Picturebook
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Daily iPad App: Picturebook
Picturebook is a free app that lets you create illustrated stories. It's geared for children, especially those that can read and write. I tested it with my 9-year-old daughter and the app was a big hit. Picturebook has a simple, uncluttered interface that's easy for children to use. It launches to a main screen that has all your books on the left and a template to create a new book on the right. The app ships with a few sample titles so you will have content to read when you first launch the app. One of the sample books is a how-to guide that'll teach you how to use the app if you feel you need some help. The first thing you'll want to do is create your own book which you do by tapping the large "Make a Story" button. The book editor opens and you can give your book a title and an author. From there, you can add pages for the book and fill them with images and text. The app includes a small set of images for your books. Extra image sets can be purchased within the app. The premium sets include farm animals, cinderella, pirates and school. They range in price from US$0.99 to $2.99. You can also buy different covers for your book if you want something besides the default grey color. Once you create your book, it is saved in your virtual library. You can read the book and edit it again if you want to make changes. You can even share it with a friend. The share a book feature requires you to register your device and your email with Maplekey, the company behind Picturebook. Once you confirm your email, you can send your book to a friend, but there's a catch. Your friend must also have an iPad with the Picturebook app and a registered email to be able to download and read your book. There's no option to convert the book to a PDF or any other format for sharing. Picturebook is a very good app for creating illustrated stories. It's easy enough for kids to use and can be fun for parents who want to create a book for their child to read. It can also be used as a digital sticker book for the younger ones who can't read. Kids five and under would have a blast playing with the clip art and dragging the pictures on and off the pages of the book. Picturebook is available for free from the App Store. It's a universal app so it'll work on the iPad, iPhone and iPod touch.
First Look: Interactive Bartleby picture book
My son and I really dug the recent release of the iPad-ized Alice in Wonderland. After reviewing that application, I've been approached by any number of developers working on interactive e-Book titles. For the most part, these have been a disappointment -- providing the iPad equivalent of a "read along" book (the kind with a cassette or CD, and tones to turn the page) rather than showcasing any innovation. I was really pleased, therefore, to stumble across this Bartleby preview. Under development by Monster Costume and Octopus Kite, and expected to release in July, Bartleby adds child-centric interactive elements to its eBook offerings, targeted at a 4-6 year demographic. As you can see in this preview video, buttons, sliders, and little puzzles expand an otherwise flat story-telling experience.
