David Wiesner's Spot
David Wiesner's Spot gallery
What parents need to know
Parents need to know that David Wiesner's Spot is an interactive book with no written story. Kids start by zooming in on the the dot of a ladybug, which then transforms into something else. They continue to explore by pinching, zooming, swiping, and tapping their way through a series of 5 different worlds filled with imaginative characters and beautiful imagery. There is no set path for their travels, but as they continue, an overall story may start to emerge. This is an app that is best enjoyed together so you can talk about what they are seeing. A companion guide for teacher's and parents is also available. It's called David Wiesner's Spot: A Parent & Educator Guide and it has background information, videos, and prompts for helping kids make the most of the title.What kids can learn
Kids will enjoy exploring these imaginative worlds, but much like browsing a picture book, the replay value may be limited. There are a lot of areas to find, but once they are found, there is nothing new to do or discover.
There isn't a lot of learning specifically built into to the app. It has little text, no puzzles, and nothing to figure out. By nature of including so many creative images with no text to frame them, kids are forced to create their own stories as they explore.
There are no built-in activities, so there is no data to collect. Parents can download David Wiesner's Spot: A Parent & Educator Guide to help facilitate learning through the use of the app. It provide background information, interviews with the author, and activities to do.
What's it about?
Fans of David Wiesner's book Flotsam will feel right at home in this strange, but compelling visual journey. DAVID WIESNER'S SPOT invites you to look closer and closer into a world inhabited by a colony of cats, a myriad of brightly colored bugs, some charming robots, schooling fish, and a family of alien tourists. The story is up to you to discover, or imagine, but it involves zooming in to objects as they transform into new places. What lives under the chair? If you look closely at a chocolate chip cookie, what will you find? What about a pencil? There are five worlds to explore, and each one has portals to the others.
Is it any good?
David Wiesner's Spot is an innovative pairing of technology and natural curiosity and creativity. It takes advantage of kids' desire to look closer and ask questions, all while providing a beautiful landscape in which to do it, and kids will definitely be excited to explore. It stops just short of amazing, though. While you can zoom in and out, there are very few clickable hot spots with resulting animation. This may have been deliberate on the part of the author, but once the kids understand that the goal is to explore, they end up doing a lot of tapping to see what will happen. It's disappointing to delve deeper and deeper, only to end up on a static image before having to retreat to look elsewhere. Just a bit more animation would take it from intriguing to delightful. Also, while the pinch/zoom dynamic makes sense, it is a difficult motor skill for young kids and a tedious one for adults. A toggle to allow people to tap on the hotspots would be friendlier. Though it doesn't bring quite as much replay value as it could, this lovely app is a wonderful addition to a virtual library, especially paired with the guide for parents.
Families can talk about...
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Families can talk about the technology involved. Are there other books that would be fun to explore this way? If you were to write a book that would work like this, what would it be about?
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Ask your kid about their opinions about the app: Which of the worlds is your favorite? Why? If you were to take a vacation there, what sort of things would you do?
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Discuss the embedded story. How are the worlds connected? What objects represent each world? What signs and symbols in your life represent other destinations? What object or symbol would you choose to represent your home or your bedroom?
App details
| Device: | iPad |
| Price: | $4.99 |
| Pricing structure: | Paid |
| Release date: | April 12, 2015 |
| Category: | Books |
| Topics: | Bugs, Cats, dogs, and mice, Ocean creatures, Space and aliens |
| Size: | 299.00 MB |
| Version: | 1.1 |
| Minimum software requirements: | iOS 7.0 |
