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Parents' Guide to

Red in Bed

By Mieke VanderBorght, Common Sense Media Reviewer

age 3+

Silly story about colors is short and sweet.

App iPhone , iPod Touch , iPad Free Books
Red in Bed Poster Image

A Lot or a Little?

What you will—and won't—find in this app.

  • Red in Bed App: Screenshot #1
  • Red in Bed App: Screenshot #2
  • Red in Bed App: Screenshot #3
  • Red in Bed App: Screenshot #4

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What’s It About?

From the home screen, swipe to start reading RED IN BED. When Red feels too sick to get out of bed, the other colors promise to color for it. Orange, yellow, Green, Blue, Indigo and Violet each get a turn to color objects, including ones that should be red like a fire truck or a tomato. On each page, kids tap the grayed out object to fill it with color. Red eventually feels better and gets out of bed, and kids can tap the wrongly colored object to make them red. Each color blob also has a musical note, which plays when kids tap it.

Is It Any Good?

Our review:
Parents say: Not yet rated
Kids say: Not yet rated

This sweet little story incorporates color and music in a short, bare bones ebook. Red in Bed has lovely graphics and a simple but lovable plot. Kids will get a kick out of coloring strawberries orange, a stop sign yellow, and so on -- and will feel satisfied when they can color the red things red again. It's also fun to hear a musical note upon tapping the color blobs, and it's nice to play multiple notes together. But the story isn't about music, and there's nothing to scaffold or support musical exploration. With no read-aloud feature, Red in Bed is an app for parents and kids to use together. The story is short, and the interactive elements limited. Just as with any traditional book, the lasting power of Red in Bed depends on how many times kids want to repeat the same story over and over again.

Talk to Your Kids About ...

  • Families can talk about the colors in Red in Bed. What other things are orange, yellow, green, and so on?

  • Cuddle up and read the story together. Ask them questions such as, have you ever felt sick when it was time to get up? What helped you feel better?

  • If your kids are interested in the musical notes, help them explore more by listening to music, singing songs, playing instruments, or finding kids music apps.

App Details

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