Parents' Guide to Bookful

App iPhone , iPod Touch , iPad Free to try Books
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Common Sense Media Review

Mieke VanderBorght By Mieke VanderBorght , based on child development research. How do we rate?

age 5+

AR digital books more cool graphics than great reads.

Parents Need to Know

Why Age 5+?

Any Positive Content?

  • Bookful App: Screenshot #1
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Parent and Kid Reviews

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age 3+

Based on 3 parent reviews

 

 

See all 3 parent reviews
age 7+

Based on 1 kid review

 

 

See all 1 kid review

Privacy Rating Warning

  • Unclear whether personal information is sold or rented to third parties.
  • Unclear whether personal information are shared for third-party marketing.
  • Unclear whether this product displays personalised advertising.
  • Unclear whether data are collected by third-parties for their own purposes.
  • Unclear whether this product uses a user's information to track and target advertisements on other third-party websites or services.
  • Unclear whether this product creates and uses data profiles for personalised advertisements.
Learn more about our privacy ratings

What's It About?

Browse the BOOKFUL library to find a book and then choose to read it or play its associated games. The read mode starts an audio narration and 3D illustrations. At any time kids can switch to AR mode, turn off the background music, and access a how-to tutorial. In 3D mode, kids can rotate, move, and resize graphics; in AR mode, they simply walk around the graphic to see it from different angles. Games use the same 3D or AR graphics as the books, and include memory, spelling hide and seek, and coloring activities.

Is It Any Good?

Our review:
Parents say ( 3 ):
Kids say ( 1 ):

Though the 3D and AR graphics are certainly cool and lots of fun, it's not clear that they add much to the reading experience in this small library. Both the 3D and AR graphics offer a really neat way to get a 360-degree, animated look at the book's graphics. On a small phone screen, the graphics feel a bit small, so the bigger the screen, the better the experience. Though while some of the books are great titles, the focus on super fancy graphics may actually distract kids from the actual reading. The games are mostly simple, but they do add an additional way for kids to interact with the app. Parents looking for a digital library to offer reading practice and kids literature to their kids will do best looking elsewhere. But parents looking to let their enjoy some of technology's latest achievements in creating digital worlds may want to check out Bookful.

Talk to Your Kids About ...

  • Families can talk about the books in Bookful. What books appeal to your kids? Why? Read them together and talk about what you read.

  • How is it different reading a book on a screen versus on paper? How about the 3D and AR graphics? What does it feel like to watch the story happen all around you? Does it make it more interesting? Why or why not?

  • If any of the books spark kids' interest, help them find more information. Do they like the music series? Listen to classical music or to the sounds of different instruments. Loved the snakes book? Find out more with documentaries, internet searches, or visits to the library or pet store.

App Details

Did we miss something on diversity?

Research shows a connection between kids' healthy self-esteem and positive portrayals in media. That's why we've added a new "Diverse Representations" section to our reviews that will be rolling out on an ongoing basis. You can help us help kids by

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