Reviewed by Alison
Ruckus Reader by Ruckus Media is a recently released app aimed at beginning readers aged 4 – 7 years old which provides many of the Rucks Media stories we know and love as well as new content about specific topics such as Dino Dan, Sea World and Crayola all of which have bookshelves of books for your child to read. Each book is slightly different and some of the books include activities like word games, catching objects, making your own story while others in the Rabbit Ears collection feature videos of the actual story. One subscription covers all of the content within each of the app categories which appear on virtual bookshelves within the app. I think the differentiator for this app is that it tracks what your child is reading, how long they are spending reading and interacting with the book as well as the titles of the different books they are reading. The app really encouraged me to read with my son because it helped me pick the right books for him based on his reading level. As children get older the app features books which meet their skill set as well with additional vocabulary words and age/literacy appropriate activities.
I really liked the content included in the app and the ability to switch among each of the different series. It also was nice that in the Rabbit Ears collection the apps included video’s of the app being acted out. We also enjoyed working on the various activities and games which helped to understand and engage with the content in the story. This app helps practice sequencing, word comprehension, word recognition, finding objects, pictures, imaginary play skills and more. The weekly email also provided me with feedback that my son was interacting with the app when I didn’t even realize it looking at some of his favorite titles including one about Sea World. The email also provides suggestions for new books and tips for continuing to read with your child. We incorporate reading into our daily routine both on a print and digital basis and I really liked to coordinate the two together.
One downside of the app is that books in the Ruckus Premium section which include one of my favorites Curious George are not included in the subscription and require purchase at an additional cost. I would have liked to put all the content in my favorite reader so that if I wanted a book not in my current reader the app didn’t have to switch over or I didn’t have to download another reader interface.
Ruckus Reader meets national education standards for children in preschool through second grade and helps you as a parent understand what titles your child is looking at and how they are interacting with the book. By engaging with the book and doing activities, I saw that my son had increased comprehension of the stories, understanding and ability to tell me the story based on pictures as well as being able to pick out specific letters in the text of the stories.
Category: Kid’s Books
Requirements: Compatible with iPad.Requires iOS 4.0 or later.
Cost: $FREE with IAP for content. Introductory 6 month subscription $24.99 US 
(111 MB)
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Ruckus Reader / Register from Ruckus Reader on Vimeo.
Alison
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Alison, Amanda, Grace and Mary are four mothers from different parts of the world dedicated to educating parents about the best digital stories, educational apps, fun games and technology products available for their children. We also offer the latest news in apps for kids, interesting articles, developer interviews, free apps and regular giveaways!
Nichole reads print books via technology due to her disability, some with sound, some without. She also turns on closed captioning in Spanish to maintain her Spanish reading skills.
Yes in my classroom every day we read a book. We do this every day for a month. Then we do projects based on the book.
We read digital books in the evening before bed, after school, in the morning before school- they are a great way to develop fluency for my bilingual child. We read print books sporadically, but no routine, per se.
Since they were born we have always read to the boys at bedtime. Recently we have started reading app books. It’s wonderful to see so many of our favourite books and characters come to life on the iPad. We still read books regularly and for a change to our new routine. Both boys have such a love of books and reading.
We read right before bedtime and if I stray from that he gets quite upset. We very recently have really been enjoying mainly books on the ipad.
Yes we have a daily routine for reading. She has a reader from school and we read a few books on the iPad before bed.
Yes, we read two books everyday for our routine. Books with flips, with stickers… So app.books are perfect : we read and we play !
Yes, it helps to get him in a sleepy mood. I like to use print books while he likes digital ones.
My son loves Dino dan so we downloaded and paid for this app. Highly recommend it.