I'm a full-time mummy

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...

* 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. "

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!

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

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"

(** 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...

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."

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

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

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"

I received an email asking whether I will be interested to review this app and I can see how it relates to one of the many activities that my 3 years old boy does everyday as part of our unofficial learning method, I agreed to review this app, hoping to provide more avenues to expose my boy to similar activities on the iPad instead of only on paper and books. Anyway, my review as below...

* Title: Tap and Catch - Which is the Same
* Price: $4.99
* Category: Education
* Released: Aug 03, 2012
* Version: 1.0
* Size: 25.7 MB
* Language: English
* Seller: ariane Inc.
* Rated: 4+
* Requirements: Compatible with iPad.Requires iOS 4.3 or later.

Description from the product page:

"‘Tap and catch - Which is the Same ? -’ is an upgraded application with new functions that have already been downloaded in over 20,000 households in Japan. All you have do to is to do is touch the screen, a task even little children will be able to do by themselves.There are eight screens from which you can choose: the ocean, the South Pole, the jungle, space, the underworld, to name a few. The pictures move with joyful sounds when you touch them. It stimulates the senses of sight, hearing and touch, which will naturally trigger your kid’s natural learning abilities and motor skills.

There is an infinite number of quizzes and games that will keep your child busy for hours."

What's good?

* The illustrations are cute and interesting!

* I used the opportunity in this app to teach my 3 years old boy how to differentiate and identify the animal or objects that are not the same as the rest.

* In our daily activities, I do occassionally give him activities to identify the matching or unmatched items but those are pretty easy (to suit his age) and I do feel that this app is a tad advance for my boy. Actually, I too can't figure out some of the levels in this app (whooopssss!) and I was really excited when my boy managed to identify the matching animals in few of the levels!

Room for Improvement?

* Currently if you select wrongly, there will be a frustrated cloud hovering above the animal. I would prefer if the animal will then disappear, so that we are left with the 2 other possible choices to select from. Maybe my 3 years old boy is a tad young for this app, but I think it will helped tremendously in that way.

You can purchase the " Tap and Catch - Which is the Same " app from the iTunes App Store.

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"