One of our biggest frustrations when it comes to storytelling apps is the way the platform for delivery is viewed. So many times we've looked at iBooks and storytelling apps that merely offer a few extra whistles and bells, but serve up a story much in the same way print books do. This always seems like a complete waste, given that most modern tablets are so full of features that really ought to be used to their full potential.

Nosy Crow have been chipping away at the "storytelling app" cliches for a while now. Their apps crop up every year in reputable "Best App" roundups, and you've only got to see their app store ratings to know that they're definitely doing something right. So what's their secret?

Up till now we've not experienced them directly, as apps are still a bit of a hard sell to us for various reasons (check out our guest articles on Helen Dineen's excellent "CAPPtivated Kids" blog to get an idea of why we feel the way we do about them).

Nevertheless, when Nosy Crow very kindly gave us the opportunity to review their latest storytelling app, "Jack and the Beanstalk" we wanted to see whether their bold claims of a "gamified reading experience" held water.

Time to explore, and there's plenty to discover in "Jack and the Beanstalk"

I'm very happy to report that they do indeed. "Jack and the Beanstalk" not only breaks most of the usual rules for storytelling apps, it invents a few of its own along the way. Gone is the single-line-of-story from start to finish, opting for branching narrative dependent on what the reader (or should that be 'player') does during the course of the story. Gone too are those irritating immersion-breaking navigation controls or controls for points of interest. Nosy Crow's excellent development team have obviously spent time not only thinking about their content and the method of delivery, but they've honed the user experience to a point where children from a broad age range will be able to adapt to how they want to use the app. If they choose, they can have a relatively standard story experience or opt for more interaction.

Tricky bit coming up!

Charlotte delighted in the voyage of discovery piquing her curiosity in each scene as Jack finds his way through the story. From time to time I'd join her to help her over some of the tricky bits (I'm not sure that allowing the app to be panned around or pinch-scaled was such a good idea, it can mean frustration for younger players but it does mean you can soak up all the lovely details in the illustrations).

Points of interest appear after a short while if children don't find them under their own steam

Adapting a well-known fairy tale is also a good move in this case, because when the surprises happen (and there are plenty of surprises tucked into the "Jack and the Beanstalk" app) children are genuinely delighted by them (and sometimes, thanks to some superb audio production, a little bit scared by certain scenes - perhaps one to play with younger children cuddling on your lap if they're slightly nervy of mild peril).

Jack and his mum. The story is told with brilliant audio and excellent child actors, helping children more readily identify with what's being said / conveyed.

In essence, bridging the gap between story and game means maintaining a really good quality and consistent experience right across the board (there's nothing worse than a story telling app that dishes up the same tired old minigame tropes to win over kids who would rather play than read). Game-playing kids are served well in "Jack and the Beanstalk" and again, the app expertly appeals to quite a broad age range - even the very young will find it easy to use, intuitive and plenty of fun.

Returning to the top of the review, Nosy Crow's developers use the iPad's features in some very cool ways (like piecing together a broken mirror - which actually uses the camera to show the child's reflection while they play).

Gold! Gimme more gold!

We won't spoil too many of the other surprises for you. Nosy Crow's ethos is sound, charging a reasonable price for an engaging app that kids will return to again and again - eschewing the detestable model of microtransactions or ad-driven apps in favour of quality and consistency for a one-shot price. If you're the sort of person that thinks £2.99 is expensive for apps, consider how much the average "free" storytelling app will cost you once you start paying for all that extra content.

On another matter, Apps vs Books, E vs Print is often seen as some sort of bizarre unwinnable war - with the lines of conflict tightly drawn on both sides. Consider then that Nosy Crow are Switzerland, deftly establishing a neutral zone where stories and apps can live in perfect harmony.

"Jack and the Beanstalk" from Nosy Crow is available on the app store, priced £2.99.

Check out the app trailer below:



Charlotte's best bit: Helping the giant's librarian sort out his book collection, and rebuilding a broken mirror. 

