The Lorax – Dr. Seuss children’s ebook app, an adaption of the original story
by Paul Wilks
Sep 11, 2012 9:50 AM –
Install
The Lorax is the fantastic children’s book by Dr Seuss. Recently making its way to the big screen in the form of a movie adaptation, the story is a sublime mixture of rhyme, funny characters and underpinned by a sound environmental message. The Android app of the story, made by popular ebook publishers Oceanhouse Media, has been around for a while but has recently come down in price as part of Google’s End of Summer Sale. It’s a great story that children will love so definitely do what I did and snap it up.
Price: $4.99
Tested on: HTC One X
Content Rating: Everyone
Pros & Cons:
Pros
- Great story!
- Superb drawings!
- Options to read yourself or be read to!
- Cool page-turning and word animations!
- Brilliant music and sound effects!
Cons
- No additional activities (see below for explanation).
Features:
I should mention first that this app isn’t one tied to the film starring the voice work of Danny DeVito and Zac Effron. There is a cool little app that is, which lets you create you’re very own Lorax mustache, you can check it out here. Instead this is the story, based on the original book. It features much of the original animation and the whole story itself.
Much like similar Oceanhouse Media interactive ebooks, such as When I get Bigger, you can choose to have the story read to your child, or obviously read it yourself (or have your child read it). The narration is rich and warm, a really good story-telling voice. Dr. Seuss stories are essentially clever poems and the way these rhymes are delivered is really good and easy to listen to and understand. You turn the pages by flicking your finger across the screen and this triggers a cool page-turning animation which looks great.
While the story is being told there are various related sound effects. From bird and animal noises, water, wind and loads more. It can be used as a reading aid too so when you press a word it pronounces it. Again, Dr.Kids Seuss is rather famously well known for his made-up and nonsense (yet altogether brilliant) words so this is pretty useful for a child learning to read.
While there is so much to love about the story, one missing element was picked up by my daughter. In other Oceanhouse Media stories, you often have a secondary activity on each page, for example finding a frog or a teddy bear. They are always well hidden and it gives such books an extra level of interactivity. Unfortunately, there’s no such games in The Lorax. That said, the story is very strong and the app includes all these rich noises and sounds, so it still really comes alive for children.
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The Lorax – Example page 1
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The Lorax – Example page 2
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The Lorax – Example page 3
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The Lorax – Example page 4
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The Lorax – Menu
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The Lorax – Instructions
Usefulness:
In addition to being a fun and engaging story, the way it can help children read is also great. The way these apps aid reading by letting you press words to hear it spoken is useful and intuitive. You can also touch parts of the picture and the app will identify the places you or your child have pressed.
Ease of Use:
The book is, quite literally, child’s play. Press words and pictures to identify and swipe you finger across the screen to turn the page.
Frequently Used:
The Lorax is a captivating and enjoyable story so it’s easy something your children might want to use regularly. While many books are good but fail to engage with children after more than one occasion, The Lorax is the kind of fun story you can read again and again.
Interface:
The interface is simple and styled like The Lorax book itself. The app is also full of little animations like page turning and word identification, which is very interactive for children.
Tags:
Android App,
Android Apps,
Android Apps for Children,
AndroidTapp.com App Review,
Dr Seuss,
Ebook,
Kids Android Apps,
The Lorax,
The Lorax Dr. Seuss
Categorised in: Books & Reference
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