- Posted by Johanna on April 26, 2012 at 7:24 am
- Category: Digital and Webcomics
After I talked about the charming children's book Billie the Unicorn last week, I was made aware that it is also available as an ebook for the iPad/iPhone as well as other Macs.
I tried it out on the iPad, and the book has been faithfully converted, adding a bit of motion and sound to the original drawings while keeping the mood and tone of the story. There are two options, 'Read to Me' and 'I Can Read', as well as the ability to access any page directly. The Settings allow you to turn the narration, music, and sound effects on and off separately. If you turn on the hints function, you'll get help seeing which elements respond to a touch (such as the bird in the tree bobbing and tweeting when you tap it); every screen has several.
There's also a mini-game, where each page has a hidden magic blue flower to find. That provides additional value, since it gives the reader a reason to spend more time with the app, even after they know the story. I found returning to the pages, with the flowers and forest inhabitants and the music, relaxing.
The only problem I had was that the app forced me to use a particular horizontal configuration of the iPad. I like it with the Home button on the left, but Billie the Unicorn opened upside-down, so that you had to put the button on right. It's the only app I've seen that did that.
Thanks to the publisher Mobad Games, I am able to announce that today (Thursday, April 26) only, for readers of this site, you can get this app for $2.99 instead of the usual $4.99. Spread the word! Here's a trailer, so you can see more of the art:
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