Cricket Magazine by Cricket Magazine Group and Carus Publishing – Review & Giveaway

 Cricket Magazine by Cricket Magazine Group and Carus Publishing  is the digital version of the traditional print magazine with some hidden features that you did not see in print.  The app includes a variety of artwork which you can see in various stages before it is put into the final version and contains all of the traditional print magazine content.  The navigation for this includes scrolling across  the top for articles and then scrolling down to read the various stories.  Interactive pieces like the crossword puzzle are interactive and allow you to fill it in on the screen.  The app does offer a chat box option which pulls you to an Internet pages, but no browser is opened.

The artwork and illustrations in the app are well stone and are very interactive by allowing the user to touch, move around, type in words to the crossword puzzle.  Being able to see the artwork in the various stages is also very interesting and helps you understand the artistic process in the app.  The notes and bookmark feature were helpful when looking at the articles and referring back to them.  The magazine format shifts based on how you are holding the iPad making it easy to switch back and forth.  Multicultural stories, original artwork, creative process and development of artwork were all wonderful in this app and really helped to bridge content from print to digital.

The navigation, having to scroll down to read versus across is a little different compared to other magazines that I have used in the newsstand.  In addition, the app does include external links to the Cricket Magazine forum – although it does not launch them via Safari or a browser but rather within the app.  This in some ways makes sense as it allows the conversation about the magazine to continue in a “kid-safe” mode.  The magazine is aimed at children 9 to 14, but parents should be aware of this.

After subscribing this app will automatically make new issues available as they are published. Issues are published monthly, with combined months of May/June, July/August, and Nov./Dec., totaling 9 issues a year. All issues in a subscription belong to you once they have been purchased and are both tied to your Apple account and live on your device.
A beautiful rendition of a traditional paper magazine, only better – being able to interact, understand the “story behind the story”, follow along as artwork is created bring a different and unusual element to the app.   This app brings back memories for me of reading this magazine in the library and waiting for a new release as a child.

Cricket Magazine for Kids by Cricket Magazine Group & Ethervision Category: Education, Newsstand, Children's Magazines Requirements: Compatible with iPad 2 3G, iPadThirdGen, iPadThirdGen4G, iPadMini, iPad 3G, iPadFourthGen, iPad WiFi, iPadMini4G, iPad 2 WiFI, iPadFourthGen4G Size: 34.82 MB

$FREE

Screenshots for iPad

Giveaway

If you would like to win a promo code for this app, please enter via the widget below. Winners will be emailed and must contact The iMums within 48 hours to claim their prize. This giveaway is open to everyone, worldwide, and an iTunes account is required to claim the prize. Please ensure you have read and understand our Terms & Conditions. Good luck!

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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 on their devices. They have a variety of devices including an iPad, iPhone, and an iPod.

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