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A charming digital book with detailed illustrations and cute characters that teaches children the importance of keeping things tidy and organized.

Available on the App Store

[appimg 577281578]

Available on the App Store

Azawhistle Kids Everything Has A Home is a unique interactive story about a boy named Tejas and his dog Lollipop. Lollipop is no ordinary dog, in fact she is a very wise pup that practices “mashpotato” (meditation) and yoga to help clear her mind. She teaches Tejas how to mashpotato too which leads him to a grand idea in a moment of boredom to clean his room as a surprise for his mother. He soon realizes how overwhelming his messy room can be and devises a plan to find a home for everything. Children help Tejas tidy his room by placing every item in the right place. This fun and interactive app is not only a good story, but one that will teach children the good habit of tidying their own room.

Features include:

  • Very unique story
  • “Read to me” narration
  • Positive message for children

Azawhistle Kids Everything Has A Home has delightful illustrations with wonderful detail to go along with this already unique and charming story. Each page has one or two animated illustrations that are just enough to engage yet not overwhelm children as they listen to the narrator tell the story. The background music is a perfect fit for the story as it enhances yet doesn’t detract from the story.

With various interactive segments, children are able to practice putting everything in its place and this app makes it easy to do. In the first section children are able to explore and tap objects in Tejas’ cluttered room and as they do the word appears on the screen as Tejas reads it aloud. Later, they there is an opportunity to help Tejas reorganize his room by dragging and dropping items in their appropriate place. When each item is put away correctly, a positive “ding” sounds and when something is in the wrong place another sound is played that almost sounds like an “uh oh”. This gentle feedback is a great way for children to learn the process of putting things away, without becoming frustrated and is a very nice touch by the developer

Compared to some interactive digital books, this app may appear to be more simple without a lot of bells and whistles, but it certainly is not lacking in quality. With detailed illustrations, clear audio, and a positive message for kids, this app is great.

Many digital reading apps have educational components within the included activities or in the narration options, but this app is a little different. One of the big educational opportunities lies within the message itself. In this app, children are learning the importance of maintaining their space and keeping not only a clutter free room, but also a clear mind. And while this isn’t your traditional educational subject, it is an important life lesson.

There is also a word recognition opportunity in one of the interactive parts of the story. As children explore Tejas’ messy room, they are able to tap different items to see the word appear as it is read aloud. This is a great way for children to learn new words and practice their reading skills as they explore.

My only complaint with this educational aspect of this book is that it doesn’t have text highlighting to go along with the narration like many other digital books. Adding this feature would allow children to follow along with the narrator and potentially improve their reading skills while enjoying the book.

This story provides interactive components that keep children engaged in the message of cleaning and organizing. Not only do they get to explore all the items in Tejas’ messy room, but they also get to help clean it up which makes organizing fun. There are also various places within the app where cheers and other affirmative audio is played creating a celebration for a job well done which is great for kids.

As with many digital books the added activities often seem a little slim and since this app is aimed to teach children to tidy their space and not have excess clutter it seems counter intuitive to have a lot of excess activities to detract from the story.

While this app is extremely charming with a unique message and great illustrations it is a bit pricey for what you get. The interactive components don’t make up for the price and some older children (kindergarten aged) might easily get bored with it more quickly than younger users. Also since some of the narration options (text highlighting, voice record etc.) that you see in other digital books are missing, it is hard to rationalize the higher price point.

The message, illustrations, and animations in this app were put together very well and with children in mind. There are no advertisements or in app purchase links, however there is an option to share the link via email with others. There is also a small image of Lollipop that can be tapped throughout the story to view various audio options, information, as well as the “share” link and is something for parents to be aware of.

Once the app is opened it takes a little getting used to in order to figure out how to get started. There isn’t a distinct “start” or “open” button on the first page and instead you must swipe to turn the page. Once children are in the story there are paw prints at the bottom of each page that provides access to the next page and helps them get through the rest of the story.

Available on the App Store