A mangled message brings more than one surprise ...

Children love a garbled story ... the errors teach as much as they entertain. This book app, created with Kwiksher software, weaves a delightful story with an ending that is full of surprises. The tale begins with Farmer Blue, arriving on his tractor to talk to a little bird, Peko. He tells Peko that he needs to go to town to get three things, plus one 'surprise', although something gets lost in translation as the message travels across the farm ...

This app features simple but crisp and colorful graphics with nice narration (British accent). After meeting Farmer Blue, Peko passes the story on, resulting in a list of items so far off from the original, that the 'surprise' the farmer suggests in the end is (spoiler alert) "ear cleaner". This humorous take on the familiar children's game of 'telephone' is well crafted, including a fun memory game at the end that tests the reader's memory and story comprehension.

Created by author and illustrator Julian Stokoe with print originally in mind, this app is solidly produced and has delightful, polished animation along with light interactivity. Thoughtful design, as well as attention to pacing and placement of graphic elements, provides a seamless storytelling experience in this digital book. Bundled with fun extras, including a game and 'musical jam page', this book is one children will want to read over and over.

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.

Note to readers: This review was expedited by the developer for a fee. The content of the rating/review is the same, but timing of publication has been prioritized.

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