I’ve been quite naughty and shown the 8 month old the iPad and now she knows it is a window to a whole new world of fun! She is very like her brother and will be tech-happy, like daddy too. We were offered a new iPad app to review and as it combined two of my favourite things – buttons and museums – I said yes.
Following in the footsteps of the hugely successful book published by the V&A, Clara Button and her adventure at the museum has come to the iPad. Using the original illustrations by Emily Sutton and narrated by author Amy de la Haye, this beautiful app features interactive animations, guiding both children and parents through the story with finger tracking animation, hidden interactive elements and portals to audio and visual information about exhibited pieces at the V&A museum.
Clara Button loves hats, and when her older brother Ollie breaks her favourite, Mum takes them on a special hat day out. While visiting the Victoria and Albert Museum, Clara gets lost and embarks on an exciting journey of discovery. Meanwhile, Ollie is having adventures of his own, with swords and tigers! This is a lovely story and the iPad app is full of special features which really make it come alive. I enjoyed reading it and letting the children explore each page, hopefully we can follow it up with a trip to the V&A soon!
The app has some great features including: voice recording, enabling you to record your own reading of the story; tap to find animations on every page; finger-tracking animation makes buttons appear at every touch; make buttons (and Ollie!) spin by moving the iPad.
Clara Button and The Magical Hat Day for iPad published by Mapp Editions in association with the Victoria and Albert Museum is priced £3.99 and available from the app store.