The Ugly Duckling – An iPad Book App Review

I loved the story of The Ugly Duckling when I was a kid. It was the perfect reassuring story for oddballs like me who always felt like they didn’t fit in with the crowd.

And now, I am so thrilled to share this story with my daughter and watch her also enjoying this sweet little story in a dynamic 2.0 version – the iPad app.

Now, I have blogged before about how reluctant children could be coaxed into reading books using the iPad here and here. And I am so pleased to know that more publishers are joining the bandwagon with quality book apps.

After loading this app from iTunes (price $4.99), the snubnose and I settled down to read. The basic story from Hans Christian Andersen is charming anyway, and this app retains all the charm and warmth of the original story. The voiceover (can be turned off if required) is the best. I loved the clarity and the sweetness of the voice. The music and sound effects are also of high-quality. If you don’t want the voice, it’s also possible to record our own voice.

The graphics are also charming, not too bright, not too modern looking. They give the effect of the book within the iPad.

I also love how with these apps, the text becomes bold as the voiceover speaks the words aloud. Such a small feature, but makes it easier for smaller readers to follow along without me having to touch the iPad screen.

Apart from the sweet and well-written story, the app also offers some fun add-on stuff to do. There are jigsaw puzzles to do, pictures to color in, dot-to-dot puzzles, matching puzzles using your memory, and even (my favorite) postcards that can be emailed/tweeted/facebooked. How cool is that?

Here are a few images showing what’s on offer…

And so much more…

After going through the gamut of features, me and the snubnose were absolutely exhausted and happy. This is a truly worthwhile purchase and I highly recommend it for moms who struggle with getting their children to pay attention to regular books. For example, the snubnose has very fixed reading tastes – only Barbie, Princess Poppy, or such books for her. However, I see that when I showed her The Ugly Duckling book app, she quickly became engrossed in the story. Success!

Disclaimer

Publilsto provided me this book app for review. However, this is an honest and unbiased review. We truly loved every aspect of this book and think they have done a great job with this app. They seem to have other book apps in the pipeline too…The Swan Lake sounds pretty exciting and may excite older readers who have already read The Ugly Duckling.