Over the weekend I was playing with a fun app called Fiete. It is a very different kind of picture book for kids of all ages. As the introduction on the App Store says, it is “an alternative to interactive children’s book: in a playful way, with attention to details”. I call it an interactive game picture book.
When kids open the app, they will see a friendly sailor Fiete waving to them and inviting them to play. Scroll the screen to the left, different scenes will be unveiled with pictures for story games. Tapping on each picture opens up a story. Each story illustrates a daily task in Fiete’s life. Kids are to help him finish the tasks. In this sense, each story is essentially an interactive game. 
There are no words in the app. Each task is quite intuitive. Kids will help Fiete on 20 important tasks, thus 20 interactive games: put the cheese on the toast, pick the right hat to wear, mount the tires on a car, load cargo onto the ship,… When they finish each task, they will see a light animation of the task they have just accomplished.
The pictures are big enough for the little hands to maneuver. Even babies can enjoy the app. It is a good fine motor exercise for the young kids.
In addition to the interactive games, there are 3 sets of matching games. The difficult level progresses along the story line. I like it that the matching items are not the same, but are things go together. Kids will know which goes with which from helping on the tasks, like the apple and the basket, the cheese and the toast, the tire and the car.
All pictures are hand drawn. The soothing background music and ocean wave sound make it a wonderful app to help kids to calm down. It is an easy app but so enjoyable. I can’t help going back again and again, even just for the soothing sound and music.
Fiete works on iPhone, iPod and iPad. It is also available for Android on Google Play. It is $2.99.
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.
