My kids and I recently had the chance to review “Violet’s The Night Before Christmas for the iPad” ($2.99), the third story in the series of apps featuring Violet.

The story is very traditional in that it follows the well-known “Twas The Night Before Christmas” story most of us know very closely. But the fact that the app isn’t “new” in story shouldn’t stop you from picking up this app if your kids enjoyed the first two releases of Violet. In fact, this might be the best in the series thus far. The team working on it have taken a lot of advice and suggestions since the first app was released, and they have incorporated many of them into this story.

The storybook is filled with interactive pieces that allow kids to interact with the story and characters throughout. Like previous stories the designer has opted to outline most of the interactive pieces with a dotted yellow line to help kids find the pieces that can be touched on each page. Some of these extras include…

- touching pictures on a wall for a closer look
- seeing inside wrapped gifts in Santa’s bag
- making stars on Christmas trees twinkle
- enhancing a crackling fire burning in a fireplace
- making bells on the sleigh jingle
- making Santa “ho-ho-ho Merry Christmas”
- helping Santa up the chimney
- seeing what Santa has left in the stockings
- and much more

The app is packed with a ton of extra enjoyment for kids, is well worth the price, and the release of the app is of course no accident. With a great many apps telling this particular story expected to be released it’s not hard to pass on it for a more traditional looking story and characters, however, I’d say this would be a mistake. Violet’s The Night Before Christmas is a great app, is put together well, gives kids much to be excited about, and uses characters they’ve come to love from previous stories. Just in time for the holidays, Violet’s The Night Before Christmas for the iPad will delight children with interactive storytelling, the choice of 3 Christmas songs playing in the background, and more Violet/Phantom Girl than they can handle.

As with any app or story released there are always things that could be improved. While I don’t want to take away from the greatness of the app I wish there were a few things that could be added. First, I’d like to see a bit more uniformity. While touching Santa in one page will make him “ho-ho-ho”, in another, it doesn’t. My kids expected him to do it whenever he was touched. I’d also point out that if they touched him “multiple times” he would do the voice-over on top of each other and become a jumbled mess. I’m sure this wasn’t even thought of and I’d expect a fix for it soon. Second, I wish the app included a “record yourself” option, allowing a parent to record their own voice as the narrator. This is something I’ve hoped for with previous stories but this one I would have liked to have it even more. Christmas is a family time of year, and for parents who might not be around, this would be a great addition.

The developers of the Violet series of apps have put a lot of time and effort into their apps/storybooks and it shows each and every time. They take advice and criticism, update and enhance, and truly try to put out a very high quality product for kids. It is obvious they really want to put out a good story and experience to allow parents to have a fun time reading with their kids, and have succeeded once again with Violet’s The Night Before Christmas for the iPad.

And if for some insane reason you deleted the first Violet Interactive Storybook, there is a very recent update that adds even MORE interactive features for users. Check it out, along with Violet #2 (Violet and The Mysterious Black Dog).