Kalley's Machine Plus Cats
By Amanda Bindel,
Common Sense Media Reviewer
Common Sense Media Reviewers
Kid's art-inspired story full of engineering fun (and cats).
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Kalley's Machine Plus Cats
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What’s It About?
Kids can read the story, narrated by Kalley and her father, with Kalley explaining a different part of the machine she's invented on each page. A crank makes it go, and levers and dials control it. A boiler maintains the pressure, and bashers and pokers smash and poke objects that look a lot like marshmallows as they go down an assembly line. A shrinker shrinks the marshmallow objects, and an oven cooks (and sometimes burns!) them. Then kids can paint them, mixing colors using combinations of red, yellow, and blue, shape 'em, pick 'em, and present them as the machine's product: food.
Is It Any Good?
Kalley's excitement about her cool machine is contagious, and her passion, even at the end of the book when her dad explains that he works for reasons beyond food, is undeterred as she exclaims, "That's OK. I'll make machines for those too!" The machine is really cool, with interactions that are fun and educational. Kids adjust dials, flip switches, and turn cranks to control the machine. Oh, and a cat is there, too, doing what cats do: watching and interacting. Options are controlled by levers and switches, letting kids choose to highlight text, read aloud, turn sound effects on or off, and even turn the cat on or off. KALLEY'S MACHINE PLUS CATS is a delightful interactive book that kids will want to read, or at least explore, over and over.
Talk to Your Kids About ...
Ask kids what they might invent to make their worlds or lives better, just as Kalley invented the machine so her dad wouldn't have to go to work.
Take the time to look at some of the interactive features (cooking/burning, color mixing, gears, vacuums, pressure, and temperature) more closely and explain the concepts to kids.
App Details
- Devices: iPhone, iPod Touch, iPad, Android
- Subjects: Language & Reading: reading, Science: engineering
- Skills: Thinking & Reasoning: logic, thinking critically, Creativity: imagination
- Pricing structure: Paid
- Release date: September 24, 2014
- Category: Books
- Topics: Cats, Dogs, and Mice, Great Girl Role Models, Science and Nature
- Publisher: RocketWagon
- Version: 1.0.2
- Minimum software requirements: iOS 6.0 or later
- Last updated: August 15, 2016
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