I'm a full-time mummy

I was so excited to be able to review this app on my iPad! Last year, I had the chance to review the picture book and to be able to review the same book in ebook and interactive version now? Whoaaa... love it! I was already a happy mum when we reviewed the printed book as Ben showed some signs of readiness in approaching the potty. Prior to that Ben would not even go near a potty and prefer to continue using his diapers.

* Title: Once Upon a Potty: Boy
* Price: $2.99
* Category: Books
* Updated: May 31, 2011
* Current Version: 1.08
* Size: 19.5 MB
* Language: English
* Seller: Oceanhouse Media, Inc.
* Rated: 4+
* Requirements: Compatible with iPhone, iPod touch, and iPad. Requires iOS 3.0 or later
* Extra Info: The first in a licensing partnership with child matters media and renowned author and illustrator Alona Frankel, Once Upon a Potty picture books, audio editions and videos have sold more than 5 million copies in the US alone and have been translated into many languages, Publisher’s Weekly repeatedly listed them as #1 (Boy) and #3 (Girl) in its all-time bestselling hardcover childcare charts. 

Description from the product page:

"For decades, Alona Frankel’s toilet learning classics have been helping parents and children conquer the developmental leap from diaper to potty. Narrated by his mother's voice, Joshua learns about different body parts and functions, and figures out what the potty is (and isn't) used for. This patient, loving and humorous Boy edition encourages children to learn through play and empowers parents and caregivers of all ages. Follow Joshua through his stages of discovery, and enjoy the many delightful hidden audio surprises throughout the story. Discover what millions of book and video lovers already know: "Once Upon a Potty" is "...one small step for mankind, but a giant one for your family."

Special features only available in this omBook include vibrant original artwork, picture/word association, text and song lyric highlighting, professional audio narration, fun sound effects, and a scene-by-scene original music score. Three reading modes include Read It Myself, Read To Me, and Auto Play. Plus, two fun new music modes, The Potty Song and Sing-Along, allow young children and their caregivers to sing the jazzy tune themselves or follow the recorded performers."

Pictures below taken of Ben when we tried the app:

Ben was surprised to see the book on mummy's iPad and kept on pointing to the boy on the screen and telling me 'Boy! Potty!'

What's good?

* Everything remains the same as per the printed book version, though there is the additional potty song in the app version now!

* I love the app! 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!

What's not so good?

* The potty song is not so clear and even though I have set the volume to the max, I still can't hear the words clearly.

You can purchase the "Once Upon a Potty: Boy" app from the iTunes App Store.

I received no monetary compensation for this review, I was provided with the promo code by the sponsor 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"

I came across this cute iPad app and requested for a review opportunity and the wonderful people at Oceanhouse Media generously sent me a promo code to download the "Five Little Monkeys Jumping on the Bed" app for my review!

After a bit of a tiny weenie hiccup (my mistake really cos it's my first time keying in promo code to redeem an iPad app for FREE!) in downloading the app via iTunes (which I cleverly download and sync together with my iPad at the same time causing the screen not to refresh immediately), I managed to download the app successfully and it's really fast too!

* Price: $2.99
* Category: Books
* Updated: Apr 27, 2011
* Current Version: 1.08.1
* Size: 18.7 MB
* Language: English
* Seller: Oceanhouse Media, Inc.
* Rated: 4+
* Requirements: Compatible with iPhone, iPod touch, and iPad. Requires iOS 3.0 or later
* Extra Info: Editor's Choice Award-Children's Technology Review, #1 paid book app on iPad-Feb 2011 & Named one of "The Best Children's Books on the iPad"-New York Times

Description from the product page:

"As soon as they say good night to Mama, the five little monkeys start to jump on their bed. But trouble lies ahead as, one by one, they fall off and hurt themselves. Their Mama called the doctor and the doctor said, "No more monkeys jumping on the bed!" This charming bedtime story is sure to send children giggling off to bed...hopefully without any clever new ideas!

New features in this omBook for your iPad, iPhone or iPod Touch include professional narration, background audio and high resolution 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 with features that entertain and promote reading, this omBook appeals to readers of all ages."

I immediately got Ben to test out the app the moment he woke up from his sleep (as I downloaded the app around 2am Malaysian time... yeah, yeah, I sleep quite late... I know, I know!) So, if you're wondering what's wrong with Ben's hairdo, hope that explains it!

