dr. seuss

There's something about human nature that leads us to scribble silly mustaches on photos of people (and pets). For lazy graffiti artists, there's an app that can handle the mischief for you.

The Official Lorax App for iOS is a tie-in with the new movie based on the Dr. Seuss book about a fuzzy orange creature who speaks up for his beloved trees.

The app only does two things. First, you can hold it up to your mouth and talk with the Lorax's mouth moving along to your speech. Second, you can stick a 'stache on any of your photos.… Read more

The classic story of "How the Grinch Stole Christmas" has come to Android and it translates quite nicely. The interactive, digital version of the book feels very comfortable and familiar complete with the original artwork. Intuitive from the first time it is opened, the app acts exactly like one would hope. For instance, tapping on a characters or item within pictures, yields the pronunciation and spelling. Words are highlighted in red as the narrator reads them aloud and can be reread with a quick tap.

Options include reading the story on your own, having it read to you, … Read more

Here's an anniversary worth celebrating: it was 50 years ago last month that Dr. Seuss published "Green Eggs and Ham." It's since gone on to become the fourth best-selling children's book of all time.

Oceanhouse Media, which for the past year has been turning "Green Eggs and Ham" and other Seuss classics into spectacular apps, decided to honor the event with a 50-percent-off sale. For the rest of the week, you can buy Yertle the Turtle (possibly the best book ever written on the subject of turtle-stacking) for $1.99, the kids game … Read more

Growing up in the U.S. and many other parts of the world, it's hard to not run across at least one of the Dr. Seuss books. Among the annals of children's literature, the late Theodor Seuss Geisel created a wealth of titles that are instantly recognizable for their colorful characters, and even more colorful worlds.

So it's no surprise these titles would one day make their way onto portable, digital reading devices. The only problem, though, is that gadgets like the Kindle, Nook and Sony's Reader, shipped with grayscale screens--a technology that is decidedly ill-fitting … Read more

If you ask me, the iPad's prowess as an e-book reader lies not in pulp fiction, but in kids' books. Think about it: the latest Grisham novel is just raw text, which any old Kindle can deliver. But children's books are all about big, splashy pictures and wild colors--elements perfectly suited to iPad screens.

And needless to say, the iPad can do a lot more than just display static pages. It can read stories aloud; it can enrich a classic tale with touch-powered extras; and it can even render pages in 3D. Let's take a look at five dazzling e-books for kids, starting with an eye-popping rendition of "Alice in Wonderland."

1."Alice for the iPad"  This lavishly illustrated 52-page abridgment of the classic tale incorporates animation like no other e-book to date. Readers can tilt the iPad to make Alice grow and shrink; shake it to watch the Mad Hatter's bobblehead bobble; and so on. The frantically paced demo video (above) is a little over-the-top, but there's no question this is a showpiece iPad app. Thankfully, there's a free Lite version you can try before splurging on the $8.99 full version.

2. Dr. Seuss books  Already among my favorites (uh, I mean, my kids' favorites) on the iPhone, Oceanhouse Media's three Seuss titles--"Dr. Seuss' ABC," "The Cat in the Hat," and "How the Grinch Stole Christmas"--are just that much bigger and better on the iPad. Each interactive story sells for $2.99--quite a bit less than their respective hardcovers (as it should be). Oh, and stay tuned: one of my all-time favorite Seuss titles, "The Lorax," will make its iPad/iPhone debut in about a week.

3. "Jack and the Beanstalk Children's Interactive Storybook"  I think the title says it all, no? The "interactive" part comes in the form of games, activities, hidden Easter eggs, and the like. Gorgeous artwork, read-along text, and a reasonable price tag of $3.99. What's not to like?… Read more

You know what they say about parenting: It's the hardest job you'll ever love. Of course, you might love it a little more if it weren't so flippin' hard all the time. So let's hear it for all the iPhone apps designed to make parents' lives a little easier.

There are dozens, if not hundreds, of such apps in the Store, but I've rounded up five that I consider essential--starting with one that can make injuries and illnesses a little less scary (for you, anyway):

1. Kid Care Your toddler is running a fever of 103. Should you call your pediatrician? Head for the hospital? Wait it out? Kid Care offers medical advice for dozens of common symptoms--everything from bee stings to headaches to wheezing. Based on proven clinical protocols, the app provides symptom definitions and images, care advice, medicine dosage information, and helpful reading material such as "Fever--Myth Vs. Facts." There's also a handy dial-your-doctor button and a location-aware emergency-services finder. My only wish is that I'd had this incredible app at my fingertips when my kids were younger. Amazingly, it's free.

2. Tales2Go A new favorite in our house--make that our car--Tales2Go streams on-demand audiobooks for kids. The collection now exceeds 1,000 titles, including such well-known series as "American Girl," "The Boxcar Children," "Diary of a Wimpy Kid," and "Junie B. Jones." The app is free, as is a 30-day trial of the service. After that, you pay $24.99 for a year of unlimited listening. As someone who's spent that much on a single audiobook CD, I consider that the bargain of the century.… Read more

It's a good time to be a Dr. Seuss fan--and an iPhone or iPod Touch owner. Hot on the heels of last year's criminally overlooked "How the Grinch Stole Christmas" and thoroughly entertaining Dr. Seuss Camera, Grinch Edition, Oceanhouse Media just dropped three new Seuss apps, starting with a spectacular e-book edition of "The Cat in the Hat."

Like "Grinch" before it, this book is animated, narrated, and interactive. Children can choose either "Read to Me" or "Read It Myself" mode, both of which produce the original book's artwork and text--but with a little panning and zooming to lend an animated feel.

"The Cat in the Hat" is not only a great diversion for bored children (and their harried parents), but also a learning tool. In "Read to Me" mode, each word gets highlighted as it's read. When the narration finishes, readers can tap different areas of the accompanying picture to hear the corresponding word spoken and see it "zoom up."… Read more

Somewhere, Theodor Geisel (aka Dr. Seuss) is smiling. "How the Grinch Stole Christmas" for iPhone turns the classic tale into a superb interactive e-book, one that's as much a learning tool as it is an entertaining diversion.

With all the fuss over Kindles, Nooks, and other e-book readers, I've often wondered why there's been so little focus on children's books--arguably the ideal media for a portable device.

After all, what parent hasn't wished for something wholesome to keep young kids occupied during car rides, long waits in a restaurant, endless hours on a … Read more

Maybe I'm feeling extra Grinchy today because stupid iTunes keeps timing out when I sync my iPhone, but I don't like Grinchmas.

In this new game from Oceanhouse Media, you're a disembodied Grinch hand that flings snowballs--or presents, if you're in more of a "Merry Grinch" mood--at houses down in Whoville.

And that's it. The challenge, if you can call it that, lies in flinging accurately: you have to swipe at just the right speed and in just the right direction to score a hit.

If I'm any indication, grown-up players will … Read more