Jump Into A Book

Apptitude Tuesday Pop Out The Tale of Peter Rabbit

 

Pop-Out The Tale of Peter Rabbit is an experience unto itself. How many times have I read The Tale of Peter Rabbit? That cute little green book held by my children's little hands. I cannot think of their childhood without including Beatrix Potter. 

So what would my opinion be of an ipad/iphone/itouch app that takes this childhood classic and brings it into the 21st century? 

Absolutely incredible !!!!!

Loud Crow, the makers of this app have pulled together an incredible team of talented people to delight us with the world of Peter Rabbit.

First, there is a wonderful balance between the classic story, artwork and touch technology. The story is read to us by the gentle voice of a British woman while lovely classical piano music plays in the background.

As each page comes into view there are tabs to be pulled, and wheels to be spun, just like in a "real" pop-out book. While we touched each little character, vegetable, leaf etc, sound effects of birds, bees,a breeze, and even a bonfire are playing in the background.

The big highlight for us were the pages that had the "pop-out" elements. Autumn leaves come trickling down. When you touch them they become these beautiful enlarged leaves floating down to the bottom of the page.

Another favorite page are the blackberries. As they sit on the page you can touch them and they squish and splat. We just love that.

One can choose to read the book silently or listen. For young readers they have a read along choice which highlights the words as the narrator reads aloud. There is also a touch word feature. As a child reads silently along, if they don't know how a word is pronounced they can touch the word and it is spoken for them.

The extreme care that was placed in creating this book is visible. Still there is the charming art work of Beatrix Potter, everything else adds to an immersive experience into the world of Peter Rabbit. There is room on the collective bookshelf for both versions of The Tale of Peter Rabbit. So often we want to make things black and white, good and bad, worthy or unworthy. One does not replace the other, each is a unique experience. 

After spending an evening with the Pop Out version of Peter Rabbit I can say we were completely enchanted.  We didn't feel it was gimicky or invasive but an authentic experience which left the feeling that we had taken a gentle journey in Mr. McGreggor's garden and met a little rabbit named Peter. We were completely captivated. The kids and I highly recommend this book and wish you many enjoyable moments.

For the record, I purchased this app myself and shared it with my family. All of today's photos come from the Loud Crow website.

PopOut! The Tale of Peter Rabbit
developed by Loud Crow Interactive
eBook app for the iPhone and iPad
$3.99
ages 3 -7

A New York City Book List for Kids

I spent last week in New York City attending Book Expo America as well as seeing the sites. As I was walking around the city I got to thinking; I wonder how many childrens books are written in New York City or about New York City? Here's the list I came up with. I'm sure I left some off but here are some of our favorites.

• This is New York by Miroslav Sasek 
  
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• You Can't take a Balloon into the Metropolitan Museum by Jacequeline Preiss Weitzman
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• Nex Stop Grand Central by Maira Kalman 
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• Twenty-0ne Elephants and Still Standing by April Jones Prince
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• Old Penn Station by William Low
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• The Little Red Lighthouse and the Great Gray Bridge: Restored Edition by Hildegarde Hoyt Smith
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• I Lego N.Y. by Christoph Niemann
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• From the Mixed-Up Files of Mrs. Basile E. Frankweiler by E.L. Konigsburg
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• The Cricket in Times Square by George Selden
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• When Jessie Came Across the Sea by Amy Host
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• Madlenka by Peter Sis
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• Eloise: The Ultimate Edition by Kay Thompson
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• Knuffle Bunny: A cautionary Tale by Mo Willems
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• The Man Who Walked between the Towers by Mordicai Gerstein
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• New Yorks Bravest by Mary Pope Osborne
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• Fireboat: The Heroic Adventures of the John J. Harvey by Maira Kalman
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• Harbor by Donald Crews
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• The House on East 88th St. by Bernard Waber
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• Lyle, Lyle Crocodile by Bernard Waber
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• Stuart Little by E.B. White
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• The Night Tourist, a myster for kids 9-12, by Katherine Marsh
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• All of A-Kind Family by Sydney Taylor
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• Percy Jackson Series by Rick Riordan
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These are just some of our favorite NYC reads. Does your family have any special New York City books that you love reading? Please share your ideas in the comment section. 

f you enjoyed this post, don't forget to subscribe to receive my free children's book reviews, book-lists and great activities to do with your kids by email.

Percy Jackson Winner

Greetings everyone. Sorry this is a day late. I got stuck in Manhattan an extra day due to bad weather and a confused airport. All is well and I made the most of that extra moment in NYC.

