
Goodnight, Goodnight, Construction Site by Sherri Duskey Rinker and Tom Lichtenheld is a classic bedtime story, published in print in 2011. Now, it’s a delightful children’s bedtime app. Created by Oceanhouse Media, this book app has all the same elements children love plus movement, sound effects, and some delightful surprises.
The app brings the book’s illustrations to life with small movements and sound effects, but not so much that they distract from the story. At the beginning, you are able to choose to read for yourself or have a narrator read to you. As the narrator reads, each word in the text is highlighted. A touch to anything on the screen brings up the noun for the object and the narrator says it, including any of the words in the text. Some of the object touches bring up not just the word, but an action as well: a vehicle rumbles, puddles splash, the bird sings. Great vocabulary shows up, with words like “spigot” and “cardinal.” Lest you think that all this might be too exciting for little ones you’re trying to get into bed, be assured that the narrator’s voice is very soothing and the yawning and gentle snoring the vehicles were doing was enough to make me yawn in sympathy!
As much as I love this app for the story alone, the thing that tips it into fantastic is that it allows you to record your own voice reading it. I can just imagine grandparents reading this for grandchildren or a traveling or military parent being able to read their child to sleep from hundreds of miles away. The app also lets you email your recording. This record function is very easy to use. The info section on the home page tells you how to do it, but the interface is so simple that I didn’t need instructions to figure it out. Even better, more than one person can record the story. The voice options screen, accessible through the little blue arrow on the center bottom, allows you to choose which narrator you’d like to hear from. The last person to record is the default for narration.
The only thing I disliked, and it was a preference really, were the home screen buttons for the Bookshelf, which offers an app to corral your OM apps, and Apps, which takes you to the app store. I’d have liked the ability to eliminate these from the screen. I’m a cheapskate, and don’t usually pay much for apps, but this is totally worth the $3.99 price tag, especially if you’d like someone far away to be able to read to your child each night.
Highly Recommended!
This app has been thoroughly evaluated by our staff. Please click on the 'star ratings' tab above, to see how it fared in all nine of our rating categories. See synopsis tab for more details about the storyline.
All reviews are of the app, not the platform/device. Based originally on iPad versions. Minor technical details may vary.
Author/Illustrator:
Sherri Duskey Rinker/Tom Lichtenheld
Developer:
Oceanhouse Media, Inc.
Length (time):
12 - 15 Minutes
Based on non-digital book: Yes
Allows Own Narration:
Yes
Uses Motion: No
Age: 3 - 8 +
Languages:
English •
Length (pages):
20 Pages
Via iTunes:
As the sun sets behind the big construction site, all the hardworking trucks get ready to say goodnight. One by one, Crane Truck, Cement Mixer, Dump Truck, Bulldozer, and Excavator finish their work and lie down to rest— so they'll be ready for another day of rough and tough construction play! Explore animated pictures, learn new vocabulary, and personalize the story with your own narration. With irresistible artwork by best-selling illustrator Tom Lichtenheld and sweet, rhyming text, this book will have truck lovers of all ages begging for more.
Orientation: Landscape & Portrait
Format: Universal
Options:
Read-it-myself, Read-to-me, News on/off, Sound on/off, PageGuide, Recording, Sound Effects On/Off, Interactivity On/Off, Alerts On/Off, Links (under parental gate): Web, AppStore, Facebook, Twitter, eMail
App Release Date:
2014-11-05
Size: 85.57 MB
Version: 2.7
Lite Version Available: No