Thumbelina : 3D Pop-up Fairy Tale - Book App for Kids - Fun Educational Apps for Kids: Reviews, Daily Deals and Giveaways

Looking for a book app to read along with the kids over the Holiday season? Thumbelina the Classic Fairy Tale from H. C. Anderson is always a good choice. Thumbelina : 3D Pop-up Fairy Tale By CluePoint Co., Ltd. Is a book-game app which offers 3D pop-up scenes with RPG (character role-playing game) elements of the characters in combination with interaction for young readers (interaction between user and computer).

Thumbelina has been reviewed by several reviewers at Review for Dev. Overall, this book app presents as a chapter book and stays close to the original from H. C. Anderson. it offers cute illustration and interactive features at the ends of each chapter to engage and entertain the kids.

Opinions varie from one use r to the other and some of the best comments includes: “neat app that totally engaged all of my children”; “A cute interactive story based app”; “The illustrations are lovely” " It includes problem solving, friends helping friends, and following directions"

On the downside this book app that would gain a lot with further improvements such as word highlight, a must have feature to help and support young readers and a better narration with more expression.

Overall it received a 3 Star Average on Review for Dev and following are all the comments.

Thumbelina : 3D Pop-up Fairy Tale is available for download via the iTunes App Store -

Bethany P.: I have spent the last 19 years working as a Speech-Language Pathologist in the public schools. I help kids learn how to speak more clearly or with language/ grammar difficulties. I have my Master's Degree in Speech Pathology. I also have an elementary teaching degree. I have three teenagers at my house. I enjoy trying out new apps.

Rating
What I liked	This is a fairy tale that hasn't been redone as much as other ones have. This makes it more of a fresh story. The narrator voice is pleasant. The games were creative. I liked that the child was helping friends in some of them. The index is a convenient feature.
Suggestions	One of the sentences in the text starts with "and". Sentences in English should never start with a conjunction. That sentence feels more like a fragment. The soil in the game looks like a chocolate chip cookie. If it had more irregular edges, I think it would look more like soil,
General opinion	What a great story! The illustrations are lovely. It includes problem solving, friends helping friends, and following directions. The interactive games fit the story closely. The whack a mole game was especially fun. The arrows that pointed out what the child should do next were helpful.

Libby C.: I am a special education teacher working with elementary students with a wide range of disabilities, including speech language, physical, emotional and learning disabilities. I use apps with my students to motivate and engage them as we'll as to improve skills and remove barriers to learning.

Rating
What I liked	Nice book feel, with responsive page turning control. The text is large and clear. The book is divided into mini chapters with a delightful pop-up page and interactive activity at the end of each chapter. Narration is clear and pleasant. Optional background music can be turned off on each page, including the opening screen. Pop-up pages are fun and mostly relate well to the text.
Suggestions	The chapter book lay-out did not work well for my young testers. They couldn't follow the story because they didn't understand some of the vocabulary and there were not enough pictures on the page. E.g. they did not know the word "maiden" so had no idea what was inside the flower. Some ways to improve kid's comprehension would be having less text and more pictures, adding a pause button in the "Read to Me" mode, and highlighting the words as they are read.Some of the interactions could be smoother and the arrows on the interactive pages do not always point at the correct object to touch.
General opinion	This interactive story book has crisp graphics and responsive page turning control. Optional background music can be turned off on each page. There are entertaining 3-D pop-up activity pages at the end of each chapter. The chapter book pages, with some challenging vocabulary and few pictures, did not engage my young testers. They would prefer a picture book lay-out, with fewer words and more supportive illustrations.

Kerry E.: I am a Spanish translator with a background in editing/proofreading, graphic design and typesetting. My family is very much into Macs, iPhones and iPads. My interests include fitness, cooking and music. I love watching my three kids learn about new subjects thanks to the wonderful educational apps that can be found in the App Store.

