September 18, 2013

Subscribe to SLJ

An Intergalactic, Time-Traveling Duo Offer History and Geography Lessons | Touch and Go

8190058400_9c819dffd8_b

Featuring a time-traveling duo, Cognitive Kids’ “Ansel & Clair ” apps have garnered an impressive list of awards for their winning combination of information and game play.

Art and Artifice: Museum Adventures on the iPad | Touch and Go

photo(27)

A museum visit can be a great learning experience for students, but when the exhibit you want to take your students to see is halfway around the world, what’s a teacher to do?

Traditional Tunes Find Modern Formats | Touch and Go

photo(24)

This week’s column takes a look at productions that incorporate music: an iPad app featuring a new setting for a classic counting tune, and iBooks that take children around the world as they drift off to asleep.

Mysteries and a Mission | iPad Apps for Older Students

mission

Will Agostino Steffani the Baroque composer, Catholic priest, diplomat, and spy be able to “prevent an assassination and help a princess escape an undesirable marriage?” And what is the astute Sherlock Holmes up to? Teens can help gather the clues in two interactive iPad apps .

Best of Apps & Enhanced Books | May 2013

Antarctica App

From penguins to trucks, this month’s column includes apps for a range of ages and interests featuring stunning photos, colorful artwork, amusing interactivity, and delightful animations.

Things That Vroom | Touch and Go

photo(13)

From dump trucks to fire trucks, young children can’t seem to get their fill of vehicles that have jobs to perform. In this week’s column, we present apps from a variety of developers, featuring vibrant illustrations, song, videos, and loads of interactivity that will keep kids engaged for hours.

Apps for Earth Day | Touch and Go

9780547328607_p0_v1_s260x420

If your resolve to reduce your use of plastic ever wavers, even slightly, consider the Eastern Garbage Patch, an area of the Pacific Ocean where currents converge to create a floating landfill the size of Alaska. We’re ‘Tracking Trash’—and more—in our column devoted to Earth Day.

SLJ Reviews Gobstopper and Subtext: Apps that Enable Interactive Classroom Reading

SLJ Reviews Gobstopper and Subtext: Apps that Enable Interactive Classroom Reading

The ability for teachers and students to embed their own content into digital texts, write notes, and get feedback on student reading—classroom reading just got a lot more dynamic. SLJ columnist Jeff Hastings test driives Gobstopper and Subtext.

SLJ’s Best of Apps and Enhanced Books | April 2013

SLJ’s Best of Apps and Enhanced Books | April 2013

High-res 3-D images of black holes and nebulae that you can tweet or post to Facebook are among the features of a companion app to a popular BBC series, which is reviewed this month in School Library Journal.

An Endearing Creature, A Forbidding Environ | Touch and Go

Peng2

Spring may have finally arrived, but penguins are never out of season with kids. The latest entry in Nosy Crow’s “Rounds” series offers a blend of fact and fiction on the life cycle of these aquatic creatures, while ‘Antarctica’ by Kids Discover delivers photos and text on one of the places these birds can be found.

Interactive Storytelling App Versu | screencast tutorial

Interactive Storytelling App Versu | screencast tutorial

In her latest screencast, School Library Journal contributor Linda W. Braun test drives Versu in an assessment that considers the potential of interactive platforms that blur the lines between reader and creator—a particularly compelling concept when it comes to kids and teens.

Best of Apps & Enhanced Books | April 2013

SLJ1304w_Apps

From stardust to remote galaxies, this month’s app standouts look toward the heavens.

Stardust and a ‘Ship of Dreams’ | Touch and Go

ship

What do the digital versions of Dean Morrissey’s ‘Ship of Dreams’ and Elin Kelsey’s ‘You Are Stardust’ have in common? A soothing cadence, subtle animations, exquisite artwork, and both offer us an opportunity to let our imaginations soar.

The Return of Don Freeman | Touch and Go

photo(8)

Don Freeman is the author of many titles beloved by children, now out of print. Lucky for this generation of picture book fans, Auryn is bringing back the author’s works in digital format.

A Universe of Stellar Apps | Touch and Go

photo(5)

On a mission to discover astronomy apps, we uncovered a whole universe of terrific productions.

Best of Apps & Enhanced Books | March 2013

The Adventures of Captain Underpants
Scholastic ©2013 by Dav Pilkey

What do Dav Pilkey’s ‘Captain Underpants” and the London’s Philharmonia Orchestra have in common? They’re both featured in this month’s column.

The “Very Serious Nonsense” of Dr. Seuss | Touch and Go

Bartholomew

After 75 years, Dr. Seuss’s stories still resonate with kids— in both print and digital formats.

Deluxe and Digital | Steinbeck’s ‘Of Mice and Men’

Steinbeck

A deluxe edition of John Steinbeck’s ‘Of Mice and Men’ offers educators a variety of multimedia resources to share with students.

Behind the Scenes with Spielberg’s Lincoln | Touch and Go

LincolnImage

‘Lincoln: Discover the Story’ is a free app that explores the passage of the 13th amendment and takes viewers behind the scenes of the Steven Spielberg movie.

Serving Truth, Justice, and Tighty Whities | The Captain Goes Digital

CoverCaptUnder

Dav Pilkey’s Captain Underpants bursts onto the digital scene with full-color illustrations, nifty animation, and activities galore.