I don’t say this lightly. There are a lot of books on the iPad that my kids absolutely love. Certainly the Toy Story iPad games would come to my kids’ minds. But that is because the kids have an affection for Toy Story. On sheer quality, Bartleby’s Book of Buttons blows away Toy Story.
Okay, before I get carried away, let me fire out a quick negative. The book is short. You can get though it pretty quickly.
But that is the only negative I can think of really after the last update. Bartleby’s Book of Buttons realizes the dream of what the iPad can be: a truly interactive “book” where the children can really become a part of the story. My kidslove how they are key players in the story. They get Bartleby’s outfit together,they set the time, they pump up the balloon so Bartleby can escape, and so forth. The reader is not passive but a necessary active part of the story.
I also like that the book has a little deeper vocabulary than the average book for kids. It is hard to find hybrids that have harder words that still provide the fun designed for kids.
Another reason why I love Bartleby is the last update which cleared up a few bugs in the book. But the authors did one more thing in the update: they added a single page. I can’t tell you how excited my kids were about this single page.
I’m selling this book so hard. But should you buy it? Here is the crazy thing: it is free right now. Incredible. Apparently, they are offering the book for free until theVolume 2 comes out next month. Apparently, there is button Bartleby has to get from the bottom of the sea? I can tell you we will buy this book about 20 seconds after it comes out.