App review: A Whale of a Tale!: All About Porpoises, Dolphins, and Whales - Help Kids to Learn About Porpoises, Dolphins and Whales

Reviewed by Elena – I’m a SAHM who is trying to homeschool my 18 month old. I have a BA in Computer Science and Information Systems. My professional background is in quantitative analytics.

Details

This is a wonderful educational app from Oceanhouse Media’s The Cat in the Hat’s Learning Library series. In A Whale Of A Tale , kids get to learn all about cetaceans through rhyme and with The Cat in the Hat,Thing 1 and Thing 2.

The app has two reading modes Read to Me and Read it Myself. Words are highlighted as they are spoken in Read to Me mode. Individual words are repeated with a tap and to repeat the whole page just press and hold. Also for words in bold kids can get a definition when they tap on them. When tapping on the pictures the associated words will zoom up.

There are plenty of interactive elements to engage children’s attention. When Thing 1 and Thing 2 show how differently fish and whale tails move, kids have to tap to see the tails move from point A to point B. Also there is an interactive quiz on whether it is a porpoise or dolphin within the story.

There is quite a bit of information on cetaceans, but it is all made easier for kids to understand with rhyme and pictures. Kids aged five and older will benefit the most from this app. However, the pre-k toddlers still enjoyed the pictures and sounds.

There are social media and other links.

What Elena Liked

The artwork and sounds are wonderful. The controls are fairly easy to navigate. The word highlighting and interactivity are all very useful and helpful to kids learning to read and gaining knowledge. The kids love The Cat in the Hat and so do I. It was great to have some word definitions available with a tap. I also liked the pop-up information with the arrow pointers. For example, showing teeth on the orca and baleen on the right whale.

Suggested Enhancement

I would wish that social media links were removed.

Overall

A Whale Of A Tale!: All About Porpoises, Dolphins and Whales is a wonderful educational app with many useful features that help kids learn about porpoises, dolphins and whales. The popular Cat in the Hat characters and great artwork make this a perfect app for kids.