First, the description from the App Store…:

Experience an interactive storybook that is out of this world! Join Cozmo in his adventure across the stars, and enjoy games and activities along the way.

★Audio Narration
★Over 100 Unique Audio and Animated Interactions
★Customize Narration with Your Own Voice
★Have Fun Using the Voice Pitch Control
★Games and Activities

…and a screen shot of the first page of the book:

And now onto the review.

The first thing that jumps out at me is the quality of the illustrations. I have seen a LOT of these children’s books, and some of the artwork is just not that appealing. But in Cozmo’s Day Off, each page features a beautiful illustration that is chock-full of details. Plus, as the above description mentioned, there are over 100 interactions throughout the book. My son loved tapping away at every object on the screen, hoping to see it come to life and do something funny. With 100 interactions in a 10-page book, there are obviously plenty of things to try!

The second thing I noticed is that the story is pretty decent. I mean, it’s hard to tell a complete story in just 10 pages and make it interesting for kids, but I think this one works. Each page has between two and four rhyming lines that tell how Cozmo gets from his home to his job. I think that amount of text is perfect for this age group (4+), as it allows the story to get told, but doesn’t bog kids down too much.

On the educational side of things, I really appreciate that when the auto narrator is on, the interactions don’t work until AFTER the text on the page has been read. This forces kids to listen to the story instead of just tapping away looking for the “fun stuff”. As a parent, this sort of detail is very important to me.

I also like that the text gets highlighted as the narrator reads, which makes it easier for my son to follow along. (One slight quibble about the feature, though, is that I think it would be more effective if single words were highlighted instead of the whole line.) And of course, there’s the fantastic feature that allows us to record ourselves reading the text. Kids — especially my son — LOVE this kind of thing. As developing readers, I think it’s critical that they hear their own reading like this, and I’ve gotten my son to do several recordings. Now he listens to himself almost exclusively, which is just fine by me.

My son liked this app, and thought most of the interactions and animations were fun. The one thing he didn’t like was the game on Page 4. He said it went on too long, and that it was too easy in the beginning, but then became WAY too hard before the end. I haven’t tried that game myself, but I’ll take his word for it.

Anyway, Cozmo’s Day Off by Ayars Animation is definitely an interactive book that I would recommend buying. It costs $3.99 at the App Store, and I think that price is appropriate for what the book contains. At 8 years old, I think my son was perhaps a bit old for this one, but he still enjoyed it. I think younger children would have even more fun with it, so if your kids are in the 4-6 or 4-7 range, go check this one out! (A “Lite” version is also available if you just want to try it before you buy.)

Something like Alloc Domestic would probably work best for us. This particular brand is rated for commercial traffic, which means it should be able to hold up to sports and regular wear and tear.

I don’t want to start any big projects in the middle of winter here, but when spring comes around this is definitely on my to-do list!

Here’s the description from the App Store:

Discover the museum and its most beautiful artworks, and stay updated thanks to our new Newsfeed function.

•100 Louvre masterpieces in your pocket. The selection of museum must-sees now features Greek sculptures, paintings by Bosch, Titian, Raphael, Holbein, and Cranach, and a drawing by Leonardo da Vinci

•Over 500 images and details to zoom in on

•A presentation of the palace and its history, with a new introductory video to take you round the Louvre

•New functions for sharing your favorites with your friends, by email and on Facebook

•Regular updates on key events at the museum (exhibitions, publications, etc), and our “Visitor Information” section to help you prepare your visit (getting there, museum maps, opening hours, admission fees…)

Perfect for Louvre fans: via In-App purchase you can buy the most beautiful visuals to assign to your contacts, use as wallpaper and view as a slideshow.

I like many things about this app, including the fact that each work comes with a rather detailed description of its history and content. Navigation is easy, and there are a lot of interesting pieces to look at. But the app does have its problems. One of the biggest is its sheer size. At over 800MB for the initial download, this thing is a beast that takes up way too much space, especially if you only have a 16GB iPad, like I do. Second, the app is slow to open and sometimes crashes, thus leaving me feel disinclined to deal with it at times.

I paid $3.99 for this app 10 days ago, but I see that it is now FREE at the App Store. If you can get it for free and you have room for it, then you should definitely download the Louvre app. If you have to pay $3.99, then you might want to think twice. I’m happy that I have the app, but not too pleased that I paid for something that is now free.

Anyway, I look forward to future updates that will hopefully get this thing streamlined and make it even better!

• PSP Go
• BetaMax
• PS3 Launch Price
• eVilla Network Entertainment Center (I’ve never even heard of this thing)
• MiniDisc (Aw, I had an MD player back in the day. Much better than CDs, but as soon as MP3 players came along…buh bye.)
• AIBO (a robotic dog)
• PSX/PlayTV
• PlayStation Home
• Mylo
• Lair (video game)

Yeah, after reviewing this list, it seems that there are some pretty major flops here. Oh, well, every company misses now and then, right? (Even Apple…at least back in the day.)

1. Gluttony (bumping up against your credit limit)
2. Pride (not checking your credit score regularly)
3. Lust (applying for too much credit)
4. Greed (getting a cash advance)
5. Envy (applying for a card that’s way out of your league, like a Black card or something)
6. Wrath (shutting down all your cc accounts)
7. Sloth (not checking monthly statements)

Yeah, most of these are common sense, I guess, but some people (especially younger folks with their first credit cards) can benefit from the advice. Be sure to click through and read the entire article if you want more info!

