Our recent roundup of interactive picture-book apps for the iPad focused on fancied-up classics like "Alice in Wonderland" and "Green Eggs and Ham." But there's plenty of new material out there in the world of finger-swipe page-turning. Here, we take a look at five popular non-classics that got the iPad treatment.


"The Pedlar Lady of Gushing Cross" by Jacqueline Rogers & Matthew Talbot-Kelly (Moving Tales, $4.99)
Here's a folktale with an ancient feel presented in the most groundbreaking way possible. This story of an old hermit woman who leaves her desert home in search of a dream feels utterly magical -- in the story itself; in the sage-like British-accented narration by the wonderful Mark Doherty; in the haunting musical score; and most of all, in the dynamic three-dimensional, fully-animated illustrations. Every "page" of this book looks like a clip from an Oscar-winning animated short. It's truly stunning.

A book that can make a little kid laugh is a book he or she is going to remember and want to read again. But different kids laugh at some very different things.

Is your child more of a "hee hee, look at the monkey's silly face" type? Or more of a "ha ha, the monkey just got eaten by that crocodile" schadenfreude fan? Here, we look at five new picture books, in order from sweet to sardonic.


"Spork" by Kyo Maclear and Isabelle Arsenault (Kids Can Press, $17)
This adorable allegory casts a young spork as a piece of flatware stuck between two worlds. With inherited parts from both his spoon mother and fork father, he doesn't feel like he fits in anywhere. Of course, he finds that there are certain culinary dilemmas for which he is the perfect solution. The kitchenware characters supply a lot of the humor with their expressive reactions. It's a book that will make you smile, even if it doesn't make you laugh out loud.

Back in 1930, hard-boiled detectives like Sam Spade and Philip Marlowe were in vogue, making mystery-solving a decidedly masculine occupation. And then Carolyn Keene came along and tossed an 18-year-old girl into the mix.

I would dare say Nancy Drew has more worldwide name recognition today than any of her tough-as-bullets forerunners. I would even say she's arguably more famous than her squeaky-clean chums, the Hardy Boys, who preceded her by three years.

Today, girl detectives are flourishing. Let's take a look at some of Ms. Drew's unofficial progeny, as well as revisit "The Secret of the Old Clock," the very first Nancy Drew mystery, now available in an 80th Anniversary Limited Edition.


The Secret of the Old Clock by Carolyn Keene (Grosset & Dunlap, $7)
This 80-year-old mystery holds up remarkably well. Nancy's eminent politeness and quaint aphorisms could have come across as very dated and corny, but instead, they feel rather charming. The solution to this mystery may not be a stunner, but watching the very likable teen detective figure it out is undeniably entertaining. And when you consider that this was written in 1930, you can truly understand what a groundbreaking figure Nancy Drew was. She's intelligent, intrepid, and really knows how to handle herself in risky situations. She makes a great role model for kids today, let alone back then. It's no wonder she became such a girl-power icon.

As the iconic Dora the Explorer celebrates its 10th year on the air this week, I began to reflect on my own children's relationship with the spunky Latina adventurer -- and how it morphed from utter adoration into hyperbolic hatred.

From the moment my daughter was old enough to recognize television characters -- about 18 months or so -- Dora was her hero. Dora posters lined her walls, Dora sheets adorned her bed and Dora dolls filled in the space around her. It felt like a Dora song was always being sung somewhere around our house and our DVR's "Now Playing" list quickly became one long litany of Dora episodes. This obsession lasted all through her preschool years and on past kindergarten.

Then, somewhere around age 7, she decided Dora was too babyish for her. And now as she prepares to enter third grade, she despises the mere mention of the spunky Latina adventurer, reacting with tween-ish eye rolls and fake retching. This makes me incredibly sad.

Bouncy castles, moon jumpers -- whatever you call them -- oh, how I wish I could take my family to a street fair or an outdoor festival without seeing one of those inflatable behemoths.

