Curious George's Dictionary is an educational iPad app for kids that teaches the meanings of nearly 600 words through illustrations, sentences, stories, and more. It features charming illustrations for each word as well as an example of a sentence that uses the word. In addition to swiping through letters and learning new words, Curious George's Dictionary also includes stories about Curious George using is dictionary and sections dedicated opposites, numbers, quantities, and colors & shapes.
On the main page, you'll find four sections Alphabet, Shop, Stories, and More. In More, there are sections for Numbers, Quantities, Opposites, and Colors & Shapes.
The Alphabet section is much more than simply the alphabet. For each letter of the alphabet, there is a cute illustration that includes the letter, something that starts with the letter, and George. Each letter also has many words associated with it. Some letters, like J, only have a few words, but other letters, like B, have as many as 40 words. Words with multiple definitions, like "wave", are included twice to illustrated both definitions.
Just like the letters, each word also includes a cute photo, but many (not all) of the words also include a sentence that uses the word. Curious George's Dictionary has a narrator that says the letters and words out load, but unfortunately, he does not read the sentences.
The Stories section of Curious George's Dictionary includes four stories: George's Birthday, George's Friends, George at the Beach, and More Words. Each story is narrated and in each one, George uses his picture dictionary to help understand the meaning of words. The words and pictures in George's dictionary are exactly the same as the ones in the Alphabet section the app.
The numbers, Opposites, and Color & Shapes sections of Curious George's Dictionary are similar to the Alphabet sections with words and illustrations that teach their respective topics. The Store includes descriptions of all the the other Curious George apps available on the iPad with links to the App Store.
The good
- Lots of words for each letter
- Multiple definitions for many words. For example, the word "can" is used as both noun and verb.
- Cute illustrations
- Nearly 600 words
- Also includes numbers, quantities, opposites, and colors & shapes
The bad
- Narrator does not read the sentences included with each word
- It would be more appropriate for the Shop to be on the secondary page, especially since this is an app for children
The bottom line
Curious George's Dictionary for iPad is a great learning tool for young readers. It provides a fun, interactive environment for learning the alphabet, the definitions of nearly 600 common words, sentences, numbers, and more. If you have a young learner in your home who also loves this adorable little monkey, Curious George's Dictionary is great to add to your educational apps collection.
Curious George's Dictionary is currently on sale for $1.99.