I don’t know much about Elantras, but I do think at least one Hyundai model looks pretty damn cool. I’m not sure of the name of the car, but it’s the one Fiona drives on Burn Notice. I am always impressed by how sleek and sporty it looks, so if I were in the market for a new car, I’d definitely consider Hyundai!

The description of the book from the publisher is as follows:

Algebra isn’t just numbers and equations. It’s about the world you live in. With Glencoe Algebra, you get hands-on math applications to help you succeed in whatever career path you chose. Interactive personal tutors, animations, and practice problems let you review as much or as little as you need to prepare for success in college and beyond.

Content includes:

Relationships between Quantities
Expressions, Equations, and Functions
Linear Equations

Linear Relationships
Linear Functions
Equations of Linear Functions
Linear Inequalities
Systems of Linear Equations and Inequalities

Exponential and Quadratic Relationships
Exponents and Exponential Functions
Quadratic Expressions and Equations
Quadratic Functions and Equations

Advanced Functions and Equations
Radical Functions and Geometry
Rational Functions and Equations
Data Analysis
Statistics and Probability

I have only been playing around with the book for a few days, so I haven’t had a chance to go through the whole thing yet. But I do have a few initial impressions. First, the book is simply beautiful on the iPad. This is precisely what the tablet should be used for, IMO, and I think McGraw Hill did a good job making their digital book colorful, well laid out, and interesting. Second, the book covers a great deal of information. It’s a real textbook after all, so there’s a school year’s worth of stuff inside.

I also like that that the book contains the answers to selected problems. This makes it suitable for people like me who are taking the self-study approach to the subject. Without answers, the text would obviously have very limited value for us.

And finally, the book has three important features that students will find extremely useful. It’s easy to highlight passages simply by tapping the text and following the on-screen directions that appear. You can also create study cards based on your highlights or the key vocabulary words from the unit. The note cards have the vocab term on the front, and then you can flip them over to see the corresponding definition. And of course there’s a search box so you can quickly find pertinent pages for the topics you’re looking for. The search includes not only the book itself, but also the web and/or Wikipedia (if you want).

The only thing I was disappointed in is the lack of multimedia elements contained in the book. I think there could have been some more video clips (beyond the “Private Tutor”) or other truly interactive features to enhance the experience.

On the whole, I am very impressed with this textbook. At $14.99, it’s pretty expensive as far as apps go, but that’s a fraction of the cost of a real textbook. This is a terrific early effort and I just can’t wait to see what other kinds of books will follow (history, please!!!).

Here is the description of the app as it appears on the iTunes store:

Volcanoes are an awesome display of the Earth’s power. Explore them interactively with this new app and learn about the world’s major volcanoes and their eruptions, lava, plate tectonics, and much more. Learn and play at the same time through a variety of games like Memory Match, Jigsaw Puzzles, and the Magic Square among others. Learning has never been more fun with this interactive and educational app that is based on school curriculum.

Learning about Volcanoes has never been more fun with this quick, interactive and educational app based on the school curriculum. And as it’s from Britannica you can be sure it’s appropriate and safe for the whole family. Ideal for homework help, the app features:

Exclusive Encyclopædia Britannica curriculum-based written specifically for ages 8-12. Coverage of the topic includes:

The Erupting Earth
Lava and Magma
Types of Volcano
Birth of an Island
Plate Tectonics
Eruptions
Decade Volcanoes (featuring 16 of the world’s deadliest volcanoes)

Then the fun starts:

•Interactive Map – With this amazing tool you can locate where you are anywhere in the world and see how near you are to the most powerful volcanoes. Want to see your favourite volcano? It’s easy with our map tool, use the zoom feature to see right into the craters.

•Jigsaw Puzzles, created from amazing graphics of volcanoes. Break apart the puzzle and have some fun by shaking your device and then sliding the pieces back into place to complete the puzzle – it’s not as easy as it looks!

•Scramble images of volcanoes in The Magic Square game by shaking your device. Challenge yourself by re-arranging the squares to unscramble the image.

•Brush off – brush off the lava, soot and dust from the eruption of Vesuvius to reveal an object in the city of Pompeii and then try to guess what it is – how many can you answer correctly?

•Test your knowledge on volcanoes with the Quiz feature – how much have you learned? But hurry: you must answer quickly as the quiz is timed!

•Test your memory with the popular Memory Match game and match up the pairs!

Clearly, this app contains a ton of great features, which is probably why it has gotten such great reviews to begin with. All of the pictures are beautiful, and the games and puzzles really add to the experience. The reading difficulty is a bit too high for my son (who is just 8 and a little behind his peers in that subject), but I have taken the time to read from the app to him, which he seems to enjoy just as much. He’s interested in volcanoes anyway, so it’s no wonder he loves this app.

The games and activities are the big draw for kids. The puzzles and matching game are the ones my son spends the most time with, though he also likes the Magic Square activity despite how tough it is. Also, the pictures and video segment is something that holds his attention for a long time as well.

Overall, I am happy with my purchase of the Encyclopedia Brittanica Kids “Volcanoes” iPad App. There is a lot of information packed into this little program, and it is presented in such a beautiful and fun way that kids can’t help but spend time with it — and learn a little something in the process. I recommend it!