Remember those Invisible Ink Books your mom would buy for the long & boring road trips to Grandma’s house? You’d rub all over with that curious, rather bland-looking marker, then squeal with delight as images magically appeared. Those books and a lb. of goldfish almost made the journeys bearable. I loved invisible ink books as a kid and now, I (er, I mean my kids) love ’em on my iPhone.
The Wonderful Wizard of Oz – The story here is closer to that of the original book (than the film) which did cause some confusion for my 3-year old Dorothy enthusiast as she used her fingertip to peel away the pages, but still this Magic Ink eBook is a fantastically clever presentation of the classic tale with a hidden Toto on every screen who barks and dances once discovered. The Wonderful Wizard of Oz app is a mere $.99 for a limited time and worth every cent. Not sure if you want to make that steep a financial commitment just yet? Try the Lite version of Oz for free.
It’s either a little late for this next one, or really really early, but you should also try the Lite version of The Night Before Christmas Magic Ink iPhone/iPad app for free, then buy the whole thing for $.99 as Christmas 2011 approaches.
Magic Ink Books, the developer behind both of these eBooks, make fine use of the iPhone & iPad touch screen capabilities in delivering books that are anything but stale, even after a dozen or so reads. Both apps feature songs (to hear the munchkins of Oz singing is worth the $1 by itself) and surprises on just about every page, making these well worth the dollar.