App Review: Roxie's Doors by OCG Studios (Plus a Giveaway!)

A few weeks ago, I just happened to be in the right place (Twitter) at the right time (Sunday, 8:00 p.m. CST) and stumbled across #storyappchat. Like the description says on its website, #storyappchat is a weekly chat on Twitter for people who are interested in making interactive storybook and ebook apps for kids. One of the participants was Roxie Munro, author and illustrator of several children's books.


Roxie Munro has a knack for writing nonfiction in rhymes, which is what makes her work enjoyable for readers and listeners. Roxie was kind enough to give me several promo codes for her picture book-turned-storybook app "Roxie's Doors." As you can see from the above picture, the storybook app claims to have "over 50 flaps," and I'm sure you're wondering how it's possible to have flaps on an app. The best answer I can give is watch this promo video from OCG Studios:



As you probably noticed from the video, the app was released two years ago. So while it's not a new app, it is new-to-me, and hopefully it's new to you as well.

In short, it's a really cool app. I love the "flaps" in this book, and often one flap leads to more. The parallax effect in this app appealed to my inner child, and I played with it quite a bit--tilting my iPad up and down, left and right, trying to find hidden objects and enjoying the 3-D appearance. The user has the ability to turn narration on or off as well as choosing a male or female voice which is great for pre-readers and beginning readers. (The female voice is narrated by Roxie herself.) The user can also turn off the sound, but I think it's much more fun to have the sounds.

There's a surprise in this interactive storybook app, too: the end of the book is actually the beginning of another book! Opening this flap reveals a new book, set in medieval times, and full of royalty, knights and a dragon, too.

This app would be great as a literacy station for teachers who have iPads. It's also a chance for parents and caregivers to spend time with their pre-schoolers and beginning readers as they explore both the rhymes and the doors.

Normally the app costs $2.99 from the iTunes store. But I have three promo codes, courtesy of Roxie, that I can give away for the holidays! Once you have the code, the app and all its updates are free. The only thing I ask in return is that those who receive one of the free codes, and enjoy the app, leave a review of it on the iTunes store.

If you would like to get one of the free codes for Roxie's Doors, please leave a comment to this post. The first three comments will get a free code for the app!