The Dr. Seuss iPad App is an update from Oceanhouse Media, the programmer of the three original popular Dr. Seuss iPhone/iPod touch apps, made especially for the iPad by modifying their existing apps to universal binary.http://www.tuaw.com/2010/04/07/dr-seuss-iphone-apps-get-supersized-for-the-ipad/ The app takes advantage of the iPad's larger screen to appeal to iPad users and their children; users can use the app to help accelerate the learning and reading skills, in much the same way as the original Dr. Seuss books were utilized.

Any current owners of The Cat in the Hat, Dr. Seuss's ABC, or How The Grinch Stole Christmas!, which cost US $3 each, simply needs to accept the free update to gain access to the new version, which utilizes the larger iPad screen while maintaining the same functions and processes as the old iPhone and iTouch apps.http://www.tuaw.com/2010/04/07/dr-seuss-iphone-apps-get-supersized-for-the-ipad/

With regards to the original program, Oceanhouse Media joined up with Dr. Seuss Enterprises LLP, to turn Dr. Seuss's classics into apps. They id so by putting together an engine that they can plug any Dr. Seuss book into, due to the fact taht all tdhe apps work exactly the same way.http://www.tuaw.com/2010/04/07/dr-seuss-iphone-apps-get-supersized-for-the-ipad/

The Dr. Seuss iPad app works in quite a simple manner. Each Dr. Seuss book has three options on the main screen. Auto Play, meant for very young users, uses imaginative narrators, sound effects, and music, while the book is read from start to finish. The text is highlighted with each word that is spoken, supposedly to help pre-readers who are beginning to recognize patterns and words.http://www.tuaw.com/2010/04/07/dr-seuss-iphone-apps-get-supersized-for-the-ipad/

With the Read To Me option, each page gets read and words highlighted as with Auto Play. However, it adds an interesting function; by tapping on any picture, it causes a large version of the underlying word to be displayed and spoken. With this graphic, a reader can tap in the appropriate location and the iPad will respond by demarcating the appropriate word, such as wet, sit, chair, fish, picture, etc.http://www.tuaw.com/2010/04/07/dr-seuss-iphone-apps-get-supersized-for-the-ipad/

The third option, Read it Myself, is for more advanced preliminary readers. The page is displayed and everything is active, including sound effects; however, no narration plays. If a reader is having difficulty with a particular word, as is expected, then by tapping the troublesome word, the iPad will respond by narrating it and providing a picture.http://www.tuaw.com/2010/04/07/dr-seuss-iphone-apps-get-supersized-for-the-ipad/

"I know how effective this is from personal experience: Both my kids started playing with my Apple ][+ when they were two years old, using a program called Stickybear ABC. At that time all that program did was to let kids type any letter, and a colorful animation of a word starting with the typed letter was shown along with the word clearly pronounced. There were two animations behind each letter. That was it. Yes, it was a simpler time, but I couldn't drag my kids away from the computer. They would sit there for long periods of time and type random keys to see what would happen. It was very effective and gave them a head start on reading. The Dr. Seuss book apps take this sort of interactivity to a much higher level, since I'm sure that hundreds of words are embedded behind pictures, creating an amazing amount of play value that you can't get with the books themselves.

There's one more small touch that just seemed right. When you quit out of an app without finishing the book, the next time you run it, a screen appears asking whether you would like to resume where you left off or start from the beginning. This is probably more for the parents than the kids, since I can easily see a child hitting the button and ending the app, then asking a parent to get them back to where they were. In a book of any more than a few pages, this would prove to be frustrating experience if the app was being used without parental supervision.

Obviously none of this is meant to replace reading to your child. I don't believe that to be any part of the purpose of these apps. Instead, presenting a child with a degree of autonomy can be a very worthwhile thing.

So what's the difference between the iPhone and iPad version? Nothing at all outside of the iPad version taking advantage of the larger screen and keeping the graphics sharp and beautifully rendered. Having a larger screen will make it easier to use, since on the iPhone it's easy to tap on something not exactly in the right place, causing the wrong word to come up. The apps work in landscape mode only to keep the pages looking exactly the same as the books, another fine decision.

If you have kids just getting used to the concept of reading, I couldn't recommend these apps more highly, and I fully expect that in time the entire Seuss catalog will be along for the ride.

Take a look at this video of the Dr. Seuss's ABC app on the iPhone to see it in action."