Rosie: Yellowstone's Most Famous Bear is a truly breathtaking digital book. Not many iPad/iPhone books are just made of photos, but this book, by wildlife photographer Max Waugh, is really delightful. The photos follow Rosie, a bear that lives in Yellowstone near the Roosevelt area. This bear is one of several over the years to be called Rosie, and visitors to the park love to sight her and her cubs.

The book begins with a large footprint. My son was captivated. Who made this print, we wondered together. I asked him, "Was it a person?" "No!" he said, laughing at my silliness. After photos of a bison & an otter, we come upon the maker of the footprints ... Rosie! The book explains her red ear tags and a brief history of how she came to be known as Rosie (her mother was a 'Rosie' and she was once one of Rosie's cubs). Then the story follows Rosie as she teaches her cubs many skills, like how to find food and keep themselves safe when a wolf comes along (by climbing up a tree).

This was a wonderfully educational story to share with my son, and while I liked it very much, there is a bit of room for improvement in the overall presentation of the book. The text is often in white boxes, which is okay but would be much nicer if it was just text at the bottom of the page to let the reader see more of the gorgeous photography. I also had a problem with the book not re-setting to the beginning after being read.

Otherwise, the book would probably be even more amazing if it just had optional narration and possibly even music. I kept thinking how nice the experience would be to have a book like this not only narrated, but with the option to have the text disappear entirely, letting me just absorb the visual experience through the photographs. The page turn was simple and easy to use, although a way to navigate through the pages or even auto-play would be nice.

But these are just little changes in an otherwise amazing book of photography. It is great for bedtime, too. My son seemed to really like the vivid photographs and didn't complain at all that the book failed to "read by itself". I look forward to more high-quality titles like this from such a talented photographer.

All reviews are of the app, not the platform/device. Based originally on iPad versions. Minor technical details may vary.