Oceanhouse Media is offering low price and free Dr. Seuss apps.

Oceanhouse Media, Inc. has announced that it will drop the price of The Lorax omBook (Oceanhouse Media digital book) to 99 cents and offer the Lorax Garden game for free from March 2nd through 8th in honor of Dr. Seuss’s birthday and Read Across America Day. In addition, 25 Dr. Seuss omBooks will be on sale ranging in price from 99 cents to $2.99 on iOS and Android markets.

The National Education Association’s Read Across America is an annual reading motivation and awareness program that calls for every child in every community to celebrate reading on March 2, the birthday of beloved children’s author Dr. Seuss.

“This is a great time to stock up on classic titles such as The Lorax, The Cat in the Hat, Green Eggs and Ham and Dr. Seuss’s ABC for your mobile devices,” said Michel Kripalani, President of Oceanhouse Media. “All Dr. Seuss omBooks include the original content and illustrations by Dr. Seuss and are enhanced with professional narration, background audio and features that promote reading and word recognition.”

The omBooks feature three options: Auto Play (geared toward younger readers), which plays like a movie by automatically reading and turning pages; Read To Me, which allows users to listen to the narrated story with words highlighted as they are read; and Read It Myself, which lets users read the book in its traditional format.

Dr. Seuss omBooks are consistently ranked at the top of the app charts, with nine reaching the number one spot in the Books category on Apple’s App Store. Recent releases include If I Ran the Zoo and And to Think That I Saw It on Mulberry Street, Dr. Seuss’s first children’s book.

For a list of Dr. Seuss omBooks on sale for the birthday celebration, visit the Oceanhouse Media website starting March 2 athttp://www.oceanhousemedia.com/products/type/sale/drseuss/. In addition to Lorax Garden, Dr. Seuss Band, the Dr. Seuss musical instrument game, is also available for free.

About Oceanhouse Media,Inc.
Creators of the award-winning Dr. Seuss book apps, Oceanhouse Media, Inc. is a leading publisher of more than 300 mobile apps for iOS (iPhone, iPad, iPod Touch), Android, NOOK Color, NOOK Tablet, Kindle Fire and HP TouchPad devices. The company was founded in early 2009 by Michel Kripalani, a veteran of the video gaming industry. Seventeen of the company’s apps have reached the number one spot within their categories on Apple’s App Store. In addition, Google has selected the company as one of its Top Developers, a designation granted to only 150 groups worldwide.

Oceanhouse Media's corporate focus is to uplift, educate and inspire through technology. For more information, visit http://www.oceanhousemedia.com. Follow the company at http://www.facebook.com/OceanhouseMedia andhttp://twitter.com/OceanhouseMedia.

About Dr. Seuss Enterprise, L.P.

Dr. Seuss Enterprises was founded in 1993 following the death of Theodor S. Geisel, Dr. Seuss, to conserve and nurture the works of Dr. Seuss by protecting the integrity of the Dr. Seuss books while expanding beyond books into licensed merchandise. The licensing effort is a strategic part of the overall effort to strengthen and protect the relationship consumers have with Dr. Seuss characters. Theodor Geisel said he never wanted to license his characters to anyone who would “round out the edges”. That is one of the guiding philosophies of Dr. Seuss Enterprises.

How Rocket Learned to read is now an app for iPad!

One of my favorite picture books of 2011, How Rocket learned to read, has now been turned into a delightful interactive app for iPads. Here is the write up about it from Random House. It is available for $4.99, a special introductory price.

The New York Times Bestselling picture book that is teaching kids to read is now available as a playful interactive iPad app. Featuring the original story and artwork by Tad Hills, with delightful animations, lots of interactivity, and two bonus early-literacy games to play, children will be captivated by each enchanting page. Plus, the ability to tap each word to hear it spoken, and other educational elements will help your kids learn and love to read.




Please double click on the image to see the full screen. 

A delightful trio of apps for iPad, iPhone, and iPod Touch

I imagine that some of you bought or received a new iPad, iPhone, or iPod Touch over the holidays, and I want to tell you about some wonderful children's book apps that work with these devices.

PopOut! The Tale of Peter Rabbit is an interactive version of Beatrix Potter's wonderful story. It is a joy to look at, and children will love the way some of the illustrations move. Children can read their book on their own or have it read to them (with highlighted words). Here is a small video to show you what it looks like.



It can be purchased through your device in the interactive children's book category for just $1.99!

