Brush of Truth: Tweens’ book app rated four stars by The iMums

Cooper City, Florida – Brush of Truth, an interactive book app for kids 8-12, was rated four stars by The iMums, a children’s educational technology review site. Created by Story Bayou, Brush of Truth has been recognized for its appeal to reluctant readers. It is on iPad, iPhone, iPod touch, Android and Kindle Fire.

Brush of Truth, geared to third- through sixth-graders, is the first book app created by Story Bayou, a mom’s vision to get tweens to read. Written in second person, “your” voice, Brush of Truth lets the user choose how the action unfolds at critical points in the plot. Brush of Truth has 125 pages of story and colorful illustrations, with 65 decision points and 20 possible endings.

“This is a great storybook that will have your child reading for hours and will allow your child to enjoy the interactivity of a book app,” said Alison Hirst of The iMums in the review.

Brush of Truth won the 2012 Media of the Year award in the Interactive Book App category in Creative Child Magazine’s Creative Toy Awards. The app was named a “Recommended iPad Book App for Older and Reluctant Readers Ages 8-12? by Digital Storytime, and one of “6 Interactive Book Apps to Get Kids Excited About Reading” by Tecca.

The app tells the story of two tweens who find an enchanted paintbrush. They begin to discover its powers as they go in adventures under the ocean, inside a sand castle, and while rescuing a sea creature.

The app has free downloadable Common Core-aligned lesson plans on the Story Bayou website. “The tie-in with the curriculum will be helpful for parents and teachers as they are working with children on reading skills as well as creative writing, sentences and more,” Hirst said. “The app also engages critical thinking skills.”

Julie Landry Laviolette, author of Brush of Truth and founder of Story Bayou, is a pioneer in the book app market for offering longer-text story apps. “Book apps are a hybrid of an ebook and a game,” she said. “Brush of Truth offers a compelling storyline and a chance for kids to choose what happens next in the story – it’s an engaging mix.”

Pricing and Availability:
Brush of Truth 1.1 is $1.99 USD (or equivalent amount in other currencies) and available worldwide through the App Store in the Books category.

Story Bayou creates interactive book apps for kids 8-12. You choose how the action unfolds in these full-text storybook apps, recognized for their appeal to reluctant readers. Story Bayou apps have been recognized by children’s tech review sites such as Digital Storytime, iPhoneMom, iGameMom and Fun Educational Apps for exciting kids about reading. Copyright (C) 2013 Story Bayou. All Rights Reserved. Apple, the Apple logo, iPhone, iPod and iPad are registered trademarks of Apple Inc. in the U.S. and/or other countries.

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Infograph shows the real truth about teen texting

Earlier this month, we informed you that the text message had turned twenty years old. And while some stats show that the application is in decline, 63% of teens still can't get through the day without sending at least one text to friends or family. The stats come from cellphone signaling company Wilson Electronics. The average teen texts over 100 times per day or 7 times for each waking hour. Females get off 3,952 texts per month vs. 2,815 for the boys.

Here's an interesting stat. While 75% of teens admit to sending texts, only 6% send or receive email. There is a dark side to all of this thumb twirling. 28% of teens say that they have sent fully nude photos of themselves over SMS and according to researches Nielsen and Pew, 25% of the teens surveyed say they engage in sexting. As you might expect, twice as many boys as girls ask for sexts.

Parents, better sit down with your kids now and discuss the dangers of texting while driving. Why? Because almost half the teens age 16-17 are texting while driving. Half of those in the 12-17 age bracket have been in a vehicle driven by someone texting while at the wheel. That's twice as many who are sexting. Keep in mind that texting while driving makes you 23 times more likely to get into an accident. Perhaps the best thing to do, if you are a parent of a teen or pre-teen, is talk to them about both sexting and texting while driving.

source: PCMag

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