Kids' app review : Boj interactive ebooks

You may have noticed my review earlier in the week for the new Kate & Mim-Mim Funny Bunny Fun app, but they weren't the only CBeebies characters to show up on the kids' ipads last week. We also received a trio of interactive ebooks to review featuring the cheeky Boj :  Boj- Hoppy Birthday, Boj- Musical Mayhem and Boj- The Collector. All three apps have been getting rave reviews - Musical Mayhem won the 2015 iKids awards for ‘Best eBook’, whilst Hoppy Birthday hit the No. 1 spot in the iPad Book charts and Boj - The Collector reached No.1 in the iPhone Book charts.

So what did we think? Well, the Madhouse Mini-testers have been a bit spoilt when it comes to ebooks because they have had some really innovative, complex ones to review, involving proper arcade games or even the ability to use the ipad's camera to project yourself into the story. The Boj ebooks get back to the more traditional, simpler format - you get a lovely story that you can read yourself or have read to you, along with some fun animations and a few interactive scenes.

The little activities are well integrated into the stories, for example putting together a musical instrument or looking for certain objects in a messy bedroom which are actually part of the storylines. Pierre had great fun helping out Boj and his friends in the different adventures.

All three of the immersive Appbooks feature the original voices and songs from the series as well as the voice of legendary pop icon and actor Jason Donovan (who provides the voice of Pops in the TV series) as the narrator. This was a nice blast-from-the-past for me as it reminded me of my days as a carefree teen watching Neighbours twice a day ! 

Another nice feature of the apps is that they contain no in-app purchases or external links, so parents can rest assured that their children are safe to explore the books with no nasty surprises! I'm not really sure how much staying power they will have because, once you've read/heard the story a few times, you know what to expect, but at the moment Pierre (and Juliette when she thinks nobody is looking !) is having great fun playing with them, joining in on the singalongs and "reading" the stories. Anything that combines fun and educational elements has to be a good thing !

The apps are available separately for £1.49 each or as a bundle, costing £3.99 for all three.

star rating : 4/5

for ore information : https://itunes.apple.com/gb/app-bundle/boj-a-bundle/id917671508?mt=8

Disclosure : We received codes for the apps in order to write an honest review.