Metamorphabet
There are approximately eleventy jillion alphabet apps available on the market today, so it takes something very special for one to catch my eye. App developer Vector Park is a designer that can pull that trick off.
Android
Gappy Learns Writing
Most letter-writing apps encourage kids to trace letter shapes but no matter how squiggly their finger traces the pre-determined line, the app creates a perfect-looking letter. Not the case with Gappy Learns Writing which shows the exact lines that that user’s finger has drawn in all its shaky, scratchy, not-quite-right glory. This gives kids a better sense of their progress and a greater sense of accomplishment as they can see their own improvement over time.
Nighty Night
Sweet, simple app where users say goodnight to a farm full of animals.
ThinkRolls
Explore increasingly complex mazes filled with different types of special blocks -- cookie blocks that you can crunch up into crumbs, jello blocks that help you bounce, even blocks that are on fire!
Destiny of the Republic: A Tale of Madness, Medicine and the Murder of a President
Candice
Millard
2011
This nonfiction book tells the story of James Garfield, one of America’s least known Presidents, showing that his shooting by a deranged man, and subsequent death at the hands of his inept doctors, deprived the nation of a man who could have been an excellent leader.
We Need New Names
NoViolet
Bulawayo
2013
In Bulawayo’s semiautobiographical novel, young Darling describes her chaotic but still happy childhood during Zimbabwe’s strife-filled Lost Decade. In the second half of the novel, the teenage Darling reflects on the promises and failures of America after she emigrates to Destroyedmichigan (Detroit). A work that considers what one embraces in a new culture and what can’t be left behind, We Need New Names was shortlisted for the 2013 Man Booker Award.
My Little Work Garage
Car enthusiasts will love working in this garage! Customers drive in and request (through pictures in speech bubbles) a few of the seven different services that the garage offers. Garage staff can choose to fulfill those requests (or not), add on a few extras (or not) and then escort the customer to the exit bay where they pay.
StarWalk Kids
Have you ever looked up to the night sky and wondered whether that one really bright spot right over there was a planet or a star or …. maybe something else?
Inventioneers
Create Rube Goldberg-like machines in increasingly complex puzzles with multiple correct solutions in this fantastic physics and engineering app.