Penelope the Purple Pirate by Melissa Northway and Pic Pocket Books – Review

Reviewed by Alison

Penelope the Purple Pirate by Pic Pocket books written by Melissa Northway is the story of Penelope who loves to adventures with her friends. The book is lightly interactive with the ability to touch on a variety of pictures to have them either do an action or tell you what they are. The book also highlights the text as it is read enabling early readers to practice their skills. This app was chosen for many awards including a Top 25 iTunes book App!

I really loved the fact that this book breaks out of stereotypical roles and that Penelope is a girl pirate who is only limited by her imagination. The narration in the book is well done and engaging to the reader. The illustrations allow children to imagine themselves inside of the book and doing the various activities like steering the boat, jumping in the water and looking for the treasure using Teddy the Turtle. My son and I drew a treasure map and set off on a magical hunt after reading this story. I also really liked the friendship theme that is throughout the book. The parent/teacher guide at the end of the app is really helpful when you read the book with your child to help them think about various items within the story. I also liked that everyone worked together to solve the various challenges in the book like finding the treasure and helped each other to succeed.

It would be great if the various sounds from the pages were somehow integrated into the story as it is read – like the loud creak as the lid is raised on the treasure chest. It would also be great if you could touch the octopus when it is introduced to be pulled to the page with the facts about it and then return back to the story.

This book app is great for children who are working on their imagination or dramatic play skills. The text is engaging and really helps the reader to be drawn into the story. It is a good fit for both boys and girls from preschool to early elementary school. Pic Pocket books is part of the Mom’s with Apps collaborative of family friendly developers. You might also be interested in an blog post that Melissa did about how the children’s picture book came to be. This story has so many different places to explore and treasures to find I hope you enjoy it as much as we did!

Category: Kids Books
Requirements: Penelope the Purple Pirate is compatible with iPhone, iPod Touch and iPad. Requires iOS 4.3 or later.
Cost: $1.99 US (23.4 MB)

Requirements: Penelope the Purple Pirate HD is compatible with iPad.Requires iOS 4.3 or later.
Cost: $2.99 US (23.4 MB)
Please use our App Store button above if you decide to buy this app. It doesn’t cost any extra and a small portion of the cost goes to support the work we do here at The iMums! Pricing was correct at the time of publishing the review but is subject to change so please confirm before downloading.

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Alison

Alison, the American iMum is from Illinois. She lives there with her son and husband. In their spare time, they enjoy playing outside, enjoying nature and of course testing apps and fantastic products on their devices. They have a variety of devices including an iPad, iPhone, and an iPod and her newest device which is an iPad Mini!

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You can email me direct at alison(at)theimums.com