If you like the Charlie Brown Christmas special then this app is a must have. The app is a book of the story we know and love, Charlie Brown finding the true meaning of Christmas. The app is very well done and includes the voices for the original cartoon. Also it is narrated by Peter Robbins who is the original voice of Charlie Brown. To go along with the story you can play Schroeder’s piano and finger paint with the gang and more. I bought this app when it was $5.99 and thought it was worth it but now it’s only $.99. For that price it’s a must have for everyone that loves Christmas or Peanuts.

One of my daughters favorite cartoons is Miss Spiders Sunny Patch Kids, so when I saw there was an app for that it was a no brainer. The app is nicely done with a story that can be read to you with some animation, or you can read the story. The app also features coloring pictures, puzzles, a matching game, and one show. The puzzles can be in either 6 or 12 pieces, making it easier or more challenging depending on the child. My girl loves this app and it is one that she goes to time and time again. I would highly recommend this app because of all the different activities it gives you. As of now it’s $4.99 in the iTunes store.

iTunes Store

The iPad app Winken, Blinken and Nob is a very interesting app. Yes it’s another storybook app but this one does (or tries) something new. First of all the pictures on this app look great. They really did a good job with the artwork to go along with the story. They also tried something really interesting, using voice recognition. The words on the page light up when you say it or is suppose to. The idea is great but sadly it doesn’t work. I have tried several times to get past the first page and I never can get the app to work. The major failure of this app is this is the only way to read the book. It would be one thing if that feature didn’t work but you could still turn the page and read it like other books but you can’t. Since I can’t get the app to understand what I am saying, I can’t get off the first page of the book. It’s a great idea but simply doesn’t work so I would stay away from this app until they fix it.

iTunes Store

Henny Penny- Children’s Interactive Storybook HD is a story app that tell the well known story of Henny Penny. This app has pictures that goes along with the story as it is read to you. Since I have a young daughter I love these story apps that allows me to read to her from my iPad. This app though has several problems with it, the first being that there are no words. The story is told to you without the words to go with it and this for me is a problem because I like the apps that have the words that light up as they are being read. This helps kids learn site words and most apps that do this also give you the option of reading the story instead of having it read to you.

Another major problem with this app is there is background music that gets kind of annoying. There is a button to mute the music however you have to do this every time you turn the page. This was clearly an oversight and something that needs to fixed in an update.

Overall the app has flaws but it is free. My daughter liked the story but it’s not an app that she goes back to very often, so if you liked the story of Henny Penny when you were little then you should check this app out.

iTunes Store

JibJab is a well known web company that makes funny flash videos using your pictures. The idea behind the website is to crop someone’s head and put it on one of the bodies in their videos. Now they are using that idea to put kids books on the iPad with JibJab Jr.

The idea here is simple, find a picture of your child and crop their head so that it can be inserted into the book. After inserting the picture the fun begins. Sit down with your child and read the book, which along with the story has a good use of motions, and watch them light up as not only their name is used but also their picture. I have a four year old and she loves these books. The stories are on par with other books that my daughter likes. The first book is free and after that they are priced on a scale. If you sign up for subscription they are $3.99 per book with one book coming out every month and $7.99 to buy them one at a time.

Like I said my daughter loves this app and because the first book is free it’s worth checking out.

iTunes Store

Dora’s Rhyming Word Adventure has Dora and Boots trying to get across the Grumpy Old Trolls toll bridge. To this this they have to collect seven coins by playing a game. The game has a picture in the middle like a cat and will ask you to find that word that rhymes with cat. Around the cat picture are five or six other pictures that go in a circle around the middle picture. When a picture is touched the word that the picture represents is said. To see if you have chosen correctly drag the outer picture over the middle picture and Dora will tell you if you are right. Once you get seven right there is a mini game of throwing the coins into the basket.

When my four year old started playing this game she didn’t know what rhyming words were but after playing for a short bit picked up on it. She now can go through the rhyming part of this game pretty quickly and not miss one. To add to the game there are also games with words that start with the same sound, end with the same sound, or have the same sound in the middle.

If you have a little one who likes Dora, this game is a must. It’s very much like the learning games they play in the cartoon. My four year old loves it and plays it all the time. It has helped her learn words that rhyme and words that start with the same sound. We have used it to help teach her what letter words start with. As of this post the app is $1.99 in the app store.

iTunes Store

When I was a kid this was one of my favorite books,  I can’t tell you how many times I’ve heard this story.  So when the app came out I thought I’d check it out and show it to my four year old.  The app works pretty well expect it is a little laggy when it starts and it has to load between every page.  I’m using an original iPad, so that might be part of the problem.  Neither of these problem however are that big of a deal.

The app is just like the book expect instead of having to try to read it in your best Grover voice, Grover reads it.  The animations are nice and there are even parts that are interactive.  The app is very nicely done and if you have a little is well worth it.

$3.99 in iTunes Store

If you’ve had an iPad for any length of time then you know how great it works as a reading device. What you may not know is that there are great apps for children’s books, one of my favorites is the NOOK Kids app. This app works the same way that the color NOOK works with children’s books. The app is free and once you download it Barnes and Noble gives you a few free books to try out. Then to add more books go to Barnes and Noble website and search for children’s books that say NOOK Color. You buy it on the website and the book shows up on your iPad ready to download, in the NOOK Kids app. The books are about the same price as a regular book but it’s nice to always have some of your child’s favorite books with you at all times. My four year old loves the Llama Llama series, so Llama Llama Red Pajama was the first book I picked up. Plus you can catch some of them on deals from time to time.

The books look great on the iPad and some of them have interactive sections added. Also depending on the book some you can let the iPad read to you or read them yourself. If you have young kids I couldn’t recommend this app more.

NOOK Kids website