I'm a full-time mummy

I came across the press release about this new app and decided to request for an opportunity to review it after checking out the app details from the website and iTunes store. I was happy to receive a very prompt reply from one of the co-founder of the company who generously sent me a promo code to redeem the app for review. Yeayyyyy!! Anyway, my review as below...

* Title: Interactive Alphabet - ABC Flash Cards
* Price: $2.99
* Category: Education
* Updated: Oct 31, 2011
* Version: 2.1
* Size: 101 MB
* Language: English
* Seller: Pi'ikea St. LLC
* Rated: 4+
* Requirements: Compatible with iPhone, iPod touch, and iPad. Requires iOS 3.1.3 or later

Description from the product page:

"Every letter is a unique, interactive toy! Play the xylophone on the 'X' card, make the 'D'inosaur roar, 'Z'ip the Zipper, etc! It is a hands-on, memorable learning experience for babies, toddlers, and preschoolers!

Features:
* Universal app for iPad/iPhone/iPod: You can use it at home or on the go! Buy it once, take it everywhere.
* Fun original artwork, animations, music, and sound effects engage and capture your child's curiosity
* Memorable and unique interactivity keep your child coming back for more
* Fun and upbeat Original Music -- keeps you dancing, not wincing (parent friendly!)
* Our very own Alphabet/ABC song included!
* Baby Mode option (Auto advances cards every 15 seconds)
* Phonic Sounds
* Upper and Lower-case letters "

Other information:

I always love trying out apps that teaches my children things. There are people who presume that iPad is a bad thing. I mean, if you know how to use it effectively and in moderation, it can be useful and educational! Of course, if you let your child play games on iPad with no educational benefits, then you won't reap the benefits of the apps and off your iPad.

Now as for this app, I absolutely love it! It teaches alphabets in a very very fun and creative way! I find myself gravitating towards the app every time Ben and I go for our iPad sessions.

What's good?

* It is engaging and interactive and I love that we can also touch the objects for each letters of the alphabets on the screen and there are animations appearing as well from each letters!

* I love the illustrations and the colors used are very attractive and enticing! (Ben and I actually fought over who can press the letters of the alphabets and see what animations came out)  

What's not so good?

* I would prefer if the animation does not start until the narrator pronounces the letter and the word for it. Currently, the moment you touch the screen, the animation will start immediately. Because of this, the narrator's voice gets drowned out and is not as effective.

* The animation is so engaging and addictive, how could my boy finished learning from A to Z? Check out the video below where he goes from letter F back to letter E...

You can purchase the "Interactive Alphabet - ABC Flash Cards " app from the iTunes App Store.

I am so excited to be able to hold this giveaway for my lucky blog followers and readers! SIX of you (yes, yes, SIX!!!) are going to win a copy of this awesome and fun app to play on your iPad or iPhone! You will absolutely love it! Now, let's read below for the giveaway terms and conditions OK?

* Eligibility: OPEN WORLDWIDE!

* Giveaway expires on 31st Dec 2011 (Malaysia time)

* You must fulfil the mandatory entry 1st (which is to provide your valid email address & answering the question), else you will be disqualified

* Winner will be randomly drawn using Random.org and will have 48 hours to respond to my email notification or a new winner will be drawn.

* Winner will receive their prize sent directly by your awesome mummy blogger here as I have the promo code ready to be redeemed.

To enter the giveaway, kindly click at the link shown below and the entry form will appear in a new window:

* INTERACTIVE ALPHABET GIVEAWAY ENTRY FORM *

(Link has been disabled when entry closes at 12 midnight past 31st Dec 2011)

It'd be great if you could leave me a comment once you have submitted your entry so that I can check and ensure it's safely tracked into my database. So what are you waiting for?!! Hurry up! You have more than 1 month time from now to join in the fun and try your luck!

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"

Oh man! You guys have no idea how excited I was to be able to review on not one, not two but three books from the What to Expect series!

I'm so happy I get to review these books as I have lost mine a while back. Been lending  my books to a couple of friends and am not sure where are the books now... Anyway, without further delay, let me tell you more about the books (You can click onto the book title to read more about the books' details.):

What to Expect When You're Expecting	What to Expect the First Year	What to Expect the Second Year

When we found out I was pregnant with Benjamin back in 2008, the first book I bought to prepare myself with all the knowledge on pregnancy, childbirth, breastfeeding and so on is the What to Expect When You're Expecting. The topics I read the most over and over again were of course, about breastfeeding and childbirth. These 2 topics really helped me equipped myself and be prepared with what's ahead.

And then after I gave birth to Ben, I bought the next book which is the What to Expect the First Year to find out more on what are the things to be expected as Ben grows into his toddlerhood phase.

I feel that the information from the books helped me a lot in preparing for the arrival of Benjamin, such as the caring aspects, health, vaccinations, and much much more!

You can get the books from the What to Expect website itself or from Amazon bookstore.

But hold on to your horses first! Your awesome mummy blogger here has managed to secured the 3 books mentioned above as a giveaway to some of you lucky fellas!

I know, I know, I am THAT awesome!

Now, the generous representative from WTE has mailed along another set of the books for me to giveaway to you guys. So yes, I actually have 2 sets of the books shown above, one set for my review and one set for giveaway. And trust me, even if you are not a parent, you should get these books as a gift to your friends or relatives who are going to be a parent. The massive amount of info and the good paper quality of the books, really, you have to enter this giveaway!

And if you're thinking what do I gained from this, well, absolutely nothing other that 1 set of the books for my own review. Since the giveaway set is with me, I am actually forking out my own money to ship the books to the winners. So I am not gaining anything from you guys!

I know, I know, I am THAT awesome again!

Now I could giveaway the whole set to ONE lucky winner, but I think, I should separate out the books instead so that instead of one person, I can actually select THREE lucky winners to receive this book, as some of you might just be expecting, or already have children past the age or etc etc.

Yeap, you read that right! THREE LUCKY WINNERS  are going to be selected to win each of the books!

Come on, you know it, I am super awesome!

Hahahah... OK then, I don't want to bore you guys with all these details any longer, just read below for the T & C, OK?

To enter the giveaway, kindly click at the link shown below and the entry form will appear in a new window:

* What to Expect Books Giveaway Entry Form *

(Link will be disabled when entry closes at 12midnight past 31st Dec 2011)

It'd be great if you could leave me a comment once you have submitted your entry so that I can check and ensure it's safely tracked into my database. So what are you waiting for?!! Hurry up! You have more than 1 month time from now to join in the fun and try your luck!

I received no monetary compensation for this review, I was provided with the books by What to Expect 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.

I posted a giveaway for the Cleebo a month ago and it's now past 11th August 2011 already, which means the giveaway is closed and I'm now announcing the lucky winner!

As usual, I'm just going to cut short my explanations of how I came to compile, select, tally the entries and then randomly picked the winner using Random.org. So below is the lucky winner:

catchuah@XXXXXXXXX

Congratulations to you! I have just sent an email to you to get your further details! You have 48 hours to respond to my email before I pick another winner! As for the rest who participated in the giveaway, thank you for entering, better luck next time, OK? A note of thanks as well to Sophie.sg for sponsoring the Cleebo to my lucky blog visitor / reader!