If you’re a regular here at theipadfan.com then you have no doubt seen my reviews of the previous 3 apps in the the Violet Series by MyBlackDogBooks. You have probably also found that my reviews for them are extremely high and full of praise. There is a reason for that, they are just amazing interactive storybook apps for kids. The newest release, story 4 (though officially #3 in sequence due to the Christmas release), “Violet and the Mystery Next Door” ($3.99) is their best yet!

In this latest story, Violet is curious about the neighbor next door. Readers set out to investigate and help Violet/Phantom Girl solve the “mystery next door” by touching, swiping, choosing, moving, reading, and listening to the storybook application. Developers dug deep into their arsenal of imagination and have added a nice “choose your own adventure” type direction to part of the story. They’ve also added amazingly great interactions such as throwing snowballs and moving things around the page to “search” for clues.

My kids had a blast trying to “help” Violet/Phantom Girl locate clues and search the pages. They love that depending on their own choices in the story the outcome is a little different. It’s not a huge difference, but for the kids, they love that they got to “play” a part and are “involved” in the story. Through interactions, choices, and more. The graphics are superb, the animations enough to satisfy, and the various options are perfect in an application for children, such as this.

While the price of Violet and the Mystery Next Door is higher, by a buck, it’s longer than the other Violet books, and longer than most books in this genre which have equal or higher prices….and the Violet series is universal…for iPad, iPhone, iPod Touch, so it’s worth a little more cash…or “whatever it is we pay with these days”.

Update (1, 2):
The price of the app has dropped by a dollar for a temporary sale…check it out quick.