Bats! Furry Fliers of the Night is a joy to behold. School Library Journal praises this app, and Kirkus gave it a star. A 4+ rating is given by iTunes. Seven amazing chapters from Fliers with Fur, Bats of Many Kinds, and Bat Colonies plus more. The chapter on echolocation is stunning. The voice and sound effects can be turned off and on. The many interactive visual effects are amazing. The text is large enough to read, but not highlighted as read. However, a small portion of the text is not read aloud. The text is very informational and uses the correct terminology when needed. iPad only. Published by Story Worldwide. $3.99 (A) Expensive but well worth it.

The Strange and Wonderful World of Ants has a cool feature in which you can adjust the reading level from beginner to intermediate to advanced. The narration is only on the beginning level. The text is large. There is a little ant that looks so real crawling on the screen. When you click on him, you get a message from E.O. the ant. But the narrator does not read it aloud. The art is soft and a little erie. This book has a glossary, list of ant web sites, and ant books. Some reviewers critiqued this book harshly as it interprets the cooperative lifestyle of the ant. However it is a very informative lightly interactive app and well worth the price. iPad only. Published by Amos Latteier. $1.99 (aa)

The Three Pandas Animated Storybook is a sweet rendition of the three bears with an adorable little real Asian Goldilocks named Mei Mei.  Lovely soft music. Their bamboo home is loaded with bamboo furniture and Asian accents. In English and Chinese. Has read to me and read to myself options. Words are not highlighted as read, however, this is a lovely original version of the old story with full animation.  Love the ending as Mei Mei apologizes for her errors. Plus there is a small section giving information about Pandas. Works on all the idevices. Published by See Here Studios. $3.99  (AA) Totally Awesome

From time to time I will add apps that will go on all the idevices that are free or inexpensive. There are universal apps that will go on the iphone for $.99. If you have an ipad or itouch you can also install it on those devices. Sometimes the app is exactly the same as one that is on the ipad, but a lot less expensive. If you install an iphone or itouch app on your ipad it will come up as smaller, but at the bottom is a 1x or 2x that you can make it much bigger almost the same size as the iPad app for which you could have paid $3.99.

The icon says Bella the Great, but the title is Bella Goes Bump in the Night. It has a read to me and read to myself section. It is rated 4+ as it is a story about those imaginary monsters that show up in the dark of night. Each page is a short rhyme and the illustrations show creatures such a minotaurs, sea monsters, or vampire bats. No sound effects or animation. The pages look exactly like photocopy of a hard bound book. The creatures make it a fun little story. Published by Gramercy Consultants. $.99. (RR)

Hildegard Sings for iphone. Also works on the ipad. Music and sound which can be turned off and on. It is also rated 4+ probably because of the topic which is opera. Has a read to myself and read to me section, but words are not highlighted as read.  Hildegard has a problem singing which is fixed with an amusing idea.  For a Hippo, Hildegard has a certain amount of charm. This app has light amusing animation and will delight many young readers. Kirkus Star. Published by One Hundred Robots. $.99. (A)