Just a Day at the Pond by Mercer Mayer is a book in the classic Little Critter series. Book apps are a great way to promote literacy, encourage imagination, and learn new vocabulary words. A book from a classic series helps kids engage in the story quicker and easier. Although it is designed for children ages 2 to 5, a classic book like this can bring back memories and is great for the family to enjoy together.
This book is a great way to get you in the mood for summer. After our long winter here, it’s refreshing to read a warm weather story. In this story Little Critter takes a visit to his grandparent’s farm. He got to go fishing and catch frogs. He was a little hesitant to get in the water to go swimming, but eventually his grandfather helps him learn to swim with the help of some bees.
Just a Day at the Pond features three reading options: 1) Read to Me; 2) Read it myself; 3) Auto Play. In the first two selections, the reader needs to turn the page by swiping sideways on the screen, the third selection reads through the book and turns the page for the reader, a great option for the little guys when they want some independence with the book app.
In all three reading styles the reader is able to interact with the pages by tapping certain words or objects and the book will read what that word or thing is out loud.
There is a parent section with instructions for the book. In order to enter or ‘unlock’ access to this section, it asks you to follow the simple instructions such as “swiping the screen with two fingers to the left”. Copyright information and information on the eBook publisher can also be found on this parent screen.
When in one of the first two options (read to me or read it myself) there is an arrow in the bottom left hand corner. When you select this area you will see an option menu come up letting you choose to go back to home screen, to look at the pages in the book from a glance, to record your own narration, or to open another options menu. In the options menu you can turn off sound effects and turn off the ability to tap on pictures, good features for kids who want to read themselves. The voice recording feature is a great way to give your child a familiar voice when they are listening to the story. You read the story while it records your voice, then it stores that reading as an option in place of the automated narrator voice.
Daisy’s Comments:
This is a great book for toddlers and preschoolers. My favorite feature of this particular book app is that it has creatures hidden throughout the story. There are 24 mice and spiders to locate throughout the story. The book tally’s up the number you find throughout the book giving you the total at the end. A great way to add another dimension to the interactive story feature.
Just A Day at the Pond is available for iPhone, iPod and iPad. It is $1.99 on App Store. For print book, you can find it on Amazon. The Amazon button below the Netflix giveaway will lead you to the print book.
Look for more classic stories like this? Here are more classic story books for kids that you can read on your mobile devices:
1. Little Critter Collections of 10 Stories
2. 6 Dr. Seuss Books Teaching Kids Social Skills
3. 4 Dr. Seuss Books of Great Imagination
4. Dr.Seuss Short Stories Collection
5. iReadWith Caillou Series
Thinking about going beyond books? Below are some classic movies that are available on Netflix now. The Netflix app is free, and you can try it one month for free. Plus, thanks to Netflix, one lucky reader will have chance to win 3-month subscription for free. To win the free 3 months access to Netflix, simply leave a comment on this post telling us your favorite classic childhood story, be it a book or a movie. All entries entered before April 30 are eligible to win. We will announce the winner at this post on May 1.
The winner is – Corey Olomon. Congrats!
Classic Movies Currently Available on Netflix:
1. The Many Adventures of Winnie the Pooh
2. The Care Bears Movie
3. The Smurfs and the Magic Flute
4. Strawberry Shortcake
5. Curious George
6. Sesame Street
7. Dumbo
If you would like to check it out or purchase it, please use the App Store link provided below. The cost is the same to you, but iGameMom gets a small percentage. Thanks for your support! Note: The link works for all countries.
Today’s app is reviewed by Daisy Simpson. Daisy is a proud mom to an active toddler and works part-time in a hospital where she utilizes technology in her work with helping kids cope in the medical setting. Her family loves being outdoors experiencing all Minnesota has to offer.
Berenstain Bears
I love Clifford the Big Red Dog always my son favorite
scooby doo
I love the Little Mermaid!
My all time favorite is Scooby Doo (& still is! lol)
I loved Winnie the Pooh
How do you pick just one! One would be Make Way for Ducklings.
Thanks for the giveaway!
The Little Engine That Could is my all time favorite.
janetfaye (at) gmail (dot) com
I loved Pokey Little puppy
My favorite was Tom and Jerry.
I always loved the Stephen Cosgrove stories…Squeaker the Squirrell and Fanny the best. I have been looking to buy them for my kids lately.
Hand Hand Fingers Thumb
I love “The Little Mermaid” the best!
I remember loving The Little Engine That Could.
We love the Winnie the Pooh books.
punky bruster
I used to love the Frog and Toad books. Frog and Toad Are Friends was my favorite. 🙂
My favorite was the velveteen rabbit
I loved the giving tree and anything else shel silverstein
my favorite classic childhood story has always been Hansel & Gretel
Kathryn C
i liked anything by rohld dahl
Little Red Riding Hood is and always will be my favorite!