Rating
What I liked	I like how you can turn the background music off if you wish, so you can hear the narrator better. The interactive games are spaced evenly throughout the book, and are a nice change from just the narration. The illustrations are really cute and are engaging to young readers.
Suggestions	On page 1, there should be a comma after the word "asked"; Also, I would maybe change the word "asked" to "said", since she says a statement first and then asks a question. The background music is a little bit too loud when compared to the narrator's voice. It is a little distracting at the current volume. On page 19, it should be "in a dark" instead of "in dark". Are on page 20, it should be "such a sweet voice" or "so sweet a voice."
General opinion	This is a neat app that totally engaged all of my children. They were enthralled from the beginning all the way to the end, which is saying something, since it's 32 pages long. The kids loved all of the 3D interactive scenes. This is a great adaptation of the classic fairytale. Wonderful for young children!

Erica M.: I am a homemaker that volunteers on a weekly basis at my daughters school in the classroom. I have a passion for using electronics/apps as a tool for learning. Photography has been a hobby of mine since I was a little girl. We have the iMac pc, the iPad2. And the iPod Touch 5th generation to test on.

Rating
What I liked	This app has nice interaction, even though very little. Very basic and simple. Slow reading. The pop ups are fun and colorful. Like that you can turn the background music off which can be distracting when trying to read. Thumbelina is a cute character, I wish she was more a part of this story though.
Suggestions	This app could really use a word for word highlighter as the story is read for those kids trying to follow along with the words. There are many stories out that have this, and this app lacks it. Also have noticed that the reading is really slow. Its boring, and does not seem to keep the child's attention. Maybe if it were dedicated to be a bedtime story.
General opinion	I think this app is more for younger readers just starting to read on there own. They can "do it themselves". But for older kids, the story read to them will prove to be way to slow and bore them. The Interacting pop ups do not have enough interaction.

Gadi A.: I am married with 5 kids. I myself am 48, my kids ages are between 7 and 22. As a family we use almost every type of app imaginable. Personally I love computing, movies and good music. My wife and I play sports and walk our family dog regularly. I love game apps, reading and media apps.

Rating
What I liked	What I liked particularly about this app is its simplicity. The story follows the traditional Hans Christian Anderson tale, and is true to the original story. The pages are not cluttered with distracting interactions, which could detract from the story. The interactive pages follow nicely at the end of each chapter. My youngest sat patiently listening to the story, but became excited as each chapter came to a close. I really liked the fact that the music could be turned off, allowing the kids to listen intently as the story unfolded.
Suggestions	There are several improvements I would like to suggest. Firstly as a parent and educator I would love the ability for the words to be highlighted as they are being read. My kids liked the story, they did not like the voice of the narrator. Personally I felt that she sounded more like a computer than real a real person. This app would greatly enhanced if the story teller's voice was more enigmatic. One last suggestion is that pages of the book lack pictures and detail. Part of the fun of reading is looking at great supportive illustatrations.
General opinion	This is a nice simple app. The tale is narrated simply and there are no distracting animated images during the story. The interactive pages at the end of each chapter are colorful, entertaining and fun. This app would be enhanced if the narrator was more expressive . My kids enjoyed the story, but would have liked more illustrations, which we all felt were lacking. Overall my kids loved this reading experience.

Julie A.: I'm a speech language pathology. I love using apps in treatment sessions. In my spare time I read, surf the net, play on my iPad, watch tv, and watch movies. I enjoy attending Oklahoma State football games.

Rating
What I liked	This is a great app to work on a variety of language activities with elementary school age readers. You can work on reading, reading comprehension, and other language tasks. The story is broken up with games every couple of pages. The animation and audio is great.
Suggestions	I would like to see more difficult games. The story was too long for younger kids but the games were way too easy for kindergartners and older kids. I would also like to see shorter stories. The games were designed for little kids, but the story was too long for younger kids.
General opinion	This is a great app to work on a variety of language activities with elementary school age readers. You can work on reading, reading comprehension, and other language tasks. The story is broken up with games every couple of pages. However, the games were very simple and easy.

Ontoinette T.: I am a mother of a child with global developmental delays who aspires to one day develop apps for children with special needs for the Apple app market. I love technology and evaluating apps will provide me with valuable insight into the variety of apps that are available and assist me in defining the characteristics of the apps I plan to develop.