The reason I went to NYC was to promote my new book The Fox Diaries at Book Expo America. While there, I met the author of the Percy Jackson series, Rick Riordan. He's not only a wonderful writer but a very kind person as well. 

 

He ended up writing Percy Jackson as a bedtime story for his boys. One of which suffers from dyslexia. I can't think of a better way to empower one's children than to make their struggles into super human feats. 

I'll be sharing more with you over the coming days of all the fun I had in New York City and the wonderful moments I spent with some of my favorite childrens authors. I bet they're some of yours as well. More on that later for now I want to thank everyone who participated. We had such an incredible response to this giveaway. 

And now for the info everyone is waiting for.......The Winner Is

Sandra973

Today's winner was picked by random generator. We'll be back on Monday, until then have a great memorial day weekend.

Giveaway Complete Percy Jackson!

This week I'll be at BEA (Book Expo America) in New York City promoting The Fox Diaries. While there, I hope to meet Rick Riordan author of the Percy Jackson Series and The Kane Chronicles. Percy Jackson caused a lot of sleepless nights last summer as we couldn't stop reading. We also felt compelled to read the series quickly to find out what happened next.

To kick off some incredible summer reading, I'm giving away a complete set of Percy Jackson series #1. Yep, he's already published the first book in series #2. These are new paperback editions just waiting to fill your summer days and nights with incredible adventures.

 

It's very easy to enter, just subscribe to Jump Into A Book. I'll be picking the winner from our Jump into a Book feed page. This summer we have huge, gynormous giveaways planned and I wouldn't want you to miss a single one. Along with giveaways we have some incredible acitivites, author interviews, fun booklists, a couple good book movies we wouldn't want you to miss and the ever evolving book App world. 

Sign-up here. Contest ends on May 28th at 10 pm.

The Comments are now closed and a winner will be announced in a few minutes.

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Say hi on twitter.

Apptitude Tuesday

Recently I've noticed  how quickly children's publishing is changing. There are so many choices to be made now as a parent. Gone are the days of deciding between the hardback edition or the paperback. Now there are e-books to contend with on a variety of readers. As I find book apps that I like, I'll share them with you here on Tuesdays. Any app that is presented here is one that I've actually purchased and the children as well as myself have used.

I'm realizing that I'm very picky about which apps I use or try. I love my kindle, especially when I'm travelling but when it comes to our beloved children's books, we really don't like them messed with. 

This classic book however completely enchanted us. Alice in Wonderland doesn't disappoint. It is a true adventure and a time well spent with Alice and all of her friends.

You can make Alice grow tall as a house by tilting your ipad or you can make her only six inches tall. Never be late again as the White Rabbits pocket watch swings and bounces.

 

 

Help Alice through her adventure by swimming her across the Pool of Tears. Hand out or bounce sweets off the talking Dodo.

 

 

As the story is told the animations come to life as the you and the ipad interact with this classic story.

Ok.....enough said!! Have a look for yourself.

If you'd like to check this out, there's a free version, Alice Lite for you to have a look. It's not the whole book of course but you definitely get a nice little reading experience before you buy the 8.99 version. 

I like this app because it allows us to read the story and then participate and interact with the ipad. It still allows us the joy of reading and not pure electronic entertainment. 

 If you enjoyed this post, don't forget to subscribe to receive my free children's book reviews, book-lists and great activities to do with your kids by email.

 

 

 

Here There Be Dragons

The Imaginarium Geographica

“What is it?” John asked.

The little man blinked and arched an eyebrow.

 

“It is the world, my boy,” he said. “All the world, in ink and blood, vellum and parchment, leather and hide. It is the world, and it is yours to save or lose.”

From the Publisher:

An unusual murder brings together three strangers, John, Jack, and Charles, on a rainy night in London during the first World War. An eccentric little man called Bert tells them that they are now the caretakers of the Imaginarium Geographica — an atlas of all the lands that have ever existed in myth and legend, fable and fairy tale. These lands, Bert claims, can be traveled to in his ship the Indigo Dragon, one of only seven vessels that is able to cross the Frontier between worlds into the Archipelago of Dreams.

Pursued by strange and terrifying creatures, the companions flee London aboard the Dragonship. Traveling to the very realm of the imagination itself, they must learn to overcome their fears and trust in one another if they are to defeat the dark forces that threaten the destiny of two worlds. And in the process, they will share a great adventure filled with clues that lead readers to the surprise revelation of the legendary storytellers these men will one day become.

