In time for Halloween: It's The Great Pumpkin Charlie Brown app
By Damon Kiesow
Boston.com Staff
Reviewing: It's The Great Pumpkin Charlie Brown
Company: Peanuts Worldwide LLC
Price: $4.99
Platforms: iPhone, iPad
Tested on: iPhone 4G, iPad 2
Should you get it? Yes, but...
If you are of a certain age, Charlie Brown animated holiday specials probably rank up there with Schoolhouse Rock as fun childhood TV memories. If so, you probably want to download the latest of the Peanuts series to make its way to the iPad and iPhone.
It's The Great Pumpkin Charlie Brown follows A Charlie Brown Christmas that launched last year as a digital interactive book for iOS devices.
The apps are similar and target young or pre-readers with a very book-like presentation - with scenes taken from the TV specials - and enhanced by audio narration and some selected games and interactives.
The apps are fenjoyable even for slightly older kids, but the younger ones will have a lot of fun swiping through the pages and having the story read to them, and watching some of the simple animations.
However, there are some not-so-great features as well. The price, $4.99 is not bad for an eBook but it is more than the $0.99 parents expect to pay for an app.
More of an issue - to participate in some of the interactives and games, the reader is required to create an account, or sign-in via Facebook. Not likely for a 5-year-old, so parents will need to do this if their child wants to "join the gang" to create a costume and go trick-or-treating.
The good news: kids can carve a digital pumpkin in the app for free.