Rating
What I liked	I like the emotion the narrartor uses when reading the story. The interactive sections of the book really bring the book to life. I like that you have the ability to pick the chapter of the book you would like to read and the ease of navagating the pages through the use of directional buttons at the botton of each page. I also like that there is an option to turn the music on/off.
Suggestions	I would like to see the words highlighted as the narrator reads and the ability for words to be read aloud when touched. I would also like to see the directional buttons at the bottom of the page illuminate or wiggle as they do in the interactive portion of the book when it is time to turn the page.
General opinion	Overall this is a very good book. The narrator and the interactive portions of the story really make the book come alive. I love that the book saves your place so that you can continue reading where you left off when you were last in the app. Adding word highlighting as the narrator reads and the ability to have words read aloud when touched would make this app even better. Definately a great buy for anyone who loves Thumbelina!

marina w.: I have a lot of interest in the technology sector and love viewing and reviewing apps for developers. I also enjoy seeing the new ideas developers come up with as well as giving my input to improve the apps

Rating
What I liked	I love the graphics and the voiceover matched the age group nicely. The music also was a plus which defently passes as a great tool for helping put children to bed. I like the features of little games inbetween which really allows the children to become involved with the story.
Suggestions	If this is suppose to be an education tool for reading I would add many more features such as highlighting certain words that may seem difficult for the age group which the child could click on and have a voiceover say the word outloud as well as teaching methods for how to read words, and interpret grammar.
General opinion	Overall I thought it was average. For the price especially I would add more books. An app should engage you for a while not a onetime situation. I dont know how complex you intent to make this an educational tool but this app seemed to focus on a basic form of entertainment with reading to put a child to sleep.

Courtney D.: My name is Courtney and I am an SLP. I love working with children of all ages, but find I have a particular passion for children with special needs. I love technology and the impact it can have on the students in the therapy room.

Rating
What I liked	I enjoy the 3D interactions that the user gets to experience while reading Thumbelina. I like the tone of voice that accompanies the story if the user desires to have the story read to them. I like the graphics and detail that are associated with each page. I like the variety of vocabulary that the user is exposed to throughout the story. I enjoyed reading the story and experiencing the interactions. I believe that is a great motivator for the young ones!
Suggestions	Throughout the story there are moments where the sentences start with the word "And". I believe most of the time "And" begins a sentence, the word can be removed and the next word can begin the sentence. If not, the sentence should be combined with the previous sentence. I think that would help with the flow of the story. I think the voice accompanying the narration can be a little slow-paced at times. On page 4, it says that Thumbelina used to sing softly. but why did she "used" to? As a reader analyzing i was curious as to the past vs present tense.
General opinion	3D interactive stories are great motivators for young kids. I love the vocabulary that is within this app and find that it would be a great asset to the therapy room. Those with language goals focusing on vocabulary and grammar could gain insight from this application. There are a few grammatical bumps, but that could also be used as a learning tool. If those errors were updated/fixed, this would be a 5 star app!

melissa r.: An energtic stay at home mum of a toddler, preschooler and school aged kids. I work from home as an accountant when my kiddies let me. Husband is a critical care clinical educator with a passion for sport.We think the ipad is an amazing educational tool. Love discovering new apps that all of us will enjoy.

Rating
What I liked	Graphics are really cute. Children enjoyed the interactive aspect of the app and itnhelped to hold the attention of even the youngest child playing. A classic fairy tale beautifully retold. Loved the feeling of reading a conventional book whilst using iPad.
Suggestions	Narration was a bit slow and computer generated. This led to it sounding slightly monotone at times and losing the attention of the children. Would love to be able to dedicate the book to child on the inside cover to help personalise the story/app.
General opinion	A cute interactive story based app that all of my children enjoyed initially and continue to enjoy. A few minor fixes to the narration would really help to liven this app. Contains a variety of game plays that appeal to both genders and a broad age range.

Disclaimer: Guest review from our partner Reviewfordev.com and Fun Educational Apps was paid an admin fee for its publication.

