Ben 10 Science Friction — Kids’ Book ($1.99) is a science fiction cartoon e-book that immerses the young reader in beautiful graphics and professional narration. There are many other e-book apps out there by the same developer, but this particular story is a fun adventure that any young person will enjoy.
In this story, the characters attend a science fiction convention where they come across an alien weapon that starts to pump out enemy aliens. The characters must stop the aliens from attacking innocent people at the convention. It’s a fun story that you can read with your children, or have them read it on their own.
There are three modes available for reading the e-book. You can read it on your own, have the narrator read while you turn each page, or have the app turn the pages for you. While the narrator reads, each word becomes highlighted, so beginning readers can make associations between the words they see and hear. The audio is loud, clear and professionally recorded. You can turn each page by swiping across the screen, or by simply tapping the “Next” button.
The cartoons are colorful, and really look great. There are also small camera movements that help bring the illustrations to life.
The only problem I have with this app is the lack of a bookmark feature. When you quit the app completely, or simply go back to the main screen, it doesn’t remember where you left off the next time you start the app. This is frustrating, as you must flip through each page to get back to where you were reading. Yes, with the multi-tasking feature, the app will remember where you left off, but it doesn’t work if you go back to the main screen to switch reading modes. I’m sure this feature will be added in a future update, however, at the time of this review, it doesn’t exist.
Overall, the app offers an entertaining story with some nice illustrations, however, it doesn’t take full advantage of the iPad’s features. There are many e-book apps coming out now that allow the reader to tap on the illustrations and interact with them. For example, in this story, it would be great if you could tap on the alien object to make an alien pop out of it. e-books, especially on the iPad, should be much more interactive than simply reading the words on the page.
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