Magic Keyhole World by Glass Puppy – App Review

January 1, 2012 - By Paula

Magic Keyhole World is an interactive and educational app designed for three to eight-year-olds and intended to nurture curiosity and imagination along with literacy skills. I took a peek at this new app over the Christmas holidays, with the help of my daughter, and was able to explore geography of ten different world habitats, from the Sahara to Egypt and the Arctic. The app is best on IPAD or on a desktop, laptop or notebook computer in Windows or Mac operating systems.It is also available on the Kindle. The pictures are vibrant and a simple click makes animals like jaguars, anacondas and Caribou come to life. The graphic detail and expansive scenery didn’t lend itself well to the size of an IPHONE which is why it isn’t available for the smaller screen. We used the desktop version for a Windows operating system on my daughter’s netbook and the size of the imagery there was just right.

My seven-year-old enjoyed navigating through the various climates and screens in Magic Keyhole World and making the vehicles move around the page. When the star sparkles on screen, clicking on it makes another animated sequence appear. These are generally simple sequences, but fun nonetheless and educational. The photographs that result from some experiences on the app are extremely vibrant. For example the Inuit carving becomes a museum quality exhibit on screen with full background details. I appreciate that level of information. The graphics are lovely and the interactive nature really does encourage exploration and curiosity.

Clicking and exploring helps reinforce the vocabulary as well.

On the menu screen at end of the entire sequence, you can click to run through again with the app reading to your child, or letting your child do the reading himself. You can also adjust so that they can make puzzles our of each of the screens. The scenes are easy to navigate and the rhyming prose is catchy.

This is the first interactive ebook from Glass Puppy Inc. This is my first app review for Glass Puppy. I look forward to seeing what else they come up with. My only criticism was that I think they might have taken the level of information a bit further. For any child playing around here, the environmental information on climate might also have been interesting. As well I wanted more information about the types of trees that were in each scene, not just the animals.

Specifics:

Magic Keyhold World for ages 3 to 8.

Available on Kindle Fire, Android, IPAD, Mac or PC

It is available through Amazon for the Kindle Fire and runs $3.99

On the IPAD it is $4.99

This app gets a $$$$ out of $$$$$. Because we enjoyed it, learned a few things but felt there might have been a bit more information on trees and climate.

Disclosure: I was not paid to review this app, but received a copy to help faciliate the review. My opinions are all my own.