My Little Pony: Twilight Sparkle, Teacher for a Day is an interactive storybook app from developers Ruckus Media Group. It is based on the Hasbro’s popular line of toys, My Little Pony. “Join Twilight Sparkle, Spike the Dragon, Applejack, Rainbow Dash, and other Ponyville friends in a magical journey to learn about the history of Equestria, the Kingdom of Princess Celestia.” If you’ve experienced storybook apps before, than I’m sure there is a certain level of interactivity and quality that you expect now from a storybook app on the iPad. Luckily, you will not be disappointed with this one. My Little Pony: Twilight Sparkle, Teacher for a Day includes bright, colorful art, full voice overs, tons of interactive elements and activities, and the ability to record your own voice for the voice overs.

The book starts off with several options to choose  from. You can either have it read to you, you can read it on your own, or you can record yourself reading it so that you can play back the whole story using your own voice. You’ll most likely want to go through the story first with the narrator reading it to your child. The narrator’s voice is a pleasant sounding girls voice which will appeal to most children. The voice is clear and concise and I appreciate the fact that the words that are spoken are also highlighted in the story as she is reading it. It allows children to identify the word with how it sounds.

There are numerous points in the book where the static pages are intertwined with animated sequences as well as tab zones where children can interact with the story. It’s a nice touch that more storybooks should employ. Only a few do and those are usually the ones that I find more interesting. The story is also broken up with interactive activities and games that your children can play. They all pertain to the story so it’s not just something random they threw in.

My Little Pony: Twilight Sparkle, Teacher for a Day is a great storybook app that really shows off what a storybook app should be like on the iPad. It embodies everything that you should be looking for in an app of this type. Obviously this app will appeal more to young girls than it will to boys, but regardless of gender, it’s still a good story. It’s a fairly long story meaning it’s not one of those storybooks where they’ll finish it in 5 minutes, which is one of the problems I find with other books. This one actually feels like it’s worth every penny of the asking price.

My Little Pony: Twilight Sparkle, Teacher for a Day is available now in the App Store for $3.99. It is a universal app and is compatible with iPhone, iPod touch, and iPad. Requires iOS 4.0 or later.

Description

MY LITTLE PONY is now available as an interactive storybook to read together with your kids. They’ll tap and tilt the screen in fun activities that move the action forward—learning new words, playing activities and watching videos. Bold graphics, bright colors and the captivating story make “Twilight Sparkle, Teacher for a Day” an enjoyable and engaging way to learn to read, packed full with rich, educational entertainment for beginning readers. They’ll hear their beloved friend, Twilight Sparkle, narrating the tale—or can play together recording their own voices (and yours), for a personalized storytelling experience.

It’s a dream come true for MY LITTLE PONY lovers of all ages. Join Twilight Sparkle, Spike the Dragon, Applejack, Rainbow Dash, and other Ponyville friends in a magical journey to learn about the history of Equestria, the Kingdom of Princess Celestia. Story-driven activities guide Twilight Sparkle and Spike through the story of Equestria to the finale of the Grand Galloping Gala.

Exciting Features
●Move the adventure forward with narrative-driven activities that include mazes and “spot the difference” that teach word recognition, picture/word association and basic problem solving skills
●Finish your adventure with the exciting customize-your-own-story activity
●Touch-driven animations within the story add additional interactivity
●“Meet the Ponies” feature explores the background of each of the story’s characters
●Children can read the story aloud, and—for the ultimate personalized reading experience—record and playback their voice
●“Read to Me” option: Listen as Twilight Sparkle reads aloud to your child
●Words illuminate as they are pronounced for basic word recognition

[via App Store]