New Little Critter Apps - Plus, a Mercer Mayer AUTOGRAPHED Book for #Giveaway

"It’s Spring Break and for lots of families that can mean only one thing – Road Trip! Making travel time fun is of great importance to parents, so what better than TWO fun new “trip” themed apps starring beloved author Mercer Mayer’s Little Critter to help?  The Trip - Little Critter Reading Adventure and The Trip – Little Critter GamePak are now available in iTunes, Barnes& Noble, Amazon, and GooglePlay.

Both apps have been produced by the talented Appy Award-winner John R. Sansevere (Little Critter: Where is My Frog) and to celebrate, publisher Silver Dolphin Books has a Little Critter book, autographed by Mercer Mayer, for one lucky Inspired by Savannah reader -- read on to learn how to enter this fun giveaway! :-)

In addition, you can also enter Silver Dolphin Books’ YEAR OF FUN Contest and win FREE kids apps and books for an entire year! 

About the New Apps!

 

The Trip – Little Critter Reading Adventure ($3.99).   

Check out the FIVE GOLD STAR review this app has received from

 

Here’s just a peek at what Best Apps for Kids have to say:

Quality:  “The beautiful illustrations, fun characters, interactive scenes and in-app games guarantee that this app will provide hours of entertainment.”

Education: “The learning possibilities on this app are endless.”

Entertainment: “There are so many different games and hidden extras in this game, that it will keep your child entertained for hours.”

Value: “At only $3.99, this app is the perfect purchase for your little one. It’s such a fantastic app. There are lots of in-app games to play, loads of fun facts, heaps to learn and oodles of fun to be had.”

Child Friendly: “You’ll be able to hand your tablet over in confidence.”

Based on Mercer Mayer’s classic book of the same name and featuring his incredible original artwork, The Trip – Little Critter Reading Adventure invites children to travel along with Little Critter and his family on an action-packed road trip.  Kids can help Little Critter choose the route the family will take and explore the countryside, the city, the beach and more; fix the car when it breaks down; move a horse stuck in the middle of the road; feed the seagulls; and even find time to grab a hot dog. All this while playing lots of games with Little Sister along the way to pass the time!  

Recommended for ages three to seven, the app emphasizes basic pre-school and early elementary curriculum. An inventory collection and selection feature is incorporated, designed to build critical problem-solving skills; alphabet flashcards hidden on every screen teach and reinforce letter recognition; and successful completion of six puzzles—including sequence and matching games—unlocks six collectible gems used to play an arcade-style game.  Other features include text highlighting, visual interactive item clues and professional audio narration and dramatization, which help to keep non-readers engaged with the story.

The beloved characters, gentle humor, and solid family values emphasized in Mercer Mayer’s Little Critter book series remain the same, and now kids can extend that book experience by engaging with the characters and story in ways that they could not have before.

And guess what, Mercer Mayer likes it too!  “Silver Dolphin Books and producer Jon R. Sansevere have delivered an amazing extension of my original book,” said Mercer Mayer.  “The storytelling and interactivity have exceeded my expectations, and the level of engagement between Little Critter and today’s young readers is all very exciting.”

The Trip – Little Critter GamePak ($3.99)

 

Kindertown.com, the Educational App Store for Parents says:

“Free play sticker areas are very well designed with a blend of discovery as the stickers you choose come to life in different areas of each scene.  Overall a fun app filled with a variety of learning games.”

Available simultaneously is The Trip – Little Critter GamePak, an extension of the reading adventure app, which includes over 50 fun and engaging activities featuring Little Critter.  Divided into two sections, the GamePak includes five game themes including Dot-to-Dot, Mazes, Matching Pictures and Words, and How Many?   

The GamePak also features Digistix – a section that features over 175 digital stickers across five game themes, inspiring the imagination and fostering creativity.  In two special beach and camp activities, Digistix stickers that are tapped, dragged and dropped into the scenes react differently depending on where they are placed, enabling kids to move and change the scenes to create a new adventure every time.  Featuring helpful words of encouragement from Little Critter throughout, The Trip – Little Critter GamePak, is regularly priced at $3.99, but is available for the first 30 days after release for $2.99.

And the fun doesn’t stop here! Silver Dolphin Books is celebrating the release of the apps by launching its YEAR OF FUN CONTEST at the same time!

Enter Silver Dolphin Books’ YEAR OF FUN contest at the Silver Dolphin Books Facebook page, and enter to win FREE kids apps and books for an entire year! Starting April 1, every week for four weeks, one lucky winner will win every kids app that Silver Dolphin Books’ launches in 2013.  Fun new apps will feature Mercer Mayer’s Little Critter and Richard Scarry’s Busytown characters; plus some all-new characters you will love to meet!  Each winner will also get to select one FREE book for every month in 2013 from the Silver Dolphin Books new releases collection.   Plus, you can encourage your friends to sign up for extra entries!

And finally, coming soon to the Silver Dolphin Books blog are six FREE The Trip – Little Critter-themed activities to download including Dot-to-Dot, Maze, Word Match, Word Search, Coloring, Spot the Difference.

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My Thoughts:

I downloaded the new The Trip – Little Critter Reading Adventure app this afternoon, and it has already become a family favorite, and one I see the girls using day in and day out.  I grew up enjoying Mercer Mayer books, and love being able to not only share these books with the girls, but also the new Little Critter apps with them, as well.  

This app is a jam packed interactive reading adventure, that will keep Little Critter fans entertained for hours, with learning activities, games, and more.  Savannah is currently learning her colors, numbers, shapes and letters, so this app has come in very handy, as it offers her the opportunity to practice these and other fundamental skills. 

Savannah loved helping the Little Critter choose the route the family would take for their road trip -- let it be the countryside, the beach, the city, etc.  And, a road trip is not a road trip without detours, and this app is full of them -- from car tires needing to be changed, having to move a horse stuck in the road, or feeding hungry passengers, readers will have a blast, as they travel along with the Little Critter stars on their family road trip.

This app is perfect for children ages 3-7 yrs. of age, and offers challenging puzzles, matching word games and more.  I especially loved the alphabet flashcards that are hidden through the story, and when tapped on will help reinforce the letters of the alphabet with your little one.  And, what Little Critter app would not be complete without amazing artwork from Mercer Mayer himself.  

This app includes full-color artwork, along with interactive animations, that will entertain both children and adults alike.  I have to say that I even found myself playing with this app when the girls were napping, and loving all the interactive features.  This is definitely one app I will be suggesting to family and friends. 

----GIVEAWAY----

One lucky reader will win a Mercer Mayer autographed copy of the beautifully illustrated Just a Little Critter Collection, a 176-page hardcover collection of seven Little Critter stories in one book (SRP: $9.99). Just a Little Critter Collection is the perfect way to introduce children to Mercer Mayer's tales, with stories including Just For You, When I Get Bigger, I Was So Mad and All By Myself.

To enter this giveaway, please complete the entries on the Rafflecopter form below.  Good luck!

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Disclosure: I received an autographed copy of Mercer Mayer's book (the same as the giveaway prize) from the vendor, as a thank you for sharing news and a review about the new apps. However, the views above are mine and mine alone.