From the moment they enter our line of sight (actually, we usually hear their roaring air-blower engines long before we make visual contact), the children start panting with excitement and my heart sinks into existential ennui.

One of the reasons I dread these things is the magically entrancing power they seem to hold over children. There is no way to avoid it; your kid will beg to go in. So you pay the gouge-errific $5-a-ticket charge and get in line behind every other child in your major metropolitan area.

However you feel about them, video games make up a huge part of today's kids' pop-culture diet. But to many parents who grew up on the barely-2-D blips of "Pac-Man" and "Space Invaders," the epic hi-def sagas that spin from Xbox 360s are like a foreign language they just can't seem to get a grasp on.

But if you've got an iPhone (or iPad or iPod Touch), you can leave the16-button mega-controllers to the middle-schoolers and get back to basics with some of the same old-school quarter-eaters from your youth. Retro gaming can not only be a great way for PlayStation-phobic parents to connect with their kids, but it can also provide the kids with a lesson in the power of simplicity. Strangely, there are no great adaptations of "Pong," but here are some other games of yesteryear that have found a new life in the App Store.


"Pac-Man"
To refresh your memory: The little yellow power-pellet chomping guy is perhaps the iconic video game figure of the 1980s, so if you're unfamiliar with him, you may unfortunately be a lost cause.
How the game has evolved: Aside from the graphics being crisper and clearer than they ever were, this is a near-exact replica of the "Pac-Man" games you used to find nestled between Skee-ball machines and automated fortune tellers. You have a choice of controls: Virtual joystick, finger swiping or steering by tilting your iDevice (not recommended).
Does it hold up?: The addictive gameplay was the reason this game was such a mega-hit when it first appeared -- and that gameplay hasn't changed. So, yes.
Price: $4.99

Reading a good book can be an emotional experience. Here's a selection of new picture books that can run you through the full gamut.


"City Dog, Country Frog" by Mo Willems, illustrated by Jon J. Muth (Hyperion, $18)
We all know Mo Willems from his comedic kids' classics like "Don't Let the Pigeon Drive the Bus! " and "Knuffle Bunny: A Cautionary Tale," but never before have we seen him tug those heartstrings the way he does here. This sweet and warm story, told over the course of five seasons, recounts an urban dog's visits to his human family's bucolic vacation house. With no canine companions to be found, the pooch bonds with an affable frog who teaches him the ways of the country. The ending -- aided by the wonderfully realistic paintings of Jon J. Muth ("Zen Shorts") -- packs quite an emotional wallop. Adults and kids alike can expect to get weepy.

Whatever you want to do, there's an app for that: It's already a stale joke.

But, as they say, there's truth in jest. And when it comes to bedtime stories, yes, there's an app for that. Many, actually. And a lot of them are (ahem) not very good. But there are a few picture book apps out there that are mind-blowingly great. Here's a look at just how cool virtual storytime can be.


The Little Mermaid and other stories by Hans Christian Andersen (Game Collage, $8.99)
With the look of a well-worn tome, pulled off the shelf of a long-forgotten library in Grandma's house, the cover of this e-book alone is enough to entice book lovers to dive in. And once you start flicking pages, you'll come across Andersen's original text, augmented by beautifully lifelike three-dimensional illustrations, nearly all of which you can interact with on your iPad. Light and unlight swaying lanterns, swat mosquitoes, pop bubbles, swish the tendrils of sea anemones -- even set off fireworks. These are truly interactive illustrations. There are even neat Easter eggs in the text (tap the word "bells" and you'll hear them tolling). The app also includes equally interactive versions of "The Emperor's New Clothes" and the garden snail fable, "The Happy Family." If you're squeamish, you should love the unbelievably real-looking bugs and slugs that crawl across your iPad screen in that last one.

The children's sections of music stores -- whether online or off -- have never been more crowded.

You've not only got the exciting, parent-friendly new wave of family artists, but you'll always have the still-wonderful, nostalgia-inducing old school as well. And the genre has been changing so rapidly in the past decade or so that the forerunners of the new guard, like Laurie Berkner, are beginning to take on "classic" status themselves. Here are some great new discs (and new old discs) for family listening.


