New to the children's apps market is Cinderella, the classic fairy tale now brought to the App Store with full interactive features. Also new to apps is Harold and the Purple Crayon, a story of imagination and creativity that shows players that every child is an artist. Another recent release is Brave Rooney, which tells the story of an ordinary boy in a school of superheroes and the lessons he learns in bravery. The digital debut of The Poky Little Puppy is also new to the App Store, the bestselling picture book originally published in 1942. The story follows the poky little puppy who has to go to bed without any strawberry shortcake. Finally, the Smithsonian's Prehistoric Pals series features Triceratops Gets Lost.
Title: Cinderella
Publisher: Nosy Crow Ltd.
Release date: September 14, 2011
Price: $5.99
Background: Nosy Crow, the makers of the Three Little Pigs app, now allows players to go inside Cinderella's story and live it for themselves
Features: Using the front-facing iPad camera, playerse can see themselves in magic mirrors. Choose Cinderella's dress and watch full animations and listen to original music. Features Read to Me, Read by Myself or Read and Play.
Title: Brave Rooney
Publisher: Bacciz
Release date: August 22, 2011
Price: $2.99
Background: Ordinary boy Rooney shows up at Captain Majestic Memorial School, an elementary school for superheroes. Through the story, he shows all his superhero classmates what it means to be truly brave. Story is meant to build the player's self-esteem.
Features: Over 50 interactive features and animations, 23 pages of illustrations, narrated by author Gerry Renert (three-time Emmy-nominated kids' TV writer), highlighted reading text, Read to Me or I Can Read options, visual page index.
Title: The Poky Little Puppy
Publisher: Random House Digital
Release date: August 25, 2011
Price: $4.99
Background: Available for the iPhone, iPad, and iPod Touch, the children's book is replicated (it even has its distinctive gold spine) and given a digital makeover with interactive illustrations and hide and seek challenges.
Features: When the story is over, players can use the stickers they collected to create their own storybook scene and save the work to a photo album. The app can be personalized with the player's name and picture on the inside cover. Players can record their own voice to play on each page.
Title: Harold and the Purple Crayon
Publisher: Trilogy Studios
Release date: August 30, 2011
Price: $4.99
Background: The story centers on Harold's imagination, illustrating the idea that every child is an artist.
Features: Each page allows children to color in Harold's drawing, which turns into an animation. There are multiple surprise elements on every page. Features Touch Tale, Read to Me, and Read Alone modes. Also features a Digital Signature feature which allows the player to enter their name to see it on the main menu.
Title: Triceratops Gets Lost
Publisher: Oceanhouse Media, Inc.
Release date: September 2, 2011
Price: $1.99
Background: Smithsonian's Prehistoric Pals series features an adventure about a young Triceratops getting separated from his herd and lost in the forest. The app is designed to give the reader insight into a bygone world and an incredible creature.
Features: Professional narration, content reviewed by paleontologists at the Smithsonian Institution, background audio, enlarged artwork, individual word highlighting capability.
