A monster goes on an adventure to find a lost pair of socks ...

Storytelling just got a lot cooler with this title about a little monster on a quest to find his lost pair of socks. Not-at-all-scary, this is a book app that will enchant youngsters with innovative features and top-notch production values. The little monster 'walks' across the screen with the help of the reader. Arrows in the bottom corners of each page let kids move the main character back and forth to explore  without any actual page 'turning' involved. This fits the medium beautifully and feels fresh and game-like, despite the more-or-less linear storytelling and well-crafted and paced text. This is definitely a 'book' but also something more.

Creative interactive elements are immersive and make the young reader an essential driver of the narrative. The little monster needs help to pull a bridge into place, set sail across the ocean and take-off in a rocket to the moon. The search for his lost socks covers a lot of ground in less than a dozen 'pages', but the plot itself lacks much punch, especially at the end. Text does not highlight with narration (which is in a computerized voice), but otherwise this is a delightful title with a storyline appropriate even at bedtime.

Beautiful computer animation sets this storybook apart from the crowd, so it's not surprising that this app received a special mention for the 2nd BolognaRagazzi Digital Award for 2013:

From the Bologna Book Fair: What the jury said ... Wonderful, whimsical illustrations meet a good story, and an especially clever scroll-like navigation technique. The story, about a child-like monster in search of his socks – is expertly delivered on the touch screen, where pages are replaced by two simple arrows, letting you move with fluid ease forward or backward through the adventure. You help by making a bridge, sailing a boat or flying home from the moon.

Overall, this is a must-download title for any digital kid's library; it's an app that will be requested often by children 3-8. It is also a great app to show-off your iPad - the story is also available (separately) for Chinese, Czech, Dutch, French, German, Italian, Japanese, Korean, Polish, Portuguese, Russian, Spanish, Swedish, and Turkish. The app's website indicates that there is a Google-Play edition of this title, but the link no longer works, so please contact the developer directly to find out if this book is available for Android.

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.