Disney Publishing Worldwide has got 3 great titles out for the iPad: Toy Story; Toy Story 2; and The Princess and the Frog.

These are short versions of the feature movies on digital book format, but packed with lots of extras. Extremely well done as any other Disney products, they come with great narration, interactive spots, small movie inserts and music but also, with a coloring books for some of the scenes, puzzles and some games, taking full advantage of the large iPad screen.

A great way to extend the franchises giving kids new ways to interact and relate to their so beloved Disney stories.

The apps are expensive compared to the average price, but what you get in exchange is certainly worth the price.

Toy Story Read-Along , by Disney Publishing Worldwide. Free. (by the time of this review)
Toy Story 2 Read-Along, by Disney Publishing Worldwide. $ 8.99
The Princess and the Frog Read-Along, by Disney Publishing Worldwide. $ 8.99

Here is a video demo of Toy Story Read-Along:

Here’s another great set of books, organized under the ‘Pocket Story’ collection developed by Wotsamaflip. They currently have 3 titles out, two of them already review here on this site: The Smelly Sprout; What Does Santa Do On Boxing Day and the new The Boy Giant.

These are original stories illustrated by Allan Plenderleith, with delicate animations, nice sound effects and voice-overs. The kind you want to collect and keeps you waiting for the next release.

Nice enough for you to have all of them and wait for more.

** UPDATED **

Good books for the iPhone / iTouch / iPad are achieved by a combination of good story, illustration and sound. Kidztory animated books is a collection of 5 titles that rely on classical stories (The Three Little Pigs, The Little Red Hen, The Boy Who Cried Wolf, The Tortoise and The Hare, The Lion and the Mouse) with a use of beautiful illustrations, animation, and the most cute voice-over done by children.

Priced at 99¢ each, this is certainly a set worth having on board of your device, ready for your kids.

And while we are at the subject, make sure to also check these titles:

Dr Barnacles and the Bogey Blues – by Barnacles Inc
Lefty and Ron – by Iain AndersonView
1 Little Boy – by Touchoo

Hurray! With got promocodes! The folks from StoryBoy have granted us with codes from their story book ‘What’s for dinner?’ A 3 Little Pigs sequel. We have 3 promocodes available (US iTunes app store only). First three people to leave a comment on this post get the code. Hurry up!

Sesame Street has a whole set of applications made for iPhone/iPod Touch. These apps are very high in production, really well put, with exclusive videos and fun games. A budget most of independent apps do not dispose. The difference in budget do enhance the apps in terms of finishing, but an app isn’t necessarily great just because of the budget. We do have lots of apps that are really creative and catching for kids without famous characters (see our TOP 10 APPS list).

Still, if you have little kids, an ‘Elmo’ app is certainly something you outta have on your device. So let’s go to a quick guide of Sesame Street apps for iPhone/iPod Touch devices.

By the time this review was published there were 6 Sesame Street apps for iPhone/iPod Touch out there: 4 books and 2 games.

All the books follow the same structure familiar to other interactive iPhone books for kids: the ability to read it yourself or be read to and record your own voice-over. Featuring our favorite characters (Elmo, Ernie, Bert, Cookie Monster, Oscar) they have great Sesame Street-like stories.

As for the games, we have ‘Elmo’s Monster Maker’ and ‘Grover’s Number Special’.

‘Elmo’s Monster Maker’ is a really well put ‘make your monster game’, with the traditional parts-combination drill. Choose head, eyes, nose, and hat to make your own monster. The catch here is that, after you create your monster it comes to life in video, and you can choose to have it dancing, interacting with Elmo and even taking his picture. Ideal for kids from 1 to 3.

Grover’s Number Special is great fun. With a game of ’tilt and catch’, you need to grab the ingredients to make a meal. Lots of videos on this too, with a more exciting although more complex interaction. Ideal for kids 3 and up.

The apps range from $1.99 (books) to $3.99 (games). Certainly worth having a couple on your device.

Sesame Street: The Playgroung, by Sesame Street Workshop Apps. $1.99
Sesame Street: 123 Sesame Street, by Sesame Street Workshop Apps. $1.99
Sesame Street: The Firehouse, by Sesame Street Workshop Apps. $1.99
Sesame Street: The Fix-it Shop, by Sesame Street Workshop Apps. $1.99
Sesame Street: Elmo’s Monster Maker, by Sesame Street Workshop Apps. $1.99
Sesame Street: Grover’s Number Special, by Sesame Street Workshop Apps. $1.99

Hurray, there is a new great maker of iPhone interactive books in town. DHX Interactive has published ‘Living Stories’, with two classic stories out already: King Midas and The Princess and the Pea. The books have great professional illustrations, animation, music and sound effects. You can choose from having the book read with the voice track that comes with or record up to four different voice overs of your own.

Unfortunately there seems to be no option to read the book without any voice over, which is something always nice to have when we want read to our kids. Hopefully something to be added to future updates and releases.

Living Stories: King Midas, from DHX Interactive. $1.99

Living Stories: The Princess and the Pea, from DHX Interactive. $1.99

For those who like to keep a library of interactive books on your iPhone here is Mandy and Andy Renovating, a cute interactive story of two cats who go on great adventures! The book can be read to or read for in three languages: English, French and Simplified Chinese. An interesting book app to have on your collection. Price is a little higher than other similar apps but it is still an excellent price considering what you get in return.

Mandy and Andy Renovating, from BeiZ Ltd. $1.99

If you are planning on having the  all-time classic story Little Red Ridding Hood on your iPhone/iPod Touch interactive book library search no more: this is the one to have. Beautiful illustrated (by Simone Abel) with sound effects, the option to read or listen to the story and — a plus — a coloring book.

Advisory: the classic story is quite vivid on this one. The grandmother and Little Red actually get eaten by the wolf before the woodcutter comes right away and rescues everybody. So depending on the version you use to tell your kids, make sure to prepare them before you reach the end.

Although a little pricy (compared to similar apps) this is still a great buy.

Little Red, from Appily Ever After Publishing. $ 2.99

Here’s another great pocket story by Becky and Allan Plenderleith, the same author of the TOP 10 APP “Smelly Sprout”. Allan’s illustrations are beautiful and the stories great, full of interaction and motion. My 3 yo son immediately recognized the trace and the narration connecting this new book with his favorite “Smelly Sprout”.

There are lots of children books for iPhone out there and it is hard to select from such a wide variety, but the ones by the Plenderleiths and developed by Worsamaflip are certainly a safe bet.

And if you like the digital version of the stories, you might want to check their paper version on Amazon.

What does Santa do on Boxing day?, from Worsamaflip. ¢99

Here is a delicious narrated animated story about a little smelly sprout. With gorgeous illustration this is a great little book which my kid reads over and over again, laughing loose at every time. What makes a great book great is hard to tell, but this one certainly has got it!

Smelly Sprout, from Wotsamaflip. $ 1.99