UPDATE: ‘Old MacDonald’ by Fish the Mouse Media is now also available on iPad.

How many different ways can you sing a song? Old MacDonald has sure gotten a few spins, and apps! Here is another one, this time by Fish The Mouse Media. As you do not get tired of singing the song, you can have infinite ways of creating apps as well.

This one has really beautiful illustrations which will certainly enrich your kids visual repertoire. Worth having on the virtual bookshelf of you iPhone or your iPad.

Old MacDonald, from Fish The Mouse Media. 99¢ (iPhone) / $ 1.99 (iPad)

‘The Wrong Side of the Bed’ is the first iPhone / iPad app for kids to use the 3D technology. Just get your red/cyan paper glasses ready to read this greatly illustrated story with popping images!

Portraited as ‘One of the top 5 amazing iPad e-books for kids’ by CNET, works perfectly on the iPhone but even greater on the iPad. There is also the 2D version if you don’t have a 3D glass at hand.

The Wrong Side of the Bed, by See Here Studios. iPhone version 99¢

The Wrong Side of the Bed, by See Here Studios. iPad version $ 2.99

You can order your 3D glasses from the developer’s site. $ 1.00

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

From the same makers of Color Me, here is Hidden Stories. Go ahead and give it a try, the app will be free this weekend!

We haven’t had the time to try it so far, but here is some info from the developer:

Take your child into the magic world of “Hidden Stories” on your iPhone/iPod Touch/iPad !
The application includes 30 images in three categories: animals, fairy tales and professions.

Just move your finger on your IPhone and the next extraordinary picture is presented.

A hare eating a carrot, swimming dolphins or a deer on a clearing, these all your kid will be able to see on your IPhone screen.

One finger movement will take you to the world of fairy tales. Tell your child why the wolf wanted to eat the Little Red Riding Hood, why Pinocchio has a long nose and how Hansel and Gretel managed to escape from the house of the evil witch.

Let your imagination create a completely new stories.

Your child may also in an easy way get to know, how the work of a fireman or a miner looks like.

Use the application for a common playing, show your child only a part of the picture and let him guess what is hidden.
A colorful and merry animations of “Hidden Stories for Kids” will surely give your child a lot of fun!

MAIN FEATURES:
——————–
1. 30 special images with animation
2. 3 categories: animals, fairy tales and professions.
3. Collection of stories with educational content
4. Professional layout and cool design
5. Simple feature – uncover images by movement finger
6. Special feature – attach your images from Photo Library

Here’s an app explores a theme not much talked about: the circus! In this cute app, the clown loses his nose and we have to help him find it throughout the circus. It is an interactive search and find game with great illustrations and music. It has become rapidly one of my 3 yo. favorites. He has been playing with it over and over since we have it installed!

From the same developers, you may also find ‘Where’s Gumbo‘, another search and find interactive game. But Circus Find is a huge improve in all terms. Certainly worth the buy!

Circus Find, by Jacob Favre. ¢99 (reduced price for a limited time)

Here’s a quote from the developers:

Things aren’t always what they seem in this Circus tent! Created by a mom and a dad, Circus Search is a fun, interactive book that gets kids thinking about the world a little differently. Join us inside the big top as we search for our clown’s missing nose — You never know where it will turn up!

Entertain your children while encouraging problem solving skills, shape recognition and fine motor development.
• Push the elephant on his balance ball
• Pop some balloons
• Watch the tightrope walker try to stay balanced
• Light the fuse and watch the human cannon-ball blast off!
• and much, much more!

Circus Find encourages children to explore each scene before revealing the big picture. Everything isn’t always what you think it is when you only see a small part of the scene, and as a parent, you can help encourage creative thinking and problem solving by having your child guess what’s next.

Touch, explore and discover all the amazing things this circus has to offer!