Reviewed by Grace
Sneaky Sam by Sneaky Sam Productions is an instant winner with its playful characters, distinctive style of illustrations, upbeat music, fun bonus games and a cute little story about Sneaky Sam who likes to tease and play silly little tricks on his parents, friends and pets . He hides in the cupboard (this is a classic one), puts a fake spider in a friend’s lunch box, scares the pigeons and does the opposite of what his mum wants. But the truth is, Sam is just a nice little boy who wants everyone’s attention.
With 4 children, you can imagine how many pranks have been played on me! Sneaky Sam reminds me of the little acts of mischief that my kids did (and still do) to entertain themselves – many funny ones, some irritating ones and a few with permanent consequences. At times, I wish I had kept a journal of their cute and imaginative play that I can reminisce with them now. When I recently asked the older ones why they did some of the silly stuff, they couldn’t remember. So if you are having a hard time dealing with your child’s pranks, just remember that all these will come to pass as they mature.
Nonetheless, I wanted to seize the opportunity to educate my preschooler. I wanted him to be able to think of the consequences before acting. He surprised me when he asked why Cooper (Sam’s first best friend) was so angry in one of the scenes. He didn’t talk about what Sam did and I thought to myself – wow! I didn’t even have to highlight how Sam’s actions affected others. The opportunity to talk about what is nice to do and what actions can hurt others came so easily.
The story is simple and short (with only 10 pages), just right for a young child. It’s also good that there isn’t too many animations and interactive spots on every page to take over the story but when they don’t contribute to the plot, they can be distracting all the same. A good compromise is to allow these fun elements to activate only after the narration has finished. Like all good quality storybook apps, Sneaky Sam offers two reading options for the readers – Read to Me and Read by Myself, both with individual word highlighting. There are also 3 bonus games included – Stickers (you can share your child’s creation on the developer’s sticker gallery), Matching Pairs (a few games of 8 cards for matching) and Find Sam (his position changes so every game is different).
Illustrated by award-winning illustrator Binny Talib (the app has been shortlisted in the Qantm Design Awards 2012) and narrated by well known Australian actor Felix Williamson (of Me & My Monsters and Happy Feet fame), Sneaky Sam is a superbly produced storybook app. I was really amazed to find out that the illustrator used only 3 primary colors (red, blue and yellow) besides black and white to bring the story alive.
Overall, Sneaky Sam is an exceptionally well made storybook app that is both fun and amusing to the young readers. We may never understand why young children like Sam, finds pleasure in seemingly meaningless acts but I know for sure that they are all done in childhood innocence.
Category: Books
Requirements: Compatible with iPhone 3GS, iPhone 4, iPhone 4S, iPod touch (3rd generation), iPod touch (4th generation) and iPad.Requires iOS 5.0 or later.
Cost: $ 2.99 
( 108 MB)
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A fee was received to expedite this review to the top of our waiting list but this payment has not influenced the objectivity of the review and all opinions have been offered honestly.
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Grace
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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!
My students can be very mischievous and sneaky. Sometimes they like to hide things and they like to try and fool me when answering questions.
my kids like to sneak fruit after theyve already had a bedtime snack, but really, how can i be mad?
My daughter sneaks into the bathroom and floods it!
My kids try to sneak and get my California Raisin Men!
I had one group of students who were sneaky by trying to push the limits the first time I worked with them. I put a stop to that ASAP!
I’m a child at heart and out-sneak my therapy kids! I love to see their big eyes and mouths agape when they catch me doing something sneaky… Lots of laughs!
My daughter may have cerebral palsy, but she can be extremely sneaky finding ways to evade things she does not want to do. Even with pneumonia, she finds a way to pull off the mask for her breathing treatment. Any child can be sneaky! :-)
I had a child try to hide all of the crayons they broke in their desk after they finished their art project but when it was time to put all the supplies away they got “caught”
pretend not to know the right answer :(
My son tries to be sneaky by taking peeks at the movie that his sister is watching on the Ipad when his consequence is no TV.