The Not-Its: "Time Out To Rock"
A prime example of what's fresh and new in the world of kids' music, the Not-Its put out enough musical energy to light a small city. Their new release somehow manages to top their phenomenal debut album, with fast-pumping electric guitars and driving drum beats powering their punky-but-friendly new wave rock tunes. The album cover art does a remarkably good job of visually representing the funky fun feel of the Not-Its' music.

In these hot, schedule-mangling summer months, it can be difficult to remember to read to your kids. Here are some of the more pleasantly surprising recent picture books -- breaks from the typical that will help keep you interested as you provide your pre-readers with a story-filled summer.


"Ladybug Girl at the Beach" by David Somar and Jacky Davis (Dial, $17)
The original "Ladybug Girl" was a gorgeously illustrated, endearingly written tribute to the powerful imagination of an awkward little girl trying to find her own identity. It didn't really need a sequel, let alone two. But happily, this third book in the series is just as fabulous and dreamy as the first. It depicts a sweet and very realistic episode in Ladybug Girl's young life, in which her palpable enthusiasm for swimming in the ocean wanes rapidly as soon as she first reaches the beach and lays eyes on the surf. Kids and parents alike will smile as they watch her build up the courage to dip her feet.

Songwriter Josh Farrar's immensely likable and entertaining first novel, "Rules to Rock By" (Walker Books, $17), chronicles a middle schooler's efforts to form her own teen rock band.

Normally, when you're reading about a fictional music group, you need to rely on the limited skills of your brain's inner composer to get an idea of that imaginary band's style and sound. Depending on who you are, you could end up mentally singing all the lyrics to the tune of "Yellow Rose of Texas." But no such worries exist with "Rules to Rock By": It comes with its very own soundtrack.

The CD, also titled "Rules to Rock By" ($10), is a collection of 13 songs performed by The Bungles -- the band in the book. You get to really hear them (or at least a teen-led studio band acting as them), and that is wildly cool.

In a world where every aspect of a teenager's life has gone multi-media, it wouldn't be surprising to see this book-and-CD combo business catch on -- and I'd be all for it.

The Book: Annabelle Cabrera, the protagonist of "Rules to Rock By" is not just any random teen looking to play music. By age 11, she was already fronting a kid rock band that had a devoted following and was opening for grown-up acts in New York City. Then her parents decided to move the family to Rhode Island.

Determined not to let her musical saga come to and early end, Annabelle seeks out new bandmates in her new school -- and is shocked to find that her suburban community already has its fair share of local teen bands. She's going to have to prove herself as a rocker all over again.

Annabelle makes a wonderfully likable narrator, a young girl who makes decisions by asking herself, "What would Joan Jett do?" She struggles with missing old friends, making new friends, becoming jealous of new friends, bonding with her former-musician parents and watching out for her troubled little brother. All the markings of a great coming-of-age novel are here, but with a layer of "Almost Famous" rock star angst added in. Don't worry, though -- no sex or drugs here. Just rock 'n' roll.

The Soundtrack: The Bungles aren't the first fictional band to release an album -- in a way the band is following the tradition of the Monkees, Spinal Tap, Cheetah Girls and more. But, as far as I can recall, they're the first to provide a direct soundtrack for a book.

The real-world Bungles actually have two talented teenage vocalists, Justine Skyers and Sofie Kapur, both playing the part of Annabelle Cabrera. On the CD, they tear through a bunch of inspired cover tunes ("We Used to Be Friends" by the Dandy Warhols, "Animal" by Miike Snow, Cheap Trick's "Surrender" and more), as well as several originals written by the book's author, Josh Farrar.

The Bungles have a raw, indie sound -- authentic to the characters, but not amateurish in any way. This is a solid CD, and when you read the book, you're left with no doubt that this is exactly the type of album Annabelle would record.

