[appimg 818848918]
App Info
Price: [app 818848918] {price}
AppStore User Rating: {stars}[/app]
Overview
Billy has the strangest day, starting with his mother serving banana splits for breakfast. This interactive storybook follows him through the weirdest day imaginable while readers can enjoy fun sound effects and interactive animations.
Features include:
- Optional narration
- Optional word highlighting
- Interactive learning activities
- Vocabulary flashcards
Quality
My Parents Are Crazy! is a fun app that children will enjoy. The story is funny with a surprise ending that will take readers by surprise. The illustrations are colorful, sharp and detailed, making the book even more engaging. Story narration is performed by four different readers, playing the parts of the different characters, which adds a lot of variety and expression.
Education
This app is a pleasant diversion. The optional narration makes a nice bridge for pre-readers and young readers who are learning reading skills. Some of the interactions are well-thought-out sound effects, which will help vocabulary development. The flashcards in the “Learn” section list some of the core words from the story with matching picture and narration, which will help some students improve their word recognition skills. The major interactions in the book are fun, but most are not particularly educational for this age group. Creating a banana split, throwing food and helping Billy clean his room are more exercises in fine motor control and some creativity than learning activities. The only interaction that could be considered “educational” is writing with whipped cream, and the app does give you the option of saving that creation to the camera roll.
It is a concern that there is at least three places where the narration does not match the printed words (when Billy’s sister is asking about the guitar, for example) and one page where there are words spoken, but the printed words are not visible (the page where the family is driving to the airport).
Entertainment
My Parents Are Crazy! is highly entertaining. Nearly all children will enjoy the interactivity and the creative story with the surprise ending. And who doesn’t love a food fight? It’s even better when the adults are responsible for the craziness. Nearly every page has flashing objects that indicate an interactive hot spot. The sound effects are particularly well done. In the part of the story that tells about Billy’s dad playing drums and urging Billy to play guitar, the drum sound and guitar sound can be played together with the dog barking to make a pretty incredible racket.
Value
This app is a good value. Children are likely to use it a few times before they discover all of the interactive hot spots. I do think the novelty will wear off after that, though, so unless your child picks this one as a “favorite book,” I think it might not have the staying power of some other apps.
Child Friendliness
This app is extremely child-friendly. There are absolutely no advertisements, in-app purchases, links to social media, opportunities to email or connections to the internet. The developers’ commitment to child safety is apparent, and they have a detailed privacy policy available in the “About” section.
Billy has the strangest day, starting with his mother serving banana splits for breakfast. This interactive storybook follows him through the weirdest day imaginable while readers can enjoy fun sound effects and interactive animations.