My soon-to-be-5-year-old loves reading with me. We spend time reading just about everyday and as her reading skills are improving, she is enjoying becoming more involved with the story. Being that she also has a 9-year-old-brother who has been introducing her to the joys of playing on the iPad and iPhone, I was thrilled when given the recent opportunity to review Elfishki and the Giant Cake interactive Book for the iPad with her.
Finding age-appropriate interactive books and games for the iPad and iPhone that are also educational can sometimes be a challenge. If my children are learning as they play, I am more than happy to let them enjoy the fun of technology. Elfishki and the Giant Cake offers a little of both and my daughter was thrilled to share the fun with me.
Since my daughter cannot yet read on her own, I was glad to see that the book has the option to have the story read aloud to the child by the interactive book reader. The voice and tone of the reader is perfect and the story is read at a steady speed that is easy to follow. When we listened together, I used my finger to point out each word as it was read by the narrator.
As the story is being read, each of the colorfully illustrated pages are also interactive. That helped to keep my daughter entertained from the beginning to the end of the story. Each page also contained comprehension questions. My daughter excitedly clicked on each one, shouting out the answers to them. It was wonderful to be able to validate that she was also understanding the story as it was being told. Most of the questions were age appropriate, but there were a few that were a bit too hard for her to answer. I would have liked to see the option to choose varying levels for these questions based on their age or reading level. All in all though, they were still well-received by my little one.
I also think I should mention that although at first glance, the book may appear to be geared toward little girls, the story is appropriate for both boys and girls, and I would believe would be as equally enjoyable. My 9-year-old son wandered over the other night while I was reading with my daughter, and he enjoyed listening in as well. Although the book was a bit below his level, he enjoyed sitting with his sister and helping her navigate the pages.
The story also contains a fun game that allows children to create their own giant cake by choosing toppings and adding them to their cakes. When complete, they then have the option of saving the picture and emailing it to someone. My daughter giggled with delight as we created and emailed cakes to her big sister at college, her Daddy and her Grandparents. My daughter loves being creative, so this game is right up her alley – and I am always thrilled at any opportunity for her to express her creative side.
Head over to www.elfishki.com to check out more of their cool interactive books. Elfishki and the Giant Cake can be purchased for $2.99 in the iTunes store HERE. Although it is currently only available for download on the iPad, it will soon be available for iPhone as well. You can follow on Facebook and Twitter for promotions, updates new stories and more.
I received one or more of the products mentioned above for free using Tomoson.com. Regardless, I only recommend products or services I use personally and believe will be good for my readers.
