Candepop

Delighted to be finally trying out the much anticipated Lonely Beast iPad alphabet app for kids, which is not only from the very popular illustrator Chris Judge but is also the first fully Irish made iPad app we have had the honour to review here.

Along with the beautiful illustration work from Chris Judge and his, already much loved by toddler Cal, Beast character from The Lonely Beast there is a lot of imagination put into what could have been a very simple alphabet app. There are some lovely subtle visual tricks within the app, like A is for ant panning in from an image of an expected apple, as well as the required for little ones attention grabbing screens such as D is for Drums with drummable drums. It is also a very Irish app with V is for Van showing the wondrous thing that is the Irish white van driver and for once allowing toddler to hear the letter R pronounced as we speak it here rather than the usual “Ahhhhr” or “Arrre” of the UK and US apps.

From the excellent illustration style, the catchy opening music (which I will be requesting all the way through the screens for the next update as mummy likes to listen to it while toddler plays) and the very clever and usable functionality this is an app which will be loved by both parent and toddlers as they learn new words and their alphabet from the Lonely Beast. Congratulations on the launch to the Pilcrow team, Chris, James and Simon, and looking forward to the iPhone version launch very soon. Download your copy of the iPad app here and keep track of updates on the release of the iPhone version here.