Blue Planet Tales – History, Nature & Science Children´s Bookshelf

This is a great app that allows the use to explore a number of different non-fiction stories from across the world and in history. Each story highlights either a specific moment in history, science, nature or people organised via geographic relevance. The look and artwork in the app itself is fantastic making it extremely engaging to the user. There are a number of features that go bout enhancing the stories and the understanding of the facts that will keep users engaged throughout the whole app. The app itself is very easy to use and navigate through and although there are no instructions accessed in the app it has clearly signposted sections to move you from one section to the other. 

 

On opening the app you are given a main screen, very well designed and illustrated that displays a 2d map of the world with lots of smaller icons denoting the stories that can be accessed, in their correct geographic location. Immediately this is eye catching and tempting the user into discovering more. The icons themselves are cleverly designed to give an idea as to which story relates which picture. On scrolling down, underneath the map, there are small snap shots of each of the books that can be accessed. In total there are 15 stories and currently two of these Laika the Little Astronaut Dog and Apollo 11, a Man on the Moon are both free. The other stories range in price from 0.79 to 1.49 which is good value for money. You can also get a decent sized preview of the stories so you can see if you wish to purchase it. 

 

At the top of the screen there are a couple of further options which help the user to navigate successfully through the app. The first is a tab for the library. This will take you to a different page where the books you have purchased appear on a bookshelf. Again the design of this page is appealing and adds to the appeal of the app.  It is also easy to move back to the main screen from any page in the app by clicking on the home button. Again, the developer has tried to make it as simple as possible for the user to access this app. 

Further along from the library tab at the top of the page there is also a score tab that highlights how many questions you have correctly answered in each of the books you have available to you. In total there are ten points available for each book and the questions within the books help to analyse comprehension of the stories themselves. To the right of this there is a filter tab which allows the user to filter the stories between: adventure, science, history, nature and famous people. This is a great add-on especially if you have an interest in one specific area such as adventure stories. Finally, on the top right hand side there is an option to change the language from English to Spanish or Latin American Spanish.

 

The main focus of the app though is on the story itself and rightly so as this is where the quality really lies. Once you have selected a story you are taken to the book where you can choose from three options. You can have the story read to you, read it yourself and leave it on autoplay. These options allow the book to be differentiated for however a user wants to access it. They may to want to use it with a parents so they choose to read it themselves or they may wish to do it more independently but require some help so want it read to them or they just want to attempt to read it themselves. One small criticism I would have in this area is the choice of wording for the read it yourself selection. Currently it is ‘I read it’ which although isn’t grammatically incorrect it may flow better being titled ‘Read it myself’.

 

Once you have chosen how you want to access the book the story loads and though this feels like it can take a while to do so (maybe a small improvement needed here) it is definitely worth it. The high quality illustration continues throughout the stories and on each page there is also an added extra interaction in the illustration once the user clicks on the page. This is a small animation of the illustrations that really adds to the quality and enjoyment of the story and is a great bonus when you realise this is possible. After so many pages there is a simple comprehension question to check the users understanding and offers a point of discussion if this story is being undertaken with a parent. There is no option to differentiate the questions (which would further enhance the story) however they have been chosen well for the average level of the targeted age range. 

 

The real bonus of the stories is that they are entirely factual but also written in an entertaining and engaging way rather than just giving fact after fact in an uninspiring way. At the end of the book there are also further questions to create conversation and deeper learning around the story but as with the questions throughout the story these can be ignored if the user prefers. 

 

Overall this is a well-designed and thought out app which brings real stories to life in an engaging way. Although there are 15 stories available I for one hope that the developers continue to add to this.