Apps With Sass
Takeaway Tip: Keep it simple, and get in touch with your inner child. (Farrar might say it helps to have a kid of your own around, but Book Business can only go so far in what it recommends in its tips!)
Garfield's Pet Force
Developer: Castle Builders
Price: $2.99
Available: iPad, PC and Mac
As part of its BooClips line of apps, Castle Builders integrates videos into visually striking interactive books. BooClips apps' features include narration with a voice-over recording feature, animated magnifying glass and bookmark, language translation, and sign language interpretation. Embedded videos are in HD with a 3-D interface that's enabled by using red-blue glasses.
According to Ori Abramovich, Castle Builders' vice president of marketing, the new Garfield's Pet Force app takes these technologies to a new level. "We have improved the graphic engine behind the app on the Garfield BooClip, have added more animations and enabled the videos at all times," he says.
"We love Garfield, and we had a great feeling that its content would be a brilliant fit for our technology," Abramovich says. "Jim Davis' 'Garfield's Pet Force,' written for a motion picture in computer-generated imagery (CGI) … delivered the right balance of storytelling and action to complement abilities of this high-tech app."
Garfield's Pet Force features numerous clips from the movie and is aimed at kids ages 6 to 12. Other BooClips apps, such as LazyTown, are designed for younger, emerging readers. The app is available on the iPad, PC and Mac, with launches planned this fall on Android, Nook and Kindle Fire.
Takeaway Tip: Roll out the red carpet for your star.
Our Choice: A Plan to Solve the Climate Crisis
Developer: Melcher Media (content) and PushPop Press (platform)
Price: $4.99 (Introductory)
Availability: iPhone, iPad, iPod Touch