App Reviews: The Jungle Book: Disney Classics - Storybook of the Disney Movie

Reviewed by Diane – With dual BAs in English and Computer Science and a Master’s in Communications from Northwestern University, Diane’s professional background includes Instructional Design, Human Factors Testing, Training and Marketing. She has authored a children’s book that explored how a computer works and has provided training services for Preschool through High School students. Currently Diane is a full-time mom to 3 young people ages 7 through 16.

Details

Disney brings Mowgli, Bagheera, Kaa, and Baloo to life in the app remake of The Jungle Book. The storybook features the rich illustrations of the movie. Text highlights when the book is narrated. Controllable options include music, sound effects, narration, and arrows. Readers can record their own voice and play it at a later time or choose a high-quality professionally narrated option. In addition to reading the storybook, The Jungle Book includes the following four activities: 1) a sing-a-long, painting, a coconut shuffle game (which coconut is Mowgli hiding under), and a playable set of Bongos. You can either interact with the games from the opening screen use the selection hot spots available throughout the storybook.

The story contains the highlights of the Disney movie, smoothly connected to form a 16-minute, 33-screen digital book.

What Diane Liked

The artwork and illustrations are quite impressive. Clearly, this is a quality app that honors the Disney classic. The high-drama scenes from the movie are toned down, making this a calming book we enjoyed as a nice bedtime snuggling story. The music is also very well-done and adds to the reading experience.

Suggested Enhancement

Just as an observation, having the story narrated vs. character voices reciting lines like other Disney apps did seem to take away slightly from the character development and excitement featured in the movie. Where some of the other Disney apps are almost mini-movies of the original, The Jungle Book is a high-quality, well-done storybook remake.