Title: Little Red Wagon
Developer: Night & Day Studios / Cat Doorman
Compatibility: iPad // iOS 6.0
Size: 178 MB
Description: This app features a Portland duo -- the iOS app developer Night & Day Studios teaming up with musician and artist Julianna Bright (AKA Cat Doorman). They join forces to turn one of the songs from the Cat Doorman Songbook, the classic "Little Red Wagon," into a musically-based interactive experience.
The app follows a girl and her little red wagon (natch) as she travels various places -- the bakery, the dairy, the orchard -- while the user moves various foods at those stops via touch and drag into the wagon. All the while, the song (with one of three different arrangements selected at the beginning of the app) plays and the notes and lyrics are shown at the bottom of the screen.
Bright's illustrations are lovely, and the app does a nice job of translating the static drawings into kinetic action. Also nice are some of the little interactive touches the un-curious might not discover. (The cow poop was a cute touch.) Some might find the relative lack of flexibility in the app -- can't go backwards, just a single song, even the comparatively long timeframe of the song itself -- frustrating from a parental perspective (though I could see others viewing those as a net benefit). Once a child has "mastered" the app and tires of it, there may be little reason to try it again in the future.
But the app is undeniably beautiful and well-done. Parents looking for a slightly more "organic"-feeling app in its artwork and music should definitely investigate further.
Age Range: 2 through 6
Price: $2.99
Link: iTunes
Note: I was provided a copy of this app for possible review.
