Tablet apps for kids make what once were books into something interactive, mind-bending—and not necessarily better.

But Khalil also loves books. My wife has plied him with board books since he was born, and now he’ll bring us his favorite titles—Go, Dog, Go!, But Not the Hippopotamus, Cars and Trucks and Things That Go—several times a day, demanding that we read to him with his universal call to action, “More!” Recently we went on a vacation to South Africa, a trip that involved a total of about 48 hours in a plane. We brought along a handful of Khalil’s favorite books, but given how much we already had to pack, the trip seemed like an opportunity to test out books created for the iPad. (Plus, as I pointed out recently, I’ve given up most print books and magazines myself.) Along with Another Monster, I bought an app that collects five Dr. Seuss titles; a celebrated and well-designed book called The Fantastic Flying Books of Mr. Morris Lessmore; a Kindle book about birds; and PlayTales, an iPad bookstore that sells hundreds of touch-based kid titles. I expected these iPad books to become the star of the trip. But as soon as Khalil began using them, it was obvious they couldn’t match their paper-based cousins.

The News Source: http://www.slate.com/articles/arts/books/2012/06/children_s_books_as_ipad_apps_tablet_versions_of_kids_books_reviewed_.html