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Thumbelina : 3D Pop-up Fairy Tale - Book App for Kids

Rating
What I liked	This is a fairy tale that hasn't been redone as much as other ones have. This makes it more of a fresh story. The narrator voice is pleasant. The games were creative. I liked that the child was helping friends in some of them. The index is a convenient feature.
Suggestions	One of the sentences in the text starts with "and". Sentences in English should never start with a conjunction. That sentence feels more like a fragment. The soil in the game looks like a chocolate chip cookie. If it had more irregular edges, I think it would look more like soil,
General opinion	What a great story! The illustrations are lovely. It includes problem solving, friends helping friends, and following directions. The interactive games fit the story closely. The whack a mole game was especially fun. The arrows that pointed out what the child should do next were helpful.

Rating
What I liked	Nice book feel, with responsive page turning control. The text is large and clear. The book is divided into mini chapters with a delightful pop-up page and interactive activity at the end of each chapter. Narration is clear and pleasant. Optional background music can be turned off on each page, including the opening screen. Pop-up pages are fun and mostly relate well to the text.
Suggestions	The chapter book lay-out did not work well for my young testers. They couldn't follow the story because they didn't understand some of the vocabulary and there were not enough pictures on the page. E.g. they did not know the word "maiden" so had no idea what was inside the flower. Some ways to improve kid's comprehension would be having less text and more pictures, adding a pause button in the "Read to Me" mode, and highlighting the words as they are read.Some of the interactions could be smoother and the arrows on the interactive pages do not always point at the correct object to touch.
General opinion	This interactive story book has crisp graphics and responsive page turning control. Optional background music can be turned off on each page. There are entertaining 3-D pop-up activity pages at the end of each chapter. The chapter book pages, with some challenging vocabulary and few pictures, did not engage my young testers. They would prefer a picture book lay-out, with fewer words and more supportive illustrations.

Rating
What I liked	I like how you can turn the background music off if you wish, so you can hear the narrator better. The interactive games are spaced evenly throughout the book, and are a nice change from just the narration. The illustrations are really cute and are engaging to young readers.
Suggestions	On page 1, there should be a comma after the word "asked"; Also, I would maybe change the word "asked" to "said", since she says a statement first and then asks a question. The background music is a little bit too loud when compared to the narrator's voice. It is a little distracting at the current volume. On page 19, it should be "in a dark" instead of "in dark". Are on page 20, it should be "such a sweet voice" or "so sweet a voice."
General opinion	This is a neat app that totally engaged all of my children. They were enthralled from the beginning all the way to the end, which is saying something, since it's 32 pages long. The kids loved all of the 3D interactive scenes. This is a great adaptation of the classic fairytale. Wonderful for young children!

Rating
What I liked	This app has nice interaction, even though very little. Very basic and simple. Slow reading. The pop ups are fun and colorful. Like that you can turn the background music off which can be distracting when trying to read. Thumbelina is a cute character, I wish she was more a part of this story though.
Suggestions	This app could really use a word for word highlighter as the story is read for those kids trying to follow along with the words. There are many stories out that have this, and this app lacks it. Also have noticed that the reading is really slow. Its boring, and does not seem to keep the child's attention. Maybe if it were dedicated to be a bedtime story.
General opinion	I think this app is more for younger readers just starting to read on there own. They can "do it themselves". But for older kids, the story read to them will prove to be way to slow and bore them. The Interacting pop ups do not have enough interaction.

Rating
What I liked	What I liked particularly about this app is its simplicity. The story follows the traditional Hans Christian Anderson tale, and is true to the original story. The pages are not cluttered with distracting interactions, which could detract from the story. The interactive pages follow nicely at the end of each chapter. My youngest sat patiently listening to the story, but became excited as each chapter came to a close. I really liked the fact that the music could be turned off, allowing the kids to listen intently as the story unfolded.
Suggestions	There are several improvements I would like to suggest. Firstly as a parent and educator I would love the ability for the words to be highlighted as they are being read. My kids liked the story, they did not like the voice of the narrator. Personally I felt that she sounded more like a computer than real a real person. This app would greatly enhanced if the story teller's voice was more enigmatic. One last suggestion is that pages of the book lack pictures and detail. Part of the fun of reading is looking at great supportive illustatrations.
General opinion	This is a nice simple app. The tale is narrated simply and there are no distracting animated images during the story. The interactive pages at the end of each chapter are colorful, entertaining and fun. This app would be enhanced if the narrator was more expressive . My kids enjoyed the story, but would have liked more illustrations, which we all felt were lacking. Overall my kids loved this reading experience.

