How to decide which apps are worth the space on the iphone? We can only have 12 pages of apps. When you get to page 11 you start freaking out about app space. The Lego app here is a fun little app. It has a camera and you can bring in a photo. It turns that photo into a nifty little Lego picture in a few seconds. It choses a variety of colors and the user cannot actually move the bricks around. Where is the creativity here? So the dilemma becomes when your app space gets crowded, "Do I keep this app, or chuck it". There are plenty of other camera apps, so what do you do?

This is also a problem when it comes to books or graphic novels sold by each chapter. Each chapter puts an icon on your app page. You could have 6 or 7 icons for one book eating up your app space. Uclick sells most comics, but not all, by the chapter. Lots of icons for you. IVerse Media sells each comic and places it within one icon. A lot depends on your own needs.

Are you choosing apps for educational purposes? If so, look for an app that goes beyond what can be done with paper and pencil. Flash cards on apps. Yikes, no thanks. Find an app that uses the media to make that application fresh, full of wonder, and fun. Get kids interested in the world around them with exciting apps. Deliver a 21st century education. Choose your apps for kids wisely and save your app space for the great apps. Right now some companies are trying to use their old formats to make iphone apps, but they won't get away with that for long. World wide competition is getting too stiff. As the technology improves, the apps will become more awesome.

By just looking at the publisher, you cannot tell the quality of the book. For example, iStoryTime has a variety of book apps available. Some are classics and some are original works. I found the Reading Bug to be a lovely original work. However, their version of Little Red Riding Hood is lamentable. The illustrations are unremarkable. The words are not highlighted with the narration. The story varies from the original with too much unnecessary conversation. They have other classic tales also on the loose in the app store.

The Wiener Dog and the Brave Monkey are both original works published by iStoryTime and have little substance in the story, illustrations, or narration. Frogdogmedia is the parent company of iStoryTime.

The criteria for iPhone books is the same as print books in some ways. A good story is a good story. If the story is a classic, is it dumbed down? Has conversation been added to the story that doesn't fit? It can have a modern twist, but it should enhance the story, either with humor or interesting illustrations, hopefully both. The illustrations should always match the writing on each page.

Audio books, CD's, iPhone, and internet stories have additional criteria. If the story has some sound or music it should not distract from the story. If the story is animated the animation should not be overwhelming. The stories should always have a read to me and a read to myself section that can be turned off and on. In the read to me section it's a plus if words are highlighted as they are read. The story should have carefully crafted illustrations. If it's a classic with a classic illustrations by the author, those illustrations need to be there. The example used here of The Little Red Hen uses beautifully constructed illustrations with a folk art theme. The narration, read by a child, has given the Little Red Hen a clear sparkling voice. In this book the narrator misreads one word on the first page and the words are not highlighted as they are read. However, it does not affect the charm of the narration. The reader can choose narration in either English, Spanish, and Chinese (Cantonese). When looking for the app on your iphone search by Kidzstory although Stepworks is listed as the publisher. Kidzstory also has The Tortoise and the Hare and The Boy Who Cried Wolf. Kidzstory is probably an imprint of the parent company.

After seeing my grandchildren playing with selected iPhone apps, I knew the iphone was not just for adults. I started to put the apps on my graphic novel blog when I realized as time progresses there will thousands of new apps in the next few years, not only for the iPhone, but also the ipad, therefore, a new blog is born.

Some might say children have no business with an iPhone. Put the parental controls on it. Make rules such as sit while using it. Stay in the location where they are using it. Keep an eye on them. In all families situations occur where the kids are going nuts and you need something to keep one of them from freaking out. For us, on a car trip one child upchucked. We needed something to distract the other child from doing the same while we did cleanup. The iPhone did the job. If you have an iPhone, you might as well use it to your advantage.