As described on the Moonbot site, the "highly anticipated" Billy's Booger, the "completely (sorta) true story from William Joyce’s experience in the fourth grade," "has been "40 years in the ‘picking.’" And it's now available—in digital. With characteristic panache, William Joyce employs seamless animation and spot-on narration to draw readers into his picture book memoir Billy’s Booger Storybook (iOS $2.99; Gr 1-4). The production is based on the print version of Billy's Booger (Atheneum, 2015; Gr 1-4), with the app's narration, sound effects and animation adding a zany touch for readers young and old alike. Beginning with an introduction from young Billy's alien-looking lump of mucus, Joyce immediately provides readers a clear sense of the story-within-a-story frame. “This is Billy. This is me. Billy was having a little trouble at school,” drawing on everything, until “he made a book. About me!” Astute viewers will find the find the small green character of Billy's book reminiscent of those found in Joyce's The Leaf Men (1996), and may spot additional references to the author's other titles, including George Shrinks (2003) and Dinosaur Bob and His Adventures with the Family Lazardo (1995, all HarperCollins). Billy is “a reality-challenged fourth grader,” who drives his teachers and principal crazy with outlandish ideas like “math skills with pancakes” and “replacing the hallway floors with trampolines.” When the school librarian announces that there is going to be a writing contest, Billy sets to work creating his own masterpiece: Billy’s Booger: The Memoir of a Little Green Nose Buddy.

Screen from William Joyce's Billy's Booger
(Moonbot Studios) Joyce

Joyce reads the story with a droll newscaster voice reminiscent of Walter Cronkite, punctuated with exaggerated, silly voices and wacky sound effects. There is no interactivity, but its absence allows readers to focus on the story as it unfolds through the blend of illustrations, animations, and lively narration; together they together create a rich reading and listening experience for the users. Joyce’s illustrations are full of details, and many of these are animated with a subtle touch. As Betsy Bird notes in her Fuse 8 review of the print version, this picture book memoir is “deeply personal” and Joyce’s app narration makes it even more so. Listeners hear how kooky the man is, creating sound effects for everything from fighting dinosaurs to UFOs, and understand the impact that learning that others liked his book had on Joyce as a child. Although Billy's Booger doesn’t have the interactive splash of Moonbot’s first app, The Fantastic Flying Books of Mr. Morris Lessmore, it stands out for its marvelous narration and fine-tuned animation.—Mary Ann Scheuer, Berkeley Unified School District and Great Kid Books For more reviews, visit SLJ's dedicated app webpage.