There is also a collection of twelve Beatrix Potter books for the iPad that is called Beatrix Potter Collection - Premium Talkie Book. There are not interactive elements, but children can have the books read to them. The titles in the collection are: The Tale of Peter Rabbit, The Tale of Squirrel Nutkin, The Tale of Tailor of Gloucester, The Tale of Benjamin Bunny, The Tale of Two Bad Mice, The Tale of Mrs. Tiggy Winkle, The Tale of Mr. Jeremy Fisher, The Tale of Tom Kitten, The Tale of Jemima Puddle-Duck, The Tale of The Flopsy Bunnies, The Tale of Mrs. Tittlemouse, and The Tale of Timmy Tiptoes. Though there are no bells and whistles on this one, the artwork looks beautiful, just like in the print books, and this app would be wonderful to have during a car ride or plane journey. Costing only $0.99, this is a good deal. You can find it in the children's book category or by using the search.



Another interactive book that I was thrilled to see was the Alice in Wonderland for iPad. The illustrations are beautiful and the interactive elements will hook children on this deliciously bizarre story. You can try the book out for free in the Lite version. Here is a movie to show you what it looks like. The full version costs $8.99



I will have some more children's book app recommendations for you next week. Enjoy!

Random House releases a new app for the iPad

RANDOM HOUSE CHILDREN’S BOOKS AND SMASHING IDEAS RELEASE

FIRST BOOK-BASED CHILDREN’S APP FOR iPAD

Wild About Books for iPad available in iTunes store on December 16th

Random House Children’s Books (www.randomhouse.com/kids), together with leading digital media agency Smashing Ideas, today announced that Wild About Books for iPad will be available in the iTunes store on December 16th. Based on the New York Times bestselling children’s picture book Wild About Books, by Judy Sierra and illustrated by Marc Brown, the app retails for $7.99, but is available now for a special introductory price of $4.99. This is the first product in the partnership between Random House, Inc. and Smashing Ideas, with more interactive digital books based on key properties such as pat the bunny, Little Golden Books^®, and others scheduled to follow in the coming months.

“Wild About Books for iPad is packed full of delightful interactive elements and sound effects that will encourage kids to explore each page and come back to the app time and again," said Chip Gibson, President and Publisher, Random House Children’s Books. “Every scene of the story uses the iPad screen and capabilities to deliver new experiences for readers.”

The award-winning picture book now roars to life in 16 animated and interactive scenes where kids can tilt, swipe, and tap their way through Judy Sierra’s rollicking rhymed story. Readers can choose to listen or turn off the narration and read at their own pace. Whether they’re making monkeys flip, beach balls bounce, animals stampede, or bears burp, parents and kids are sure to laugh, learn, and get wild about books together.

“Wild About Books for iPad capitalizes on a groundbreaking 3-D interpretation,” said Ben Roberts, Director, ePublishing, Smashing Ideas and co-creator of Alice for the iPad. “Marc Brown’s gorgeous illustrations are linked to iPad movements so that each page becomes a scene in a 3-D world that you can twist and turn to intimately navigate and explore.”

Wild About Books, Judy Sierra’s funny animal tale about librarian Molly McGrew, who introduces animals to reading, was published in 2004 to critical acclaim, winning the coveted E. B. White Read Aloud Award. With playful art paintings by Arthur creator Marc Brown, it was also named an ALA Notable Children’s Book and a Book Sense Book of the Year. Having sold nearly 500,000 copies to date, it has found a permanent place on bookshelves in libraries and homes across the country.

Random House Children’s Books is the world’s largest English-language children’s trade book publisher. Creating books for toddlers through young adult readers, in all formats from board books to activity books to picture books, novels, eBooks, and apps, the imprints of Random House Children’s Books bring together award-winning authors and illustrators, world-famous franchise characters, and multimillion-copy series. The company’s website, Kids @ Random (www.randomhouse.com/kids) offers an array of activities, games and resources for children, teens, parents, and educators. Random House Children’s Books is a division of Random House, Inc., whose parent company is Bertelsmann AG, a leading international media company.

Smashing Ideas, founded in 1996, has become one of the leading digital media agencies for the youth market by creating immersive, interactive content that transforms consumer-driven brand experiences in a digital world. Cartoon Network, Disney, GE, Hasbro, Nickelodeon, Nokia, Sony Ericsson, Verizon Wireless, and more have called upon the company to develop engaging, online, ITV, and mobile experiences for their audiences. Smashing Ideas is based in Seattle, with offices in Portland and in the U.K.