LITTLE RIDING HOOD'S HOODS

In this iteration of the classic fairy tale, Little Riding Hood (no Red) accumulates hoods from various family members—in a variety of colors.

The “educational” value of the app is that it helps youngsters learn colors, numbers, the days of the week and pronouns for assorted family members. On Monday, her grandmother gives her a red hood; now she has one hood (and—according to the story—“is very happy”). On Tuesday, her grandfather gives her a yellow hood, but this time she is only quite happy. By the end of the week she has six different hoods and—here’s the perplexing thing—she’s fuming about it. (The beautiful artwork shows her progressive transformation from smiling to scowling. Perhaps an illogical lesson about emotions?) Later she goes to visit cousins, gives each of them a hood, and—voilà—she’s happy again. Another befuddling feature of this app is the menu, which is a puzzle in and of itself. Rather than aiding in navigation, the menu simply allows the reader to skip to a certain page, or find all of the pages that correspond to certain colors. Interactive features are plentiful and function well, but there is no audio—only a choice to read the story in English, Spanish, Portuguese or Catalán.