Just in time for Halloween, Harry and the Haunted House is definitely high on my all time top ten list of favorites. It was released for iOS on October third, but it's really 18 years old. And therein lies a tale. But first, let's take a look at this excellent app.

This is one of the best designed interactive children's books I've ever seen, and time was taken to get every small detail absolutely right. The title page starts simply where Harry, the protagonist in a fantasy world of talking animals, explains the two ways the book can be used. Either it can run on auto-pilot, which incorporates many of the interchanges between the four main characters and lots of sound and animation, or you can play with it yourself, having some of the dialogue read to you while you're off exploring.

Setup Screen

Many Customizable Settings

I like this setup because it puts the child in control or seemingly so. Under the hood, accessible by the button marked options, are a wide number of controls parents can set. These options are also to be found under the iOS settings on the iPhone, iPod touch or iPad.

Some things that can be set:

• Skip title page
• Bookmark setting, to get back to the page you ended the app, is on by default but can be turned off
• Patience Mode: which allows or disallows the child to interrupt dialogue or animations before they are over. For small kids this is very useful and thoughtful
• Page Swipe
• Highlight Hotspots: For very small pre-readers everything that kicks off an animation or interchange is surrounded by a red box. This is perfect for preschoolers, and I've not seen this done before.

A World of Discovery

All the words are not printed because that would take some of the fun out of discovery. There are all sorts of embedded interchanges kicked off by the child's fingers. Wanderful Inc. doesn't give away the store. There's constant excitement in not knowing what you'll find next, and the payoffs come quickly and are always fun.

At Least 20 Animated Objects

The characters of Amy, Earl, Harry, Stinky, Harry's dog, and even a bunch of singing and dancing bugs have real personalities. Mark Schlichting's writing is witty and charming with well developed characters.

Interactions Emerge From the Narrative, Not the Other Way Around

A major difference between Harry and everything else out there is that in other books tapping on something creates one action and often the action either contradicts the story or adds nothing to the narrative being employed. I surmise this is because either the designer saw it in someone else's book —like spring loaded everything— or appear for the sole reason of the designer being able to code it. Harry eschews this sort of brain dead clap-trap. Not only are cute, short animations embedded, but at least half the plot is meant to be discovered.  This app is cognitive dissonance free. I only wish I could say that about the 99 percent of the available product currently on the market that can tend to confuse kids.

The Pictures Are Animated 

Everything that happens adds and enhances the whimsical world where animals play baseball and the haunted house tells jokes and is a master of physical comedy. A nice addition is added dialogue and animations that happen when the reader turns a page.

Every word is recorded twice, once for narration and once for pronunciation. After it's read, tap on a word for it's individual pronunciation out of the context of the story or tap on the baseball to the left of the text block to have it read within the story.

The House is a Main Character

There is so much singing and dancing hidden away that I'm surprised that they could get the file size down to 103 MB. I can usually get through an interactive children's book in twenty minutes or less. This one took me well over an hour, and the new things I found were original. I especially loved the ending which is wonderfully satisfying and somewhat ironic.

Get To Any page At Will

Complete Curriculum and Activities Available

The app works in English and Spanish. An in-app purchase of $1.99 adds French. But for $2.99, if this is used in school, or for home schoolers, you get a premium upgrade that's worth much more than the cost: well researched and valid curriculum.