The tooth fairy is somewhat passé. As is tying one end of a string to a door knob and the other to a loose tooth and slamming the door. Ah yes, gently readers, that was done when I was a child. Chris Robertson and his book app, The Tooth That’s on the Loose, explains the whole process in a fun and interesting way that lets kids know what is going on and why.

The app was released November 7, 2011 and is available for US$2.99 in the iTunes store. It’s published by Chris Robertson, is 32 pages in length, and works with iPhone (3G or later), iPad, and iPod touch (2nd generation or later). It requires iBooks 1.3 and iOS 4.2, and is available in English only.

The content is available in Read To Me and Touch and Read formats.

Using the app

The main character in the book is T.B. Wiggley “a slippery, shifty little varmint.” The story is told by Sheriff Tex. The app features a lot of animations and touch-based actions that should keep a child’s attention. For example, on one page one can add cacti to the page with the touch of a finger. In another kind of activity one can touch the sheriff’s star and the word will appear on the page. There are a lot of hidden activities within the app to keep a child interested while hearing the story of the loose tooth and what happens when it comes out. There are also some nice sound effects. The tooth fairy does play a minor role in the whole story.

Page from The Tooth That’s on the Loose

One nice feature is the coloring activity. There are four pages that can be colored. Once the child chooses one of the four pictures they will find six colors, two sizes of paint brushes, and an eraser. When finished a picture can be saved in photos. Pictures can be erased and painted over and over.