Penelope The Purple Pirate

Ahoy mate!  You don’t just have to be a boy to be a pirate.  Even a girl named Penelope that loves purple can go on a great adventure with a little imagination.   My little critic viewed this book this afternoon and was thrilled to read a book about pirates.   Through a parents eye, the concept of encouraging imagination through the use of a book was well done.  To be able to show a younger mind how others turn their own toys and/or room into something so much more was amazing!  With this edition of the book, there was a new option that has users touch the screen to find hidden sounds.  As I read this aloud to my son, his face just lit up with excitement that the page would do such a thing. Interactive enough that it did not interrupt the flow of the story.

However, on the “test” page where the new option is introduced, Penelope also says, “Ahoy”, but once we came to that page to try it out within the story, Penelope didn’t talk. Only the sounds of seagulls was playing.  Not sure if this is a flaw or not, but thought it should be mentioned.  Prior to beginning the adventure I wanted to see what “options” were made available to the reader. Like most eBooks, there were options to turn on/off the play audio and to have the text color highlighted.  My particular critic may have benefited to have an additional option of placing a yellow block around those words being read.   On certain pages he was uncertain as to when he needed to turn the page.  It might also help to add an arrow button in the bottom right corner for those younger users.

At the completion of the story, you usually see the typical “THE END”, this was not the case with Penelope The Purple Pirate. PicPocket adds so much more at the end.  What or what could it be, you ask???  Look out teachers, they add in comprehension questions.  Proving that this application is so much more than just giving your child the iPad or iTouch to “babysit” them.  By adding in comprehension questions it encourages parent participation to model various reading skills at a young age.  In addition, they also add in ideas for the classroom and home.  Another great way to bond with your child, to extend their learning and to make connections with books and their everyday lives.  But wait, that is not all.  They even go so far as to add in science facts about all the animal characters that were a part of the book.

If you can not tell, I am a huge supporter of downloading Penelope The Purple Pirate.  If you liked this review, then please check out their website for this book and many others.  To download from iTunes, just click here.