Get the feedFamily App Review: Toy Story
Tuesday, Aug 17th 2010
The new app has a "read-to-me" function as well as a way for your kid to record their own narration!
So, you’ve got your iPad and you’re not sure if it’s a must-have or just another thing that demands a cord. Or perhaps you have an iPhone and aren't sure what apps are worth having and which are a waste of precious memory space.
Cicero famously said, “A room without books is like a body without a soul.” Similarly an Apple products without good apps are like a meal without a fork. You can appreciate them, but you can’t really dig in and experience them fully.
We’re here to help.
SixSeeds is beginning a new series during which we'll tell you about the best family applications for the iPhone and iPad. The new iPad apps capitalize on its flexibility and larger size allowing more interactivity, but the iPhone apps usually work on their new counterparts.
There are many apps vying for your attention, but SixSeeds is here to bring you the best ones available for families:
Title: Toy Story Read-Along By Disney Publishing Worldwide
What It Does: You’d be forgiven if you thought this was simply a read-to-me kids’ book, but it’s actually a highly interactive application that utilizes the potential of the iPad like none other. When my son and I opened it up, he said, “I bet the narrator is a man’s voice.” But before we could find out, each page begins with video from the movie that introduces the text. For a moment, the experience was difficult to categorize… more than a book but less than a movie? Wherever you file it, this is definitely a step up from iPhone read-to-me apps.
Features: Sure enough, the narrator was a pleasant-sounding man. However, with a swish of the finger, you can record your own voice. Quickly, this degraded into my son and I making up fake storylines (involving body functions) to go with the drawings of Woody and Buzz Lightyear. However, a better parent than I could utilize this feature to help their kids read the text so they can hear their own pronunciation of the age-appropriate words. Better yet, why not let out-of-town grandparents record the stories in their own voice, so your kids can have another way to bond with them even when they’re not around as much? (This has amazing potential, including soldiers on their way to deployment.)
Additionally, the application has small games – easy for a nine year old even on “difficult mode” but your little one will enjoy working through a maze or controlling parachuting little green Army man around obstacles. It has movie clips, sing-along tunes, and fun surprises on every page. A simple coloring page won’t impress kids used to “DoodleBuddy” but it offers fun sheets that is sure to be a great diversion for Toy Story fans.
And honestly, who isn’t one?
Price: The most amazing aspect of this application, however, is that it’s free. Get it while you can. "Toy Story 2 Read-Along" (and, presumably, future Disney titles) will cost $8.99.
Our Rating: 6 out of 6 Seeds
Come back next week for the best iPad applications for your family!
Nancy French
Nancy French is an author, commentator, and mother. Her next book, about the year her husband spent in Iraq is due out July 4, 2011. Connect with her on Facebook at www.facebook.com/NancyAndersonFrench and follow her on Twitter at https://twitter.com/nancyafrench.
Comments
by Nancy French #
Lisa,
Thanks for reading SixSeeds and for your comment. Your concern about our consumer culture is one we share -- that's why we talk so much about fighting materialism and encouraging virtue. (And, I would add, our founders and contributors do more than talk about it -- as do many of our readers, it turns out.)
It's certainly true that not everyone can afford an iPhone/iPad. Or their particular circumstances may mean that other pieces we run aren't relevant to them - not all articles appeal to all readers, and that simply comes with the territory. (Believe me, as a mom with a small child at home, I'm not rushing out to see all the brand new movies we review!)
This week, for example, we have pieces on our site for people who want to honor their grandparents on Grandparents Day, who have kids who might want to watch Nanny McPhee, or who are interested in Africa. None will connect with everyone, but we hope there's something for everyone.
Perhaps surprisingly in light of this economny, sales of iPads, iPhones, and computers have given Apple record revenue for its fiscal 2010 third quarter. For good or ill, millions of people have iPads and even more have iPhones, and there are great apps that can benefit the family. That¹s why I write these app reviews, to help the folks who have them get the most good, family, fun from them. So the app reviews will be a regular (and hopefully helpful to many!) feature of our site, but we'll continue to cover so much more territory as well.
I do think it's a consistent message in our articles that the things that give our lives value are not the things we buy, but what we do with the time we're given. On the theory that it's better to show something than merely to say it, we don't usually say that in so many words, but it's a thread that runs through all we do here. Or should. We try.