Related: 7 More Bands "Yo Gabba Gabba" Has Introduced to Your Kids

First off, it's 2010. Are we still supposed to be shocked by male tears? Didn't Rosey Grier take care of that back in 1972 with his vulnerable, semi-on-key song, "It's All Right to Cry?" But apparently men getting misty at the end of a deeply emotional, heartstring-tugging film is cause for national debate.

And while most of the journalists who've taken on this topic want to let their male readers know -- just as Mr. Grier did when we were kids -- that their moist cheeks are nothing to be ashamed of, they also try to play down these manly weepfests by assigning them the most acceptably macho motives they can think up.

Be warned, spoilers lie ahead.

We've always had a fascination with cold-weather animals. Perhaps it's because they live in environments we never could. Polar bears and penguins are animals we're never going to see padding along the side of the road, no matter what part of the world we call home. Plus, they're adorable. But who has fared better in the world of pop culture: Penguins or polar bears? Let's take a side-by-side assessment. It's time for a smackdown!

PICTURE BOOKS (FICTION)
Penguins: The aquatic birds have taken lead roles is some of the best picture books of the last decade: The brilliant and museum-worthy "Lost and Found" by Oliver Jeffers; Antionette Portis's minimalist masterpiece, "A Penguin Story"; the bizarrely funny "Penguin" by Polly Dunbar; and the highly original math fable from Jean-Luc Fromental, "365 Penguins." Perhaps it is the penguins' black-and-white coloring that makes it so well suited to avant-garde artwork.

Polar Bears: But the big furry guys have headed up perhaps even more picture recent books. We've got Lauren Thompson's deservedly lauded "Polar Bear Night"; Jeff Mack's cute "Hush Little Polar Bear"; the amiable "Sweet Dreams, Polar Bear" by Mindy Dwyer; and "Goodnight, Lars" from Hans de Beer's Little Polar Bear series. Why are these stories all about polar bears going to sleep? Are these writers trying to tell us something? Anyway, there are over a dozen books in de Beer's Little Polar Bear series alone, plus Daniel Pinkwater's fun Irving & Muktuk series about two badly behaved polar bears (a refreshing change of pace), and Jan Brett's arctic reimagining of the Goldilocks tale, "The Three Snow Bears."

Results: The penguins might have a slight edge on quality, but the bears have the quantity. TIE!

Beach season is upon us and tweens and teens, just as much as adults, are going to be grabbing dishy, fun reads to page through while they lie out on the sand.

Some are lighthearted and innocent, some are lighthearted and not-so-innocent, some are even a bit dark and dramatic. It all may leave you wondering if any of them might be worth reading yourself as a guilty pleasure, or if any of them may be too guilty of a pleasure for your kids to read.

"The Carrie Diaries" by Candace Bushnell ($18, Balzer + Bray)
Yes, we're talking about "Sex and the City"'s Carrie Bradshaw. Only here, we get introduced to the virginal 17-year-old Carrie, as she navigates the turmoil of her senior year of high school. Oh, there are teenagers who have sex in the book -- in fact, Carrie believes she's the only one of her friends who isn't having it -- and there's much talk about the act, but no play-by-play descriptions. Sex is a constant theme in the book, but it's really about friendships -- breaking up old ones, forging new ones -- and the intricate process of defining oneself at a pivotal age in life. Frankly, the underage drinking and chain smoking are a bit more troubling than the lusty talk. The book is heavier on the drama and much lighter on the comedy than fans of SATC may expect (ironically, the teenage Carrie seems more mature than the most recent version of the adult Carrie we've seen), but with no onslaught of groan-worthy puns, those fans may be happier with this book than they were with the movie.

The "Toy Story 3" game ($50, from Disney Interactive, available for Wii, PS3, Xbox 360 and Windows PC) doesn't just try to retell the story of the film that shares its name -- although it does contain several masterfully-designed levels based on scenes from that film. The heart of this game is an open virtual world, in which characters are free to roam, explore and do as they please.