App review: Bambi: Disney Classics - A Story of Bambi

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 delightful story book app with beautiful illustrations. The story follows Bambi as he is just born and finds new friends. Bambi and Thumper explore the woods and discover new things. This story is appropriate for very young children as it does not include the hunter incident. Older children will also enjoy the included activities. The app can be personalized with your child’s picture and a name in the “This Book Belongs To” label.

In the settings, you can switch the story to Read Myself mode. The default is Read To Me mode. The narration is very pleasant and words are highlighted as they are read. Also, when tapping on some things and characters in the illustrations the names appear. For example, tap on Bambi’s mother and the word Mother appears. You can record your own voice narration. Background music and sound effects can also be turned on or off.

Matching Game
This has 3 levels of difficulty. Kids have to match flowers of the same color. After all of the matches are made the flowers turn into butterflies and fluttered away. A cute surprise.

Paint
There are 6 beautiful illustrations to color. You can zoom into each quadrant of the picture making it easier for kids to color within the lines. The pictures may be saved to the iPad.

Music
There are 3 modes; listen, learn and play. Children tap on the meadow flowers to play a tune.

What Elena Liked

Controls and navigation was fairly easy. The animation of the illustrations really made the story come alive. For example, Bambi blinks, twitches its ears, Thumper scampers around and birds fly from one scene to the next. Some words were also given special effects. The word shaky, shook when it was read. Likewise, the word reflection got its own shimmery reflection. My daughter loved my narrated recording of the story.

Suggested Enhancement

The coloring section had a link to email which I would prefer not be available. The information section had a rotating banner advertising other Disney apps with links to the app store. I would like to see this part made less accessible to children.