It's autumn in Majesticville, a town of caped crusaders, and school is starting back at Captain Majestic Memorial. Captain Thunder Force, Commander Atomica and General Jupiter are in the hall talking about the brave things they did on school holidays.
There are no accidents in Majesticville. The kids are too super to get splinters or chicken pox - but when young Rooney shows up at school, the super hero kids are confused. Is he Captain Rooney? Commander Rooney? No, he's just plain old Rooney from Normalville - not a super power in sight.
Of course, Rooney just wants to fit in - but how can he take part in all the super brave activities? He does try - but this normal fellow is not immune to splinters. Or sprained ankles. Or chicken pox. So, how does Rooney prove he's brave? Let's just say it involves public speaking... and we all know what kind of chutzpah that takes!
This is a gorgeous story, with well-rounded characters and fabulously fun cartoon illustrations. Extra commentary from characters is - 'scuse the pun - super fun.
Totally loving how you can pull and push characters around the page before they BOING! back into place, with really fabulous sound effects. Interactivity is brilliant - from the tongue depressers in sick bay that can be shaken and moved all over the page to the Tryptonite attack (spotting a character with dots) to the lazer beam effects, this is one well-produced ebook. Cupboards open, people fly, things move, words are read out, people speak - there is loads for kids to press and reveal.
What I love about this ebook is that images are allowed to do the talking. Kids don't want laborious text in a picture book app - they want interactivity, otherwise they'd be more than happy flicking through the bliss of a regular book.
A little dog at the top of the page can be touched to quickly bring up settings and the ability to jump to other pages. There is an option to bring the text up on each page or hide it, and kids can either read the book or have it read to them.
Super!
Brave Rooney is published by Bacciz and is available on iTunes for A$2.99.
