This week in apps features Bizzy Bear on the Farm, in which players help Bizzy with his chores. Also this week is the holiday-themed app The Night Before Christmas. Strawberry Shortcake Comics Reader is a free preview of the first issue, while The Little Red Hen and Bee & Me teach players lessons in teamwork. The Robot Book shows players all the cogs of robots, and Dr. Seuss Band turns tablets into a Seussian musical instrument. Finally, Big Nate: Comix By U! lets players create comics along with the "king of detention."
Title: Bizzy Bear on the Farm
Publisher: Nosy Crow
Release date: December 14, 2011
Price: $3.99
Background: Players help Bizzy with his chores as they explore everything there is to see and do on the farm.
Features: Illustrations by Benji Davies, original music. Help Bizzy pick apples and gather eggs, feed the pigs and chicks, make the horse gallop or trot down the road, drive the tractor over the hills.
Title: The Night Before Christmas
Publisher: Oceanhouse Media
Release date: December 10, 2011
Price: $0.99
Background: Players follow an orphan boy and his loyal cat as they outwit a cranky old tycoon in the hopes of getting toys to the orphanage.
Features: Professional narration, background audio, enlarged artwork, words can be highlighted, read to me, read it myself, and auto play modes.
Title: Strawberry Shortcake Comics Reader
Publisher: Ape Entertainment
Release date: December 13, 2011
Price: Free
Background: Players join Strawberry Shortcake and her friends for all-new adventures in Berry Bitty City. Issue #1 is presented here as a free preview.
Features: Each issue contains three stories, including one 16-page story and two four-page stories.
Title: The Little Red Hen
Publisher: Random House Digital
Release date: December 11, 2011
Price: $3.99
Background: Players learn a lesson about teamwork from this folktale about farm animals and the Little Red Hen trying to plant her wheat.
Features: Hide & Seek Challenge that unlocks bonus stickers, which can be used when the story is completed to create an original storybook scene. Interactive illustrations, personalization options to put your child's name and photograph on the inside cover.
Title: Dr. Seuss Band
Publisher: Oceanhouse Media
Release date: December 8, 2011
Price: $0.99
Background: Tablets are transformed into musical instruments as players play along with Seussian melodies or create their own.
Features: New instruments are unlocked as you play, contains over 120 combinations of sounds, high score and free play modes, 10 original songs, five unique horn effects, three difficulty levels, leaderboards.
Title: Bee & Me
Publisher: Andrews McMeel
Release date: December 6, 2011
Price: $4.99
Background: When a boy finds a bee in his room, he's scared at first. Then he realizes the bee is friendly and explains how helpful bees are.
Features: Original voiceover narration option, animation and sound effects, hidden interactive elements.
Title: The Robot Book
Publisher: Andrews McMeel
Release date: December 6, 2011
Price: $1.99
Background: Players find out what makes a robot tick by showing all the gears, cogs, and parts in this interactive storybook.
Features: Original voiceover narration option, animation and sound effects, hidden interactive elements.
Title: Big Nate: Comix By U!
Publisher: Night & Day Studios
Release date: December 14, 2011
Price: $4.99
Background: Create your own comics with art from Big Nate, a sixth-grader and self-described genius and "king of detention." Based on the bestselling book series by Lincoln Peirce.
Features: Backgrounds include the P.S. 38 school gym, lockers, library, Nate's bedroom, the neighborhood, and Mrs. Godfrey's classroom. Three ways to create comics: story starter (begin with a few finished frames and then fill in the rest), fill in the blanks (fill in the speech bubbles on an already designed comic), start from scratch (create a comic from scratch and design it as you like).
