Christmas when I received an iPad as a gift.  I am not Apple obsessed in any means, but I love reading and was wanting an e-reader and I heard this would be great no matter if I was reading Kindle or Kobo books.  Then something happened.  I ended up checking out the app store and I got hooked.  I was amazed by the quality of games and then before you know it, something that was for me all of a sudden was a hit with my two children.  So rather then fight it, I figured if they were going to be playing on it I was going to make sure they were going to be learning while on it!

If you have an iPad you will know that not all apps are created equally.  Some applications I find have poor visuals and after a while my children are bored with it.  If I am going to be spending money on an application I want to make sure I am getting my moneys worth.  My children are 3 and 5 and although they are very close in age, they do need to be stimulated in different ways.  My youngest does not read yet and my eldest is advanced in reading so both of them have different requirements.  When the opportunity came for me to check out this Interactive iPad book for kids ages 5-9, I thought I would take advantage and see what my girls thought of it! 
  


Elfishki and The Giant Cake is an interactive book that allows children to read the book on their own or have it read to them by a clear and energetic voice.  The scenes in the story are interactive as well.  My girls loved being able to touch the scenes in between the story being read and having the screen respond back to the touch of the fingers.  I also loved the fact that there are question within the book so that children do have to pay attention and it allows them to be involved and make guesses about how they think the story will continue.  I do not know about your children, but my girls love asking questions while they read and this gave them chances to think about something that they may not have originally.  If that was not enough there is as well and interactive game that they can decorate any way that they wish.  I loved watching them create their own masterpieces with this.  They really put thought into how they were decorating.  Below is a brief description about this great app and video.

"Once upon a time, on the beautiful Rainbow Island in the middle of the Sparkling Sea lived magical little people called Elfishki.

Some of them could fly like butterflies and some could swim like mermaids. They shared the island with animals who could speak and trees who did not talk, but understood everything. All in all, this was a place where miracles happened every day.

Elfizz was an owner of a gloomy restaurant named Chest of Ghosts where the staff was eager to please ghosts. On the opposite side of the square was a bakery, Gingerbread Nook, run by a pretty plump Elfishki lady called Maggie. The two were at odds with each other until one day they had to work side by side..."


If your looking for a new app for your children head on over to Apple's app store and check out all of  their available interactive books.

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