This week in children's apps features Go Away, Big Green Monster!, an app to help kids conquer their fears. Also this week are two Halloween apps, The Berenstain Bears Go on a Ghost Walk and Biscuit Visits the Pumpkin Patch. How to Rock Braces and Glasses, which features an excerpt from Meg Haston's novel, soon to be a Nickelodeon show. Finally, there's Bot Garage, which has more than 100,000 bot creation combinations.
Title: Go Away, Big Green Monster!
Publisher: Night & Day Studios
Release date: October 7, 2011
Price: $2.99
Background: Caldecott winner Ed Emberley's book featuring overlapping pages turns scary into silly and helps kids take control of their fears. The app reveals and then removes each piece of the Big Green Monster, putting all the power in the child's hands.
Features: Players add eyes, hair, ears, nose, and can poke him. Read along with a friend, Read along with Ed (narrated by Emberley), sing along mode (featuring animations), and read yourself modes.
Title: The Berenstain Bears Go on a Ghost Walk
Publisher: Oceanhouse Media
Release date: October 7, 2011
Price: $2.99
Background: Papa Bear is in charge of the Bear Country School's Ghost Walk, and he has two helpers – Sister and Brother Bear – helping him with the decorations.
Features: Individual words are highlighted as the story is read and words zoom up when pictures are touched. Features Read to Me, Read it Myself, and Auto Play modes.
Title: Biscuit Visits the Pumpkin Patch
Publisher: FrogDogMedia
Release date: October 10, 2011
Price: $2.99
Background: Recommend by Apple as a children's Halloween app, the story follows Biscuit the dog's adventure in the pumpkin patch as he searches for the perfect harvest pumpkin.
Features: Read myself or read to me modes, animations on every page, sticker album, interactive coloring book, a hidden bone on every page.
Title: How to Rock Braces and Glasses
Publisher: Little, Brown Books for Young Readers/Poppy
Release Date: October 12, 2011
Price: Free
Background: After readers learn about Kacey Simon’s new braces and glasses, this photo app allows them to try rocking braces and glasses themselves.
Features: App features an excerpt of Meg Haston’s debut novel How To Rock Braces and Glasses, soon to be a TV show on Nickelodeon. Users can also play the “Brace Yourself” game, in which they take a photo of themselves or their friends, or upload existing photos from their library, and try on dozens of different braces and glasses combinations. Can you rock the geek chic look?
Title: Bot Garage
Publisher: Random House Digital
Release Date: October 13, 2011
Price: $1.99
Background: Simlutaneously released with the new pop-up book, Lots of Bots by David A. Carter and Noelle Carter, Bot Garage lets you chose from a wide selection of colorful bot heads, bodies, arms, legs, and silly accessories to design the perfect bot.
Features: Players can name their bot, choose one of 10 places to play, and watch the bot come to life with animation and sound effects. Bots can be saved and emailed to friends.