An extraordinary journey of myth, magic, and mystery, Here, There Be Dragons.

This book had us dreaming of boarding a Dragon Ship or at the very least a Tall Ship to take us to the lands of imagination and myth.

Once we started this book we found ourselves staying up very late at night to find out "what happens next".  Oh and what happened next can only be found in our imaginations and in the pages of this book.

The three young travelers meet Bert, who helps them flee from the minions of the Winter King, Mordred. They journey on Bert's ship, the Indigo Dragon (captained by Bert's daughter Aven, to whom Jack is attracted), to Avalon, and then to Paralon, the capital of the Archipelago. There was no king, as the lineage of Arthur had supposedly been ended when the Winter King killed the last king and all of his relatives. The party discovers also that the Winter King is searching for the High King's Ring, which they have.

Around this time, the partners realize how dangerous the Imaginarium Geographica could be in the wrong hands, and decide to destroy it. As it can only be destroyed by he who made it, the Cartographer of Lost Places, the companions journey to his refuge, the Keep of Time. They lose the book, however, before reaching the Keep, but after they leave the keep they find that their potboy, Artus, is a descendant of King Arthur. However, the ring is then stolen.

The companions also discover that Mordred is using Pandora's Box to create shadow minions, and decide to meet him in a battle on the island at the end of the world. During the battle, Charles is charged with closing Pandora's Box, which he does, eliminating Mordred's shadow minions. Jack is charged to fight on the battlefield, where he was responsible for the death of another man, Captain Nemo. John was charged with leading Artus to the bluffs of the island, where a descendant of Arthur could, with the incantation in the Geographica and the Ring of Power, summon dragons.

They summon the dragons, discovering that the Ring of Power is not jewelry but a ring of standing stones remarkably like Stonehenge located on the cliffs of the island. After the dragons rout the enemy troops, the companions again encounter Mordred, who is thrown off the edge of the world by a dragon.

The companions then return to their own world, where their true identities are revealed but you'll have to read the book to discover that.

I found this book to be very well balanced in combining well known author figures and characters, as well as events from myths and a great combination of male and female heros working collaboratively. 

This book is recommended for YA or age 13 and above. This has to do with the murder of the professor in the beginning of the book and subsequent battles between creatures both mythical and human. The last scene in the book is a full fledge war but described from a point of strategy and not gory detail. Each child is different and you have to make the decision which best suites your family. My 11 year old never felt frightened with this book or overwhelmed. 

Something to Do Book Review:

All of our activites had to do with ship building and wishing for a magical ship to come and take us to imagined lands.

A Dragon Ship is assigned a dragon to it and this is what makes it move at lightening speed. It got us thinking, what sort of ship would one want? We had a ship building afternoon before we headed out to sea.

"O" loved the idea of recycle, reuse, re-purpose.

Mimi embraced a flying ship made of a cereal box and paper. Photo to follow. It's still drying!

and I.....well I went with a basic look of a simple folded paper boat. Go with what you know! and.....it floats on water.

For your own afternoon fun, here's how to make a paper boat and a fleet of your very own.

Download How to make a Paper Boat

We do have a very large secondary project happening throughout the five book series. We will show you a glimpse of this very soon.

If you enjoyed this post, don't forget to subscribe to receive my free children's book reviews, book-lists and great activities to do with your kids by email.

 

 

Giveaway Winner and even more giveaways

The Winner is: Kris S.

The book is so cute. I love animals and would love to share this book with my family!

Thank you everyone for participating in the Spring Blog Carnival. A huge thank you to Candace’s Book Blog http://www.candacesbookblog/, Reading Angel http://www.readingangel.com/, Pure Imagination http://www.pureimaginationblog.com/, and The Book Swarm http://www.bookswarm.blogspot.com/) . Thank you so much ladies for all of the effort you put into this. We had such a great time.

If you're disappointed that you didn't win, you could still be in luck. This week the Fox Diaries is launching and the foxes and I are visiting some of our favorite friends. Each stop on the blog tour has a giveaway so stop on by, say hello, and keep your fingers crossed.Here's our blog tour stops:

May 9th    Elemental

May 11th   Child in Harmony

May 13th  Gypsy Forest

May 16th Lady of the Arts

May 18th By Hand At Home

May 20th Mousy Brown's House

May 23rd Swedish House

 

If you just can't wait, go here , http://www.audreypress.com/foxdiaries/ , type in the code foxes for 15% off the cover price.

We'll be back on Thursday, playing with and inside our books. We've been reading so much lately and so many good stories too. Be well and Happy Reading.