Review: Hey Monster! is a creative story-making app for teaching English to kids.

Bottom Line: Kids will have fun customizing characters and playing games in this app filled with quirky and silly monsters while learning the English language that is almost sneaky because it never feels like work.

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iPad/iPhone (FREE w/IAPs)

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This app has no ads, no external links and a parent-protected subscription area.

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The app opens to a cute animation of monsters building a new monsters with a machine that converts words to pictures. Once through the welcome animation, the home screen accesses several areas including character choice, character dress, the app about section that gives developer credits and a carousel of story packs to choose for play. The free download comes with one story pack to try but a subscription is needed to unlock the rest of the packs. Subscriptions are available in three options: a monthly subscription which charges $8.99 per month, a six-month subscription for $39.99 or a one-year option for $59.99.

For character selection, children can choose boy or girl and switch whenever the mood hits. After gender selection, kids can adjust hair and clothes. During gameplay, children get gifts after completing tasks that contain fun items like hats and costumes to dress the characters. During story play, text is narrated. Storytelling stops at several points for children to get reinforcement with the words they are using by having them interact with the screen. For example, dog, cat and bird are shown with the text. By touching the text of each animal, a small choice is given to users to change the animal colors. "Dog", "cat" and "bird" are also colored differently in the text that is narrated.

After a story has been completed, users are shown a machine and a conveyer belt. The conveyer carries an item and the bottom of the screen has two words. Children choose the word that fits the item and after going through all of the story packs featured words correctly, children are awarded a present that holds an item that can be worn by their characters. Gifts won are accessible to both genders and don't disappear when moving between male or female.

I found no bugs while tinkering with this app and loved its simplicity. Sentences are clearly written and the highlighting of featured words was one of the things that make learning feel easy and natural. The illustrations are blocky and colorful and the interactions children can have with characters before, during and after play give the app an immersive feeling as if they have entered a new world. The only thing I have hesitation with about this app is the cost, but hear me out. $8.99 a month is a nice chunk of change for someone like me who is not a teacher and has children that don't need the help, but $59.99 a year to help reinforce language for either special needs kiddos or for learning English as a second language seems like a great deal, especially knowing that a team of teachers were involved in the making of the app. So, I'm hesitant about the price not because it is too much, but because need will be a driving factor on whether or not users will be pleased with the purchase. Overall, I think it's a strong app and folks can try out the free pack to decide for themselves.