App Friday: Creative Stories & Clever Tales

Welcome to App Friday, our weekly link exchange of family-friendly apps. This week we are focused on the creation, collection, and telling of original stories. With Story Patch, children use tools in the app to build books in their own words. With Clever Tales by AppGrade, families are enchanted with 40 original stories and illustrations from around the world, ideal for bedtime reading. We wrap up with classics from Dr. Seuss & Oceanhouse Media to highlight Read Across America week. So much good news this week – even Apple had to get in on the action by announcing a new iPad!

Story Patch

Story Patch (for iPad) is an application for the iPad which assists your children with creating their own illustrated stories.  Older children can add their own text from scratch, while younger children can choose a story theme to have Story Patch insert text based on the child’s answers to a series of questions.  After the story text is created, children can build their own characters for their story by choosing hair, skin, eye and clothing colors, facial expressions, and body positions, or they can choose from more than 800 illustrations to bring their stories to life.  Children also can import photos from the iPad photo library to add an extra bit of realism to their stories, and share PDF copies of their stories to friends and family around the world!

Story Patch encourages creativity by helping children develop reading and writing skills in an engaging learning environment.  We have received much positive feedback from teachers and speech pathologists who use Story Patch every day with their students.  Whether you are a parent looking for an application that will engage your child and is “not just another game,” an educator looking for a great tool to use with your students, or even a budding children’s book writer looking for a way to explore your original story ideas, Story Patch will make a great addition to your iPad. 

Clever Tales

Clever Tales (for iPhone /iPad) by AppGrade from Moscow, Russia, is a collection of 40 original heart warming tales, created by writers, artists, developers and the composer – people from all over the world who are united with a beautiful idea – to help parents start important dialogues with their children that share values and experience. We believe reading tales together and discussing them will help you to talk about things that are often difficult to explain: what motivates a person, what is self esteem, how the world and society functions, what is good, the importance of friendship, and what is love.

Clever Tales will let you explore great stories with your kids, where each tale brings up a great lesson for everyday life. For centuries tales like these allow kids to understand important values in life via engaging and entertaining forms. Our tales were written in modern times, but they have that old-fashioned charming style of storytelling that is so rare nowadays. Special features include collections sorted for younger or older children, kid-friendly jazz and lullaby music that can be played on its own (also as a special mode for bed time), and day/night modes to optimize reading in light or dark.

What’s in it for me this App Friday, March 4th?

• Story Patch for iPad – FREE (from $4.99)
• Clever Tales for iPhone & iPad  – $.99 (from $4.99)

More App News

Happy Birthday! Have you taken the time yet to check out the growing library of Dr. Seuss apps from Oceanhouse Media? Well now is a good time – they are celebrating this week in honor of Dr. Seuss’s birthday and Read Across America. Many of their selections are specially priced for the occasion. Don’t miss out – make sure to Seussify your iDevice!

Mobicip, the Safe Internet Browser, is offering 10% off their premium service this App Friday March 4th. Mobicip offers safe Internet & YouTube access on the iPhone, iPod Touch and iPad. To receive the discount, visit www.mobicip.com, click Get Started, and use this discount code – EGEEP7 – when prompted.

What’s Hot? We are celebrating our “What’s Hot” listing on Apple iTunes this week by spreading the word about our Moms With Apps Mobile App Catalog! Search apps for in categories such as music, science, reading and math, add them to a wishlist, and share with friends. It’s a free, organized, family-friendly app browsing session. Thanks for sharing the news!

Reading Up: Don’t miss GeekDad’s discussion on Montessori Apps, or BrainParade’s post about Apple’s iPad 2 announcement and how it highlights the significance of the iPad as a tool for autism. There is so much potential in this little section of the iUniverse – thanks for reading along and staying informed!

App Friday Link Exchange Our goal at Moms With Apps is to spread the word about family-friendly apps. We also like to know about great deals. Do YOU have some app news to share? If so, please participate in our link exchange and post it down below. Include the app name (& details) in the Link Title, your email, and a URL to the app. Thanks for your participation.