App Review: A not so Fading Light - Interactive Storybook

A not so Fading Light – Interactive Storybook

Posted on September 7, 2012

A not so Fading Light is an interactive storybook app that tells the quirky story of how a boy and his sister made the sun shine brighter. In this app, your children will learn about different objects and improve their reading skills while being entertained at the same time with the different interactive elements that they can explore.

Details

A not so Fading Light is an interactive storybook app for children that tells the story of a little boy and his sister and how they made the sun shine brighter. The story is told in the usual story book style of full page illustrations with story text and the option of having a voice over narration or not.

The storybook contains colorful and original illustrations which contains different hidden interactive elements that children can explore and discover. Interactive elements range from hidden animations to object names and mini activities. There are plenty of things that your child can tap and tilt with. The story text also employs the karaoke style highlighting and bouncing of the words together with the voice over narration which help children with their reading comprehension. A Not So Fading Light contains a fun and quirky story that your children will enjoy while learning about objects like the sun, a rocket ship, etc.

What iHeartThisApp Liked

The app’s format is the usual storybook format which means that children will not have a difficult time in navigating this app. The illustrations in the story pages are pretty and as quirky as the story which gives the app a unique look and feel. The interactive elements like the hidden animations, voice over name of an object, and mini activities really enhance the experience of playing with the app.

The bouncing highlighted text together with the narration is a good mechanic for helping children with their reading comprehension. The option to turn the narration off is good for more advanced readers. Overall, the app has its visuals, audio, and interactive elements all working together well to create a unique playing and learning experience for kids.

Another great thing is that the app is FREE to download so kids can enjoy this interactive storybook.

Suggested Enhancement

For some pages, tapping certain areas prompts the narrator to say that object’s name like tapping on the illustration of a boy will prompt it to say “Boy” or tapping on the television will prompt it to say “Television”. I noticed that for some, tapping outside but near the illustration of a boy will still prompt the narrator to say “Boy” even if you are actually tapping on a glass on the dining table for example. This might confuse younger users so it needs to be fixed for future versions.