Open your way to a week of Christmas surprises ...

What if you could count down to Christmas with one present every day for a week? Most children love counting down to holidays, and this new book app gives you a way to build up excitement to the biggest one of the year for your child. Created by two moms, author Rebecca Pashia and illustrator Noelle Stoffel, One Present, Please is a charming new app from Rain Boot Media.

The book offers 7 storybooks in 1 app, all about a young boy who wants to open his Christmas presents early. He tells his Mommy that the gifts he wants to open early look so small, or lonely or maybe have something 'wrong' with them that makes them stand out. Unlike many mothers, his Mommy relents each day for the 7 days before Christmas (I know, I know ... I wanted it to be the "12 days of Christmas" too, but the stories are enchanting nonetheless). Before the young boy can open the present each day, he must find some hidden objects on a fun page in the middle of each digital storybook.

The graphics and illustrations are beautiful, with lovely writing in simple text that is easy for new readers to follow. Page turns are triggered by candy canes at the edge of each page and there is a menu to navigate between all 7 books. There is no pageguide for individual books but otherwise this app has ample settings and is solidly built. The animations when finding items in the 'hidden objects' pages and opening the gifts is unsophisticated but satisfying, especially for the target audience of 6-8 years old. Younger children will enjoy the book with an adult, though they may need help finding some of the more difficult hidden objects. Complex games, like 'Simon' must sometimes be played to unlock gifts as well, increasing the appeal of this app to slightly older readers.

The only suggestions we had to improve the app would be to add more stories to dovetail with the idea of 12 days before Christmas, since 7 days is a bit awkward, culturally speaking. We also like the idea of having a companion app for Hanukkah, counting down the 8 days of that holiday.

Overall, this is a terrific new app for the Christmas season. It brings together many aspects of a top-notch book app, including interactive and animated elements. It also has the hallmarks of old-fashioned storytelling: suspense, a fun topic and lots of suprises along the way. Best of all, the final story of the 7 encourages kids to not only receive gifts for Christmas, but to give as well.

Recommended!

This app has been thoroughly evaluated by our staff. Please click on the 'star ratings' tab above, to see how it fared in all nine of our rating categories. See synopsis tab for more details about the storyline. 

Note to readers: This review was expedited by the developer for a fee. The content of the rating/review is the same, but timing of publication has been prioritized.

All reviews are of the app, not the platform/device. Based originally on iPad versions. Minor technical details may vary.