Barefoot World Atlas
© 2012 Barefoot Books
Update Feb 14: Since our initial review (Apr 12) Touch Press has been adding content packs. The two latest include International Football (facts, photos, ranks and stats) and World Art (100 curated works from prehistory to the present day). Featuring a 3D spinning globe interface and the ability to toggle between Japanese and English, this children's atlas makes it possible to zoom in and pull out of a globe view, and to explore surface-level facts and photos on several hundred topics, including basic facts about each country. These facts can be compared with a touch (for example, for Mali) to learn the current time, weather, distance from you (the app knows where you are), and then compare land area, highest point, currency, transport per 1,000 people, and average CO2 emissions. Some of the items include 3D models, but this type of content seems scarce. The Atlas starts with a bang, with an attractive, spinning 3D globe that is fun to just explore. Touch a baseball player, and you can hear a narrated paragraph on the history of baseball. You can also touch a photo icon to see a related photo. Once you've had a look, arrow keys lead you to the next topic, in alphabetical order. Or, you can pull back and swipe to a new part of the world, touching another object to learn more. The highlights feel limited, despite listing about 430 items in the database. In the USA, for example, there are just 21 items, including the Statue of Liberty, some peanuts and a baseball player. If this is truly an Atlas, this selection is limiting. Perhaps, a better title should be "Atlas of tourist attractions." The illustrations are by artist David Dean and the text narration is by the BBC's Nick Crane. The 3D rotations of historical objects come from the Royal Geographical Society. The live country facts are supplied by Wolfram/Alpha and this includes real time weather, providing you're online. All in all, there's plenty to explore, and the spinning globe organization works far better than a book.
$4.99, iPad
Teaches: geography, science
CTR Rating: 90%