Four little corners

With crisp, simple visuals, this digital story delivers a nice message of tolerance, acceptance, and the importance of being yourself. Going through it is a pleasant experience: The text is minimal and straightforward, the animations are simple, and the soundtrack captures the different moods at each stage of the story. Though there's certainly a worthy message, kids may need additional input and guidance to ensure that the message does not simply fly over their heads. Each page has some potential for interaction, though kids' ability to affect the action on the screen is quite limited and sometimes even distracting. Because the story is so short and has only limited interactive features, it doesn't have much room to grow and may not have staying power; more reading features -- highlighted words, a tap-and-read feature -- would enhance its value for emerging readers. The usefulness and appeal of this app could depend on how much parents want to encourage reading the story to use it as a launching pad for some important family discussions.