I was a voracious reader as a child, checking out piles of books from the library every week. I loved novels, nonfiction, books for kids, books for adults, magazines; all of ’em! I also loved activity books and had all kinds of fun doing puzzles and sitting on the living room floor trying to find Waldo. As I got older, I began to have access to computers – remember, this was back when computers weren’t a ubiquitous household device – and this opened up a whole new world of reading, learning, entertainment and games, just as books had before.
Now that computers and smartphones are everywhere, children have a whole new world available to them from a young age. I know that when I was little, I would have loved all of the apps and games that can be found on modern devices – although I’m thankful that my youth wasn’t chronicled on Facebook and YouTube the way it is for the children of 2013. 😉 Back in the ’80s, my dad cut a hole in an old book and glued a calculator inside it to imitate Penny’s computer on Inspector Gadget – so I would have been in absolute awe of an iPad. One app I might have liked is Pilo3:An Interactive Children’s Story Book-3D Animation-Cooking Game, an Apple compatible app that aims to mix bedtime storytelling with gaming in a cartoon form. Pilo is an adorable little pillow fairy that comes down from “Dream world” to go on a virtual adventure with your child. Seriously, how cute is this:
In addition to being an animated storybook, children get a full interactive experience by choosing the protagonist to be either a boy or a girl, and customizing the main character Pilo with new clothes. As the child goes through the story, there are numerous interactive games including matching games, music games and scenes where you can make a cake and slice fruit. You can choose to listen to the story in either English, Korean, or Chinese.
This app has won several awards for its educational potential, in addition to being totally adorable! It retails for $2.99 – the same cost of an old-fashioned storybook – and is compatible with iOS 3.2 or higher, optimized for iPhone 5. Supported Apple devices for this app are iPhone 3Gs, 4, 4S, 5, iPad, and iPod touch 3rd, 4th, and 5th generation. Click here to get it on iTunes now!
What a cute app! I loved to read as a child also and so did my daughter. My son prefers not to pick up a book if he can help it!
this look like a lot of fun, thanks for sharing
This looks great! My kids would love it, I’m sure. I’ll have to check it out for them.
I had to laugh at the part where you talked about your youth not being chronicled. Isn’t that the truth though? Anyhow on topic, this really does seem like a cute one worth getting.
Looks like a cute app that my kids would enjoy. Thanks for sharing!
I liked inspector gadget too!