Ben checking out the app...

Cleverly pressing the "Auto Play" button!

Ben engrossed with the interactive story!

Why I choose this app for my review? Oh well, I feel that Ben should be able to relate to the storyline in this app as he really likes to jump on the bed in his playroom! I'm hoping he'll learn that doing so is dangerous and should not be repeated anymore!

My verdict:  

* Good: I love the app! 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!

* Not so good: I feel that it should be less than 5 monkeys (perhaps 3?) in the story as it is quite long winded (or maybe cos we don't have much patience whooopsss...)

You can take a look at the video clip below which I took when Ben goes through the app for the first time. Noticed he doesn't talk much other than nodding his head when I talked to him? Oh well, Ben's like that when he's observing things. I know deep down he is absorbing what he's seeing and listening to each words. You can also see the words popping out when Ben touched the iPad screen as one of the monkeys fell down and bumped its head.

So if you're planning to purchase an e-story book for your child to be used on your iPhone, iPod touch or iPad, do consider this app! I mean, it is nice to be able to take part in the story (pointing out the objects and learning what it is at the same time) and so on.

You can purchase the "Five Little Monkeys Jumping on the Bed" app from the iTunes App Store.

I received no monetary compensation for this review, I was provided with the promo code by the sponsor 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: 14 Secrets to Better Parenting by Dave Earley on Blogcritics.)

I'm always scouting for good books on parenting, Christianity, children and so on and when I saw this book's availability on NetGalley, I immediately asked to review it. And oh boy, I just love this book! Here is my review of this book from Dave Earley entitled: "14 Secrets to Better Parenting: Powerful Principles from the Bible".

Author: Dave Earley
Publisher:  Barbour Books (April 1, 2011)
ISBN-13: 978-1616262259
Hardcover: 224 pages
Product Dimensions: 6.5 x 5.4 x 0.7 inches

Description from the Amazon product page:

"Wondering how to raise great kids? Turn to the Bible’s book of Proverbs for guidance—that’s where author Dave Earley found many of his 14 Secrets to Better Parenting. From “Focus on Training” to “When You Have No Other Option, Keep Praying!”, these principles will help you create the kind of home environment conducive to raising successful children. “When our children were born over twenty years ago,” the author says, “I researched what the Bible had to say about parenting and made a list of principles. I considered writing my findings up as a book, but refrained from getting it published until our children were grown and I could see how the principles worked. Guess what? They work! We can joyously say today that all three of our boys are living lives that honor the Lord.”"

This entire book is written based on the book of Proverbs. As I read through each chapters in the book, I couldn't help but agree and realised there's so much to parenting!

The writing style of Dave Earley is like Max Lucado and Zig Ziglar, in the sense that the author dispenses his parenting advice together with biblical verses for you to understand more on and ponder about.

The author starts with the questions on why should we trust in God as the expert on parenting and why the books on Proverbs in particular. On page 14 of the book, he explains that the book of Proverbs is unique as it is written from the perspective of a parent giving encouragement and instruction to a child. Read Proverbs 4:1-2 (NIV)

I like the statement on page 17 where it says "Parents who make their children's immediate happiness the goal of their parenting are making a huge mistake, If happiness becomes the primary target, character flaws would go uncorrected and behavioral problems will be overlooked. The children will be spoiled and overindulged." In my opinion, too often we as parents are afraid of disciplining our child; either we are too soft hearted to punish them when they do something wrong or we think they are still too young to understand the concept of punishment or apologizing for their mistake. Read: Proverbs 23:13 (NIV), Proverbs 29:15 (NIV), Proverbs 29:17 (NIV)

I also learned that it is best that the same person who disciplines the child should be the same one to console them afterward. That way, the child will understand the connection between discipline, love and developing character and all. There is also some points on resorting to spanking as a method of discipline which you should read on to understand more.

In summary, this book emphasize highly on the power of wisdom, in the sense that how we as parents should focus our parenting on developing our child's wisdom.

I am very inspired with how wisdom helps greatly in our children growing up to be a God fearing and God loving child. I am so glad to review this book and it will definitely stay in my iPad for repeated readings!

You can also purchase the 14 Secrets to Better Parenting: Powerful Principles from the Bible (14 Bible Secrets Series) book from Amazon.

I received no monetary compensation for this review, I was provided with a galley proof of the book via my association with netGalley as a reviewer 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"