The Cat in the the Hat is back! A new and improved version of this Dr. Seuss book is available as an iOS app July 16, 2015. This is not just an update on the original book app, it is entire separate app for those who want a little more interaction. 
Ocean House Media let me preview the app for review. My 4 year old son and 6 year old niece took turns holding the iPad for each page. They did it all on their own without help from me. I just watched as they played.
It was a little tricky for them to learn when activities/games were available to play. After hearing the words on the page, children can tap the objects to hear the word. The objects move and make sounds. Children keep tapping until they find a hidden star in each scene that will open the activity. The trick here is “scene” not page. Many times the narrator reads a paragraph but clicking the arrow just brings more words for that scene. The kids thought there would be a new game each time the narrator paused so they kept tapping items expecting to find the star and game. We quickly learned that the game star will stay in the lower right corner if you have already played it for that scene. Once you turn the page to a new scene, the star goes away and you need to find a new one. Just explain that to your kids and they’ll get the hang of it.
The interactive activities/games were simple enough for my 4-6 year olds. Recognizing letters and sounds is helpful. The games encourage letter recognition and rhyming. This book is quiet long so I did notice they used the same game style several times throughout the book. There are 30 + short games/activities. At first I was disappointed because I expected a new game style on every scene. Then I realized it was helpful to have the same styles because kids learn from repetition.
I also loved that it has a parent section that shows you the reading stats of how many minutes and pages your child has read.
My kids made it through the entire book and had fun working together to solve the games.
SIDE NOTE: I have to tell you I used to have the old CD roms of the Dr. Seuss books. We loved the Dr. Seuss’ ABCs book. Every page had several interactive objects and sounds. When the original Dr. Seuss book app came out we were a little sad that it only reads to you and tells you the words when you tap on objects. I was hopping for more interaction, and now we have it with this new, improved app. You’ll find a lot more sounds, moving objects and interactive activities throughout the book.
You can download it from the app store here. It is worth the $4.99 for the hours of fun and learning your little one will have.
See the Dr. Seuss Read and Learn app in action here:
Disclaimer: I was able to preview this app for free for review purposes and was not compensated to write this post. All opinions are my own.
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