Journey through fantastic environments and learn times tables along the way with Engaging Multiplication Tables. Then enjoy the story of one very serious librarian and one very silly book in The Pink Book of Silly Songs. Plus, thoughts of dog.
Garry Froehlich | Jellybeantunes
Engaging Multiplication Tables
by Andrei Gulaev
Engaging Multiplication Tables teaches multiplication via the journey of a mouse through fantastic environments as it tries to collect photos for a space museum. The app, unlike many multiplication apps, tries to teach the multiplication tables rather than just quizzing them. Each stage in the journey contains obstacles that must be overcome by answering a series of multiplication questions. If you get the wrong answer, a window pops up to help you understand how to get the correct answer. If you get three wrong answers, you must restart the series of questions (but you don’t have to restart the level), so there is some pressure to choose the right answer rather than just guess until you get it. Along the journey, you earn candies which can be used to buy costumes to dress up the mouse. Plus, the app keeps track of which times tables you’ve learned. The app is bright and colourful with cute cartoony characters. The first levels are free to try, with an in-app purchase to unlock the full app.
The Pink Book of Silly Songs
by Steve Cowden
While not new, The Pink Book of Silly Songs deserves to be remembered. It tells the story of one very serious librarian and one very silly book. The illustrations and animations were all hand drawn on paper which gives it a distinct and charming style. It also comes with three silly songs all sung in silly voices: “Do Your Ears Hang Low?,” “B-I-N-G-O,” and “Great Green Gobs.” The narration is well done, but the story does not have word highlighting, although the songs do so it is easy to sing along. As an older app it may not fully support iPad Pros and the new iPad Air without home buttons, but it works well on traditional iPads.
Thoughts of Dog
In these, um, interesting times, the Thoughts of Dog account is an oddly comforting thing.
you cannot rush me. on my walks. if i don’t sniff enough things. i could fall behind. on the neighborhood dog leaderboard
— Thoughts of Dog® (@dog_feelings) November 19, 2020
