Just Shopping with Mom – Little Critter

Review & Giveaway

Developer: Oceanhouse Media

Review:

Oceanhouse Media has published yet another omBook starring Little Critter called Just Shopping With Mom. For those unfamiliar, Little Critter is a series of stories written by Mercer Mayer about Little Critter’s childhood.  Little Critter is a hamster character who is full of imagination, love, and of course mischief! Little Critter is a great series as children can easily identify with his adventures and emotions and also helps teachers, parents, and kids themselves be aware of emotions and how to deal with those situations.

In Just Shopping With Mom, Little Critter goes on a shopping trip to various stores with his mom, little sister, and baby sibling. Mom has the difficult task of getting shopping done and keeping her children out of trouble. So I’m sure parents of young ones can relate. Little Sister begs for candy and toys but mom tells her no. I used this book to teach my preschooler that to point out we need to behave, stay close to mom, and protect her little sister as well. Also, the point was clear in the book that everyone needs to be patient if we want something!

A cute mini-game is found within the app where you find the mouse on each page. At the end of the book, the story calculates the total number of mice the reader found within the book. Oceanhouse Media does a great job at combining the original text and artwork of Mercer Mayer, yet providing extras, such as touching a picture to hear and see what that picture is of. You also can replay an entire paragraph if interested. The highlighted words feature is great for early readers.

Just like Oceanhouse Media’s other omBooks, you have the options to “Read to Me” (reader turns the pages, sees the words highlighted as they are read by a professional narrator) “Read it Myself,” (like a book where you turn the pages and read on your own with sound effects in the background,) or “Auto Play” (like a movie especially good for the younger audience.) And now Oceanhouse Media has even added the special feature “Record your own voice” to their omBooks, as another option to listening to the omBooks with the great narrator. (Reviewed by Christie D.)

Description:

Little Critter goes shopping with his family which turns into an eventful day. While at the grocery store, his little sister becomes upset when she can’t buy candy, makes a big mess by pulling items off of the shelf and then gets lost in the store. The next stop is the mall to find a dress for his little sister. Finally, Little Critter’s patience pays off when mom finds a fun way to end the day!

Mercer Mayer’s Little Critter stories, which address all the major issues of growing up, are perennial favorites of parents and children.

New features only available in this interactive omBook include professional narration, background audio and enlarged artwork for each scene.

To promote reading in young children, individual words are highlighted as the story is read and words zoom up when pictures are touched. By combining the original text and artwork of author Mercer Mayer with features that entertain and promote reading, this omBook appeals to readers of all ages.

Recommended Ages: 2 – 5

SPECIAL FEATURES:
★ Record your own voice
★ Share voice tracks with others that own this app
★ Page selector
★ Retina main menu
★ New options for sound effects, hot spots and alerts

Three ways to read this omBook (Oceanhouse Media digital book):
★ “Read to Me” — listen to the narrated story with words highlighted as they are read
★ “Read it Myself” — read the book in its traditional form
★ “Auto Play” — plays like a movie, automatically reading and turning pages. Great for younger children!

Additional Features:
★ Picture / Word association — words zoom up and are spoken when pictures are touched
★ Individual words highlight and are read aloud when tapped
★ Find the creature mini-game
★ Professional audio narration
★ Custom background audio for each scene
★ Pages pan & zoom to accentuate the beautiful, original art of Mercer Mayer
★ This ‘Universal App’ is optimized for Retina displays and the iPad

Specifications:

Category: Books
Released: 30 January, 2013
Version: 2.1
Language: English
Requirements: Compatible with iPhone, iPod touch and iPad. Requires iOS 5.0 or later.

Links:

Website: http://www.oceanhousemedia.com
Facebook Page: https://www.facebook.com/OceanhouseMedia
Twitter: @OceanhouseMedia
Pinterest: http://pinterest.com/oceanhousemedia/
You Tube: http://www.youtube.com/user/oceanhousemedia
App: Just Shopping with Mom – Little Critter
Cost: $1.99

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Giveaway:

We have a Rafflecopter giveaway until February 21, 2013