Cinderella was my favorite
Charlie and the Chocolate Factory was my very favorite book.
shawn113(at)hotmail(dot)com
Anne of green gables
Liked the Boxcar Children books.
curious george was a favorite
I loved Nancy Drew books!
I’m with everyone that can’t decide! I love the Boxcar children books, Anne of Green Gables and the Chronicles of Narnia.
Madeline
Charlottes web! I just watched the movie with my kids 🙂
I had many favorites. I loved Clifford, boxcar children, and Nancy drew to name a few.
The Rainbow Fish.
I like Curious George books.
Hard to decide on just one favorite story! I love The Little Mermaid, Anne of Green Gables, The Wilderness Family…I could keep going!
I am with you. Thanks for the input.
i loved where the wild things are.
My favorite has always been Charlotte’s Web.
My favorite childhood book was Where The Wild Things Are and my favorite movie was The Secret Garden.
Charlotte’s Web!
My all time favorite book from childhood is one that isn’t widely known, its called Strega Nona, and its about an old italian “witch” who makes a bubbling pot of spaghetti that gets out of hand and floods the entire town! I grew up with my own Italian grandmother, and this book always reminds me of her.
what a fond memory. Sounds like an interesting book.
My favorite classic childhood story is James and the Giant Peach.
I love Winnie the Pooh!
I loved “The Pokey Little Puppy”, “A Kitten for Kim” and “The Hungry Caterpillar.” It’s hard to choose. kristiedonelson(at)gmail(dot)com Thank you!
I love Anne of Green Gables, in both the book and the movie!
I always loved Lady and the Tramp!
thank you
When I was a kid, there was this after school special called Fluppy Dogs. I recorded it and watched it hundreds of times! It’s still not available on DVD, but you can see it in clips on Youtube!
coriwestphal at msn dot com
Corduroy was my favorite children’s story.
101 Dalmatians
Sleeping beauty, my first movie
Definitely would be Lion King 🙂 Long time favorite in our homes~!!
My favorite childhood movie was Mary Poppins!
When I was growing up I like the story, the Red Balloon.
I had many favorites growing up! I loved The Very Hungry Caterpillar and the Ramona series.
the book I love you forever, I like you for always was my favorite and a favorite in my household
little mermaid!
The Neverending Story has always been my favorite!
I love the Bearstein Bears when I was a child.
The Little Mermaid
We love Winnie the Pooh!
i loved winnie the pooh!
and of course tigger,too! 😉
I loved the Secret Garden as a kid.
I loved Winnie the Pooh stories & the cartoon
I absolutely loved Disney’s version of Robin Hood when I was growing up. I used to watch it everyday!
I loved the Trixie Belden mysteries when I was growing up
I really like “the Very Hungry Caterpillar” & “Corduroy”. Thanks for the opportunity. 🙂
My absolute favorites were The Spooky Old Tree (Bernstein Bears) and Go Dog Go!
I enjoyed The Princess Bride when I was younger.
katja9_10 at hotmail dot com
i use to love the robin hood story
Matilda
My favorite book was “If You Give a Mouse a Cookie” as a child. I was an avid reader!
My favorite book and movie was the Wizard of Oz.
I used to love reading the Baby Sitters Club Books and Boxcar Children!
My favorite book growing up was The Little Engine That Could. My dad would read it too me almost every night,
I used to love The BFG and Wayside Stories.
I loved reading The Little House on The Prairie series!
My favorite Disney movie growing up was Swiss Family Robinson. It was so out of the ordinary for a family to get marooned on a deserted island and be able to live. I love the movie to this day.
My favorite book as a child was “Matilda”.
My favorite book as a kid was the Jolly Pocket Postman
My favorite is James and the giant peach
So many. I loved books as a kid. Anything Berenstien Bears, Little Critter, Misses Piggle Wiggle. Steven Kellogg books such as Pinkerton, George and Martha….
My favorite classic movie was Beauty & the Beast. I realize it’s not THAT old, but it’s old enough to me!
Where the sidewalk ends
My fav was Green Eggs and Ham
Where the Wild Things Are
I loved Goodnight Moon
I loved The Carrot Seed
I was a big shel silverstein fan growing up. Thanks!
Are you my mother
The ugly duckling and anything Dr. Seuss
I loved A Chair for My Mother
So many good kids books! I always loved anything by Robert McClosky.
Oh the places you’ll go!
My favorite classic childhood stories are pretty much anything by Dr. Seuss. I also love Pooh bear!!
It is awesome that they have the read to me, read it myself, and automatic options. My little Peanut will love it. She already loves to “read” and gets me to read to her all the time.
Most Oceanhouse Media’s book app have these options. They are nice to have.
So hard to choose…Charlotte’s Web is a favorite. 🙂
I loved any Winnie the Pooh stories.