iPad App Review - Trucks and Things That Go

~ Posted on Saturday, August 25, 2012 at 12:05 PM ~

Half year ago, I had the opportunity to review "Kids 1st Shape Puzzle", a fun and educational app and this time, the same developer approached me again asking whether I would be interested in reviewing their latest app. I checked out the app and decided I definitely have to review it as my 3 years old boy is a big fan of vehicles!

I am also looking for more activities and samples that I can let my boy try and work on, whether from books or iPad apps, so I am very happy to be able to review this puzzle app! Anyway, my review as below...

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Trucks and Things That Go

* Title: Trucks and Things That Go
* Price: $1.99
* Category: Games
* Released: Aug 16, 2012
* Version: 1.0
* Size: 72.6 MB
* Language: English
* Seller: Gil Weiss
* Rated: 4+
* Requirements: Compatible with iPhone, iPod touch, and iPad.Requires iOS 3.1.3 or later.

Description from the product page:

"Trucks and Things That Go is a colorful shape puzzle of trucks, ships, planes, trains and much more. This is the perfect app for kids who love trucks, diggers, tractors, trains and things that go. In Things That Go they’ll discover bright, bold puzzle elements of different kinds of transportation vehicles - trucks, tractors, airplanes, trains, diggers and more, from farm vehicles to emergency vehicles to construction vehicles.

If you have a child who is interested in different vehicles this is a great educational and fun learning game. Things That Go is bursting with vehicles that kids will love learning the name, hearing the sounds and spotting in the world around them. Trucks and Things That Go is an eye and ear catching puzzle enhances matching and listening skills. Let your toddler play with it, while enriching their language skills, developing their fine motor skills, and learning names and sounds of numerous objects."

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What's good?

* The illustrations are beautiful and not too cartoonish.

* There are many themes to be selected such as construction vehicles, rescue vehicles, planes, trains and so on.

* I also like that the corresponding sound appeared as you solved and matched the puzzle vehicles.

* Screenshot below is the first page done by my 3 years old boy in less than 5 minutes. He loves it because he's a fan of all rescue vehicles, police car, ambulance, especially fire engine!

Trucks and Things That Go

Room for Improvement?

* There are few occassions where I noticed the puzzle pieces are a bit not sensitive, meaning we need to put it really, really close to the puzzle shapes (shadows) to solve it. Unlike other puzzle apps we reviewed before, I find that these few occassions make us quite frustrated as we have to keep trying and moving the puzzle very slowly to ensure that it is almost fill up the shadow of the vehicle puzzle in order to solve it.

* Currently, after you completed the puzzle in a page, you will hear the vehicle name being pronounced when you tap on it. I would recommend this feature to be made available the moment our child solve each vehicles on the page to allow repetition and reminder of the name of the vehicles.

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You can purchase the "Trucks and Things That Go" app from the iTunes App Store.

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I received no monetary compensation for this review, I was provided with the promo code to redeem the application for free from iTunes Store in order to facilitate my review. All opinions expressed in this post are my own. Please do your own research when purchasing products, as your opinions may differ from mine. And if you'd like to read my previous iPad Apps reviews, you can do so by reading this post of mine called "My iPad App Reviews"

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iPad App Review - Auracle HD - Fossil

~ Posted on Friday, August 24, 2012 at 5:43 PM ~

When I saw the press release of this app, I immediately requested to review it as my 3 years old boy is a fan of all things dinosaur and bones and skeletons at the moment. I thought this app will make a good opportunity for me to teach him about dinosaurs and their bones and etc. My review as below...

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* Title: Auracle HD - Fossil
* Price: $2.99
* Category: Books
* Released: Jul 25, 2012
* Version: 1.0.0
* Size: 40.8 MB
* Language: English
* Seller: Auryn, Inc
* Rated: 4+
* Requirements: Compatible with iPad.Requires iOS 4.3 or later.

Description from the product page:

"Perfect for the dinosaur-lover in your family! A young girl finds a dinosaur bone and imagines what its life – and the fossilization process – must have been like. Lyrical rhymes and gorgeous watercolor illustrations combine in this fun educational story. Encourage your child's curious mind with this storybook app; learn about the Mesozoic Era and create your own imaginative tales of what the dinosaur's life may have been like. "

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What's good?

* It is engaging and interactive and I love that we can also touch the objects in each page on the screen and the words pop out to tell you what it is!

* I was not a fan of watercolored illustrations before this but I think my perception has changed after trying out this app. The drawings on each page is simply breathtakingly beautiful!

* I used the opportunity in this app to teach my 3 years old boy how each bones from the dinosaur came with a story, how a mother dinosaur cared for its babies too!

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You can purchase the "Auracle HD - Fossil " app from the iTunes App Store.

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I received no monetary compensation for this review, I was provided with the promo code to redeem the application for free from iTunes Store in order to facilitate my review. All opinions expressed in this post are my own. Please do your own research when purchasing products, as your opinions may differ from mine. And if you'd like to read my previous iPad Apps reviews, you can do so by reading this post of mine called "My iPad App Reviews"

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Book Review - Not Just a Princess (A Mia Book)

~ Posted on Friday, August 24, 2012 at 10:40 AM ~

(** Article first published as Book Review: Not Just a Princess (A Mia Book) by Mary Lee on Blogcritics.)

I like it when authors email to me asking whether I would be interested in reviewing their book and then mentioning there are no obligations at all for me to review if I would like to get a complementary copy of their book. Authors like this are the ones that I am most likely to post in my reviews to as many commercial websites I can! Not joking but I personally think because I am not pressured or rushed to revert with my feedback, I am more likely to read the book faster and helped them spread out the word on their book!

Anyway, of course I do look into whether the book is suitable for my family-friendly theme and my preferance as well before I decided to review it. So, without further delay, please read my review as below...

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Title: Not Just a Princess (A Mia Book)
Author: Mary Lee

ASIN: B008VWKZKO
Print Length:  32 pages
File Size:  1119 KB

Description from the product page:
"Mia is a sweet little girl with a big imagination. She has lots of fun playing pirate, having tea with a mermaid and flying with rainbow-swans. In this adventure filled story, a girl has no limit on what she can be."

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That cute little girl in princess-y costume with a pirate hat got me hooked! My boy is into pirates every now and then lately so I thought I should give this book a try and see how it turns out, after all, I do have my daughter whom I can read this book to in future!

Each page that I turned just got me more excited and anxious to see what's coming up next as I can't wait to know what is Mia up to! By the way, the illustrations in this book is just gorgeous! 

I love the imagination of this cute little girl who pretends to be a pirate, mermaid and so on, it just makes me smile because it totally reminds me of my 3 years old boy! One second he is pirate, then he is a robot and then he is a fireman, and the list is endless! I'm always encouraging my boy to play pretend as I love seeing and be amazed at how far his imagination can go!

In summary, this is an easy to read book with beautiful illustrations that will capture your heart and I recommend it as I believe a child's imagination should be encouraged! Don't believe me? Read this inspiring quote below:

"Imagination is more important than knowledge. For while knowledge defines all we currently know and understand, imagination points to all we might yet discover and create." ~ Albert Einstein

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You can get the Kindle edition of this book from Amazon.

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I received no monetary compensation for this review, I was provided with a PDF copy of the book by the author in order to facilitate my review. All opinions expressed in this post are my own. Please do your own research when purchasing products, as your opinions may differ from mine. And if you'd like to read my previous book reviews, you can do so by reading this post of mine called "My Book Reviews"

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