Rating
What I liked	This is a great app to work on a variety of language activities with elementary school age readers. You can work on reading, reading comprehension, and other language tasks. The story is broken up with games every couple of pages. The animation and audio is great.
Suggestions	I would like to see more difficult games. The story was too long for younger kids but the games were way too easy for kindergartners and older kids. I would also like to see shorter stories. The games were designed for little kids, but the story was too long for younger kids.
General opinion	This is a great app to work on a variety of language activities with elementary school age readers. You can work on reading, reading comprehension, and other language tasks. The story is broken up with games every couple of pages. However, the games were very simple and easy.

Rating
What I liked	I like the emotion the narrartor uses when reading the story. The interactive sections of the book really bring the book to life. I like that you have the ability to pick the chapter of the book you would like to read and the ease of navagating the pages through the use of directional buttons at the botton of each page. I also like that there is an option to turn the music on/off.
Suggestions	I would like to see the words highlighted as the narrator reads and the ability for words to be read aloud when touched. I would also like to see the directional buttons at the bottom of the page illuminate or wiggle as they do in the interactive portion of the book when it is time to turn the page.
General opinion	Overall this is a very good book. The narrator and the interactive portions of the story really make the book come alive. I love that the book saves your place so that you can continue reading where you left off when you were last in the app. Adding word highlighting as the narrator reads and the ability to have words read aloud when touched would make this app even better. Definately a great buy for anyone who loves Thumbelina!

Rating
What I liked	I love the graphics and the voiceover matched the age group nicely. The music also was a plus which defently passes as a great tool for helping put children to bed. I like the features of little games inbetween which really allows the children to become involved with the story.
Suggestions	If this is suppose to be an education tool for reading I would add many more features such as highlighting certain words that may seem difficult for the age group which the child could click on and have a voiceover say the word outloud as well as teaching methods for how to read words, and interpret grammar.
General opinion	Overall I thought it was average. For the price especially I would add more books. An app should engage you for a while not a onetime situation. I dont know how complex you intent to make this an educational tool but this app seemed to focus on a basic form of entertainment with reading to put a child to sleep.

Rating
What I liked	I enjoy the 3D interactions that the user gets to experience while reading Thumbelina. I like the tone of voice that accompanies the story if the user desires to have the story read to them. I like the graphics and detail that are associated with each page. I like the variety of vocabulary that the user is exposed to throughout the story. I enjoyed reading the story and experiencing the interactions. I believe that is a great motivator for the young ones!
Suggestions	Throughout the story there are moments where the sentences start with the word "And". I believe most of the time "And" begins a sentence, the word can be removed and the next word can begin the sentence. If not, the sentence should be combined with the previous sentence. I think that would help with the flow of the story. I think the voice accompanying the narration can be a little slow-paced at times. On page 4, it says that Thumbelina used to sing softly. but why did she "used" to? As a reader analyzing i was curious as to the past vs present tense.
General opinion	3D interactive stories are great motivators for young kids. I love the vocabulary that is within this app and find that it would be a great asset to the therapy room. Those with language goals focusing on vocabulary and grammar could gain insight from this application. There are a few grammatical bumps, but that could also be used as a learning tool. If those errors were updated/fixed, this would be a 5 star app!

Rating
What I liked	Graphics are really cute. Children enjoyed the interactive aspect of the app and itnhelped to hold the attention of even the youngest child playing. A classic fairy tale beautifully retold. Loved the feeling of reading a conventional book whilst using iPad.
Suggestions	Narration was a bit slow and computer generated. This led to it sounding slightly monotone at times and losing the attention of the children. Would love to be able to dedicate the book to child on the inside cover to help personalise the story/app.
General opinion	A cute interactive story based app that all of my children enjoyed initially and continue to enjoy. A few minor fixes to the narration would really help to liven this app. Contains a variety of game plays that appeal to both genders and a broad age range.

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