Two Left Feet
© 2013 Resin
Based on the book by Adam Stower (Bloomsbury Children's Books), this is an app/physical book/ebook combo. If you have a printed copy of the book ($16) you can use your iOS device to bring it to life. The design resembles the Morris Lessmore book/app combo from last year. There are three modes to the app; two of which use the augmented reality features. But if you don't have anything on traditional paper, you can choose the "ebook" mode, and flip through the narrated pages. There are no text scaffolding features. The story is about Rufus, a young a monster who loves to dance even though he has two left feet. It deals with embracing and celebrating differences and finding friends. After you start the app (the same title as the book) you point your iPad or iPhone's device's camera at the cover or the pages of the physical book, and the characters and scenes jump to life. You can move you camera around to explore the animation from any angle. The app will work with any existing edition of the book. In addition, users of the app without the book can print out a special canvas to create the same effect. The app also includes a 2D mode featuring the book’s original illustrations combined with narration. Developed by Resin, an animation and visual effects company based in Australia. See http://www.twoleftfeetapp.com. The story, narration and illustrations are all of professional quality. Need to know: the story is good and the visual effects have a very high novelty effect, but there's no actual interactivity. Other than taking a screen shot, this is a watch and listen type of experience with lots of frosting and not much cake.
$1.99, iPad, iPhone, iPod Touch (240 MB)
Teaches: reading
CTR Rating: 88%