Bottom line: Millie is a cute, silly, quirky dog on an adventure that’s engaging to read and explore. Build a time machine with soda bottles and rescue the cutest “dinosaur” ever, all while interacting with the story in creative ways on every page.
If you'd like to take Mille and her adventures (iPad/iPhone, $1.99) home with you, please use this handy little link so they'll know who sent you:
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It was just about a year ago when I first tried
a Millie app. I was hooked right away on the creative
interactive elements, the
storyline — and of course, the adorable dog Millie! Millie’s Crazy Dinosaur Adventure is the latest Millie adventure, and it’s just as much fun as I hoped. The dinosaur adventure may
be crazy, but it fits right in with the wacky Millie.
For those new to the Millie scene, Millie is a cute little mutt who is depicted in full color photographs. These photos of Millie and friends are interspersed with drawings and creative elements for a very engaging app story.
It’s really unlike any other app book, yet it
maintains the storyline even with all of the action. There are fun games,
called a “story switch,” interspersed throughout the app. One section involves
Millie and friends playing party games like Meow-sical Chairs and Bean Bag Fish
Toss, just like would happen in a real birthday party. After the games finish,
the story returns with “once they finished playing games,” and a sardine swirl
birthday cake with glowing candles is ready to eat.
The narration is great in this book, and the words are highlighted as it’s read aloud. It’s just the right pace — not so slow as to be distracting, but not so fast that younger readers can’t keep up. The book also uses excellent vocabulary and sentence structure, something I find necessary in quality children’s literature.
The set-up of the book also makes it perfect for use in speech-language therapy. I work a lot on
prediction and problem solving,
and elements like a curtain to raise to see Millie’s solution allow me to
linger on a page to have students generate their own possible solutions. There are many opportunities like this, along with opportunities to answer many questions, retell the story, and practice description skills.
There’s even a silly hidden sticker to collect on each page (a fossilized hot dog, ancient underwear, even an ice age donut). The user can view the collection on the “Stickers” page from the menu, always available at the bottom of each page.
Millie (and developer Megapops, of course!) have
developed interactions that are amazingly creative and engaging. They fit so
seamlessly into the story, and make it worth playing. Some scenes create a “choose
your own adventure" feel, like choosing where Millie’s time machine should land.
These interactions keep the story fun, and provide a model for other app
developers on how to make creative interactive elements. May “tap to make a
sound” interactions go the way of the dinosaurs.
The settings section is behind a parental gate (to make sure the user isn’t a child or dog!) and includes helpful settings: read along text on/off, music on/off, and an overall volume control for music and sound effects. Really, Megapops won my heart with the ability to turn off the music separate from the sound effects. The ability to control the overall volume is like frosting on the birthday cake.
Every child who likes to read books on the iPad should have the privilege of reading about Millie. It’s silly fun, and good for entertainment and education. Don't miss out on Millie!
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Heather H. thinks there may be many sticker-worthy finds (fossilized hot dog?) hidden around her house, too. SmartAppsForKids.com was paid a priority review fee to complete this review in an expedited manner.
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