Perhaps others could share some of the ways that they grapple with the issues of consumerism and materialism. What works in your family?
Thanks for reading SixSeeds and for your comment. Your concern about our consumer culture is one we share -- that's why we talk so much about fighting materialism and encouraging virtue. (And, I would add, our founders and contributors do more than talk about it -- as do many of our readers, it turns out.)
It's certainly true that not everyone can afford an iPhone/iPad. Or their particular circumstances may mean that other pieces we run aren't relevant to them - not all articles appeal to all readers, and that simply comes with the territory. (Believe me, as a mom with a small child at home, I'm not rushing out to see all the brand new movies we review!)
This week, for example, we have pieces on our site for people who want to honor their grandparents on Grandparents Day, who have kids who might want to watch Nanny McPhee, or who are interested in Africa. None will connect with everyone, but we hope there's something for everyone.
Perhaps surprisingly in light of this economny, sales of iPads, iPhones, and computers have given Apple record revenue for its fiscal 2010 third quarter. For good or ill, millions of people have iPads and even more have iPhones, and there are great apps that can benefit the family. That¹s why I write these app reviews, to help the folks who have them get the most good, family, fun from them. So the app reviews will be a regular (and hopefully helpful to many!) feature of our site, but we'll continue to cover so much more territory as well.
I do think it's a consistent message in our articles that the things that give our lives value are not the things we buy, but what we do with the time we're given. On the theory that it's better to show something than merely to say it, we don't usually say that in so many words, but it's a thread that runs through all we do here. Or should. We try.
Perhaps others could share some of the ways that they grapple with the issues of consumerism and materialism. What works in your family?
by John Wunderli #
Actually, how about a challenge to our readers: what are the Top 10 Things You Can Do With Your Kids For Free?
by Tom Walsh #
John, I like your suggestion, maybe with enough comments we can turn them into a full-length article. Like water to fish, materialism/consumerism is so pervasive inAmerica that we are often not conscious of it. It often takes outsiders to point it out to us (& maybe this recession is now making more of us 'outsiders').
I agree that SixSeeds includes a _lot_ of material that highlights the value of things one can't buy. Compared to most perspectives out there, this site is really not about buying & consuming. But I also think it's a good consideration for us all to keep in mind -- & in fact be even more intentional about weaving in the theme that things, even (note to David) things from Apple, don't bring meaning.
I agree that SixSeeds includes a _lot_ of material that highlights the value of things one can't buy. Compared to most perspectives out there, this site is really not about buying & consuming. But I also think it's a good consideration for us all to keep in mind -- & in fact be even more intentional about weaving in the theme that things, even (note to David) things from Apple, don't bring meaning.
by JOhn Wunderli #
I don't think you can tell a guy that owns an Orc-slaying sword that "things" don't bring meaning.
by David French #
Basically, this part of Tom’s sentence: “things, even things from Apple, don't bring meaning” frightened and confused me.
by John Wunderli #
The last thing I bought from the Mac store was one of those things that you can attach to an iPod and play it through the car radio. The "genius" directed me to an expensive gizmo that, within 20 minutes of use, required the assistance of two elastic hair things to work properly. My experience before that was my wife's attempt to load software to get our Macs to talk to each other -- not only can they not talk to each other, but the Macbook won't talk to the printer now. And all of our Macs are ridiculously slow. I'm beginning to wonder the the Apple Emperor has any clothes.
by Nancy French #
John,
I'm thankful that you were willing to give up your elastic hair things to make the family better in the tech world!
I'm thankful that you were willing to give up your elastic hair things to make the family better in the tech world!
by JOhn Wunderli #
My #1 Thing You Can Do With Your Kids For Free:
(1) Read clever reviews and commentary at SixSeeds.tv
By the way, my condolences to anyone out there who reads the App Reviews on an old Dell PC and a dial up connection.
(1) Read clever reviews and commentary at SixSeeds.tv
By the way, my condolences to anyone out there who reads the App Reviews on an old Dell PC and a dial up connection.
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The new app has a "read-to-me" function as well as a way for your kid to record their own narration!
by Lisa Lamb #