Alphabet Animals: A Slide-And-Peek Adventure

PreS-Gr 1—Fans of Suse MacDonald's Caldecott Honor title, Alphabatics (S & S, 1986), will enjoy this app which highlights a succession of expressive creatures set against boldly colored backgrounds, each representing a letter of the alphabet. Each screen features an animal posed in a way that corresponds to the letter it begins with. For example, a rotund orangutan becomes an "O," and the horns of a yak form the arms of the letter "Y." Sliding out a pull-tab on the edge of an image animates the animal; on "H," the horse lifts its tail and a leg. Friendly voices identify the individual animals and letters when tapped. Sliding the cards back into place returns the critters to their original positions. As the cards shift, so do the eyes of the creatures. An added feature lets users create framed animal pictographs (confetti flies when complete), which can be emailed or saved in a photo album.Navigation is intuitive, allowing children to explore the app on their own; a catchy tune can be switched on or off with a tap to an icon that appears on each page.The app's colorful graphics and simplicity are sure to charm both children and adults, with the benefit of pull-tabs that won't be damaged with repeated use.—Kari Allen, National Writing Project in New Hampshire