It's Tyrannosaurus Rex!-- EXCITING New omBook from Oceanhouse Media!

Oceanhouse Media recently announced an exciting new partnership. They will be teaming up with Soundprints, publishers of the Smithsonian Institution book series for young readers. This collaboration will result in several new omBook (Oceanhouse Media Digital Book) titles to be released in 2011. Look for new digital books from the Prehistoric Pals, Oceanic and Backyard collections.

The first title in this collaboration was released recently- It's Tyrannosaurus Rex!

Here is a bit more about this omBook (as taken from the Oceanhouse Media website)


It's Tyrannosaurus Rex!

Written by: Dawn Bentley

Illustrated by: Karen Carr

The stillness of the prehistoric forest is shattered by a loud pounding sound. What could it be? It's Tyrannosaurus Rex, the fiercest predator in all the land and she is hungry! What will Tyrannosaurus Rex find to eat?

Soundprints and the Smithsonian Institution recreate a bygone world and give you a glimpse into the life of this incredible creature. Amazing graphics and powerful sound effects make you feel like the exciting adventures of the prehistoric age are happening right outside your door! This title is carefully reviewed by paleontologists at the Smithsonian Institution and provides fascinating information about the prehistoric world.

Raileigh seems to actually really enjoy