Exclusively for iPad
Little Lilly's Touch Book
Second in the series, right behind Zanny, comes Little Lilly's Touch Book for iPad. It's a fun story that deals with one of the little quirks that many children with autism deal with; sensory issues. The author, Pamela Sloane-Bradbury, has another hit!
This book is vibrantly colorful, the artwork is clean, and the narrator's voice is nice and calm. Interactivity awaits you on every page, as you are introduced to Lilly and her responses to different textures. Ms. Sloane-Bradbury puts it in a way that makes sensory issues easy for a child to understand. You'll find yourself empathizing with Lilly!
By touching the little balloons in the bottom center of the page you bring up the options or settings. In here you can toggle on/off autoplay, music, sound effects, and the narrator. Personally, there are times when I'd like to toggle off the interactivity as well, since my son tends to fixate on it and pay less attention to the story. By touching the little book icon you can easily go to any page within Little Lilly's Touch Book.
Another great feature is that the individual words highlight as they are being read aloud by the narrator. Nice! That helps kids follow along easier, and it really aids kids that need help associating the sound of a word with the word itself.
Touching on any word makes the narrator read the sentence again, in case you missed it.
Have fun tapping on different areas of the pages. See what you can find. There's lots of interactivity throughout the book's 11 fun-filled pages.
I like to swipe to turn pages forward and back. But Little Lilly's Touch Book has so much interactivity, I'm advised that if it was 'swipe enabled' the iPad would confuse some touches as swipes.
I'd also like to see more pages, though I understand this isn't meant to be a novel. This book is kept short so as not to overwhelm children.
If you have a kid with autism (or if you don't) you should get this book. While you're at it, pick up Zanny - Born to Run also. Great books that deliver a great message!
