Welcome to Monday’s Apps For Kids, a new Cult of Android feature where we take a look at kid-centric apps. Many of us are parents with kids who seem to know their way around our mobile devices better than we do. With the Android Market having over 400,000 apps, it can be quite a daunting task trying to find apps appropriate for our young tech enthusiasts. With Monday’s Apps For Kids, we hope to make that task easier by suggesting an array of topics and apps that have been kid tested and parent approved. So grab whatever crayon is lying around and get ready to write down a few apps worth checking out.

This week we’re going to take a look at digital interactive children’s books. What exactly are DICBs? Well, they’re a new way of experiencing stories in which your child receives audio and visual stimulation while reading and interacting with the digital characters, words, etc. DICBs are a fun and educational way to keep your children engaged in the experience of reading.

Today we’re going to take a look at 5 examples of digital interactive children’s books and their developers:

The Cat In The Hat (Oceanhouse Media, Inc.) – Oceanhouse Media delivers original text and artwork to bring this classic Dr. Seuss book alive. This digital book features:

• “Read to Me” — listen to the narrated story with words highlighted as they are read
• “Read it Myself” — read the book in its traditional form
• “Auto Play” — plays like a movie, automatically reading and turning pages. Great for younger children!
• Picture / Word association — words zoom up and are spoken when pictures are touched
• Individual words highlight and are read aloud when tapped
• Professional audio narration
• Custom background audio for each scene
• Pages pan & zoom to accentuate the beautiful, original art of Dr. Seuss

Oceanhouse Media is one of my personal favorite digital book app publishers and has one of the largest collection of digital book apps. To download The Cat In The Hat or to check out any of the other great Oceanhouse media digital books, follow the Android Market Link below.

Android Market Link | The Cat In The Hat ($2.99)

The Going To Bed Book (Loud Crow Interactive Inc.) – Boynton Moo Media teams up with award-winning Loud Crow Interactive, to bring to life her beloved, funny, wildly best-selling bedtime board book. This digital book app feature:

• The first Sandra Boynton book app, going far beyond what an e-book experience can offer
• Touch, pull, and turn animals and objects to make them move, or tilt your device to watch things slide and cascade
• Wonderful resonant and gentle narration by British Invasion legend, Billy J. Kramer
• Boynton’s original text and illustrations for her popular The Going to Bed Book (over 5 million in print!)
• Realistic page turning interactions just like the original board book
• “The Big Guy Reads It” with word highlighting to help improve reading skills
• Or “I want to read it myself” and hear individual words pronounced with the tap of a finger

Loud Crow Interactive Inc. does a great job with The Going to Bed Book and also offers other digital book apps such as A Charlie Brown Christmas and PopOut! Tale of Peter Rabbit. To download The Going to Bed Book or any other Loud Crow Interactive book app, follow the Android Market Link below.

Android Market Link | The Going to Bed Book ($3.99)

Apolline & Leon (Avant-Goût Studios) – This book is part of the “Apolline and Léon” collection and allows your children to share their adventures as they explore the Tuileries Gardens in Paris. This digital book app features:

• A captivating and fun story
• Narrated by professional actors
• Superbly illustrated by “Marion Piffaretti”
• Lots of interactions on every page: the reader can shake clouds,
  throw balls, play music, look through key holes, switch on and off the lights …
• Enchanting music and sound effects
• A simple interface suitable for young children between 3 and 8
• 10 minutes of wonder to share with your children

Apolline & Leon is also available in 9 languages: English, French, Chinese, Japanese, Portuguese, German, Spanish, Italian and Russian. This application also requires “Adobe Air” 2.6 so make sure you have that installed before purchasing this book. Avant-Goût Studios promises to release other Apolline & Leon episodes but for now this is the only one available. To download Appolline & Leon, follow the Android Market Link Below.

Android Market Link | Apolline & Leon ($1.99)

Winnie The Pooh Puzzle Book – Pooh’s tummy is rumbly, but his yummy honey is hiding! Read along as your favorite stuffed bear searches high and low for a sweet treat. Then it’s up to you to help Pooh Bear find his missing honey pots, and complete fun and challenging puzzles along the way! This puzzle/book features:

• Multiple language options to choose from: English, French, German, Spanish, or Japanese.
• Delightful illustrations, professional narration, silly sound effects, and beloved Winnie the Pooh background music.
• Record your voice or your child’s reading the story.
• Three reading modes to suit your mood: Read to Me, Use My Recording, and Auto Turn pages.
• Four interactive jigsaw puzzles combine a classic play pattern with a contemporary twist.
• Tap ‘n’ Play surprises throughout the story.
• Pooh’s Cupboard matching game ties in to the story and reinforces color recognition.
• Visual Index allows you to jump to your favorite page or puzzle.

This is the only digital book app available by Disney Publishing Worldwide and can be downloaded by following the Android Market Link app below.

Android Market Link | Winnie The Pooh Puzzle Book ($2.99)

iStoryBooks – iStoryBooks doesn’t offer the interactivity as the other digital book apps but it is the only app that offers a large collection of digital books for free. These digital books feature:

• Fun Pictures, text & audio
• Add or remove books from the child’s library
• Option to save all media in SD Card
• New book every 2 weeks

iStoryBooks is simple and easy to use and provides a large selection of classic stories for free. To download iStoryBooks, follow the Android Market Link below.

Android Market Link | iStoryBooks (Free)

That does it for our first edition of Monday’s Apps For Kids. We hope you find these digital book apps entertaining and engaging. They’re a great way to promote literacy and assist your children as they progress from simply listening to the stories to actually reading them. You’ll enjoy watching your children experience the classic stories you read as a child in a way we could have never imagined. Be sure to check back next Monday for more apps for kids.