
Diana Dreams about Dinosaurs is a delightful animated title from TouchyBooks. It has wonderful interactive elements that reinforce the cute story about a little girl obsessed with dinosaurs. She wakes up to find all the people in town turned into dinosaurs, from the mailman to her teacher at school. But when the school bell rings, she wakes up again to find her own alarm clock making the noise - she had been dreaming! The book then repeats her day with people in place of the dinos, although they are all still sort-of dino-shaped, amusing little Diana to no end.
Fun things to trigger include making Diana run down the stairs and cross the street with the light properly. There are so many of these fun things to tap (like clocks, light switches, people, cars and trees) that this is also the reason we didn't use this as a bedtime book. It is a great book for any other time of day and can be counted on to keep a child busy for at least 15 mintues. There is also perky narration with upbeat background music to accompany this story. The text does not highlight as narrated, something that would be a nice addition to a future update.
Like other TouchyBooks, this app is solidly made with curled page corners that can be tapped like arrows for page turning (no swipe pages). You can even choose to add this book to your 'bookshelf' within the TouchyBooks reader app (avaialbe free). Once inside the bookstore app there are additional settings available, including a nice page guide which is missing in the stand-alone app. The only thing I'd like to see added to the settings would be a way to adjust the volume of the music.
Overall, this is an neat little book with a cute story, fun interactivity and light animation. The rich illustrations and whimisical plot will please dinosaur lovers, dreamers and anyone who likes a fanciful read about both.
All reviews are of the app, not the platform/device. Based originally on iPad versions. Minor technical details may vary.
Author/Illustrator:
Juan Bautista Quiros
Developer:
Genera Games
Length (time):
10 - 15 Minutes
Based on non-digital book: No
Allows Own Narration:
No
Uses Motion: No
Age: 4 - 10
Languages:
English •
Length (pages):
18 Pages
Diana is a little girl who wakes up one morning to find all the people have turned into dinosaurs. The mailman is a dinosaur, as are all the people on the streets. Since she loves dinosaurs this is all very amusing. Then all of sudden she wakes up again, realizing it was all just a dream.
Orientation: Landscape
Format: iPad
Options:
Read to Me, Read Myself
App Release Date:
2011-04-08
Size: 16.3 MB
Version: 1.0
Lite Version Available: No