Daddy's Favourite bit: Absolutely top notch five-star presentation, a brilliant branching approach to the story that's a take on a classic, and a truly well balanced app exuding quality and immersion in the story from every pixel. For a hardened story-app naysayer, it's not faint praise to describe this as the way we'd love to see all storytelling apps shaped in future. 

(Kindly sent to us for review by Nosy Crow)

The lovely folk at Creativium dropped us a note to let us know about their new app for the iPad - Creativium - Paper Theatre, now available from the app store. This low price but content-rich app unleashes a child's imagination with some truly stunning art direction and brilliant animal characters, allowing children to make up their own stories and enjoy discovering through play.

Intuitive controls mean that even from a very early age, children can enjoy the app (as long as you don't mind your iPad getting sticky fingerprints all over it - which we don't!) and save their stories and scenes to show you later on. You can even record a few stories yourself to play back to your children!

Apps like this really make us happy and smiley at Read It Daddy because they allow children to start shaping and controlling the way their stories develop.

Give it a go and also drop by the Creativium site (which is also a bit special!) for more information.

The app is currently live on the app store, and a future update - Mysterious Night - will be introducing more scenes and characters,  available as a free update for current customers later on so get in quick!

We'll be putting together a full review as soon as I've stopped playing it and have let Charlotte have a go :)

The Phoenix Comic App (on iTunes)

Who is this rather beautiful angel? Well she's the shining star of a new app that arrives courtesy of the fabulous Kirstie Rowson at "And So We Begin".

"Angel's Great Escape" is a fantastic app and story narrated by none other than Alan Titchmarsh (I had to rein myself in from typing in 'Sir' there, surely by now he must be that much of a national treasure he's due a knighthood?)

The release of the story app couldn't be better - it's bang in time for Christmas and you can now go and nab it for your iPad / iPhone or Android device via the links below.

Please also stop by and visit the And So We Begin website for more news.

Here's a video of the app in action.  How brilliant does this look? THIS brilliant!!!

Angel's Great Escape (on iTunes) (On Google Play) Visit the And So We Begin Website

We're coming at you thick and fast today with our reviews in a bid to catch up after a few days off sick. The divine @thestrollingmum found this rather neat little e-book while browsing the iTunes App Store and it's the sort of thing you'd absolutely love to see more aquariums, zoos and other places begin to do more of.

Seattle Aquarium has put together a lovely little story about a Sea Otter called Edwin, but it's not merely a heart-warming tale of an otter worrying he's not as impressive as the other Seattle Aquarium animals and aquatics, it's a great little demonstration of how stories can serve as a jumping-off point for exploring our natural world and learning valuable facts about the creatures that live in it.

The developer of this app / e-book, Nat Duffy, has obviously taken the very best hooks from picture books and spliced them together with great little video clips from the aquarium itself (with lots of cute animal clips to keep youngsters happy). Excellent illustrations and a fairly engaging story help to underpin the Seattle Aquarium's committment to work in conservation and animal care so it's far more than just a 'glossy' way of advertising a day out.

Best of all, it's a free download (and is also available as a static PDF if you want to explore the pages on a desktop computer) but doesn't feel like it's lacking in quality, like a lot of free apps seem to.

Charlotte's best bit: Animals going to sleep. Awww.

Daddy's favourite bit: A brilliant mix of video, sounds and a great story compliment each other perfectly.

Edwin the Super Duper Otter (on iTunes)

With entertaining stories, minigames and app surprises for preschoolers, Top That Publishing's "The Froobles" is exactly the sort of interactive app we like to see here at ReadItDaddy. Not just a sterile treatment of a print book but something that truly embraces all the opportunities for fun and learning that modern touch-screen devices can offer. Celebrities like Johnny Vaughan and Denise Van Outen lend their voices to the stories too!

Top That Publishing have been producing fun and educational apps for quite some time and now you can take a look at one of their best-loved series with a free sampler available on iTunes.

The Froobles (on iTunes for iPad / iPhone)

More information is available on the Top That Froobles Support Site. 

The app will remain free until 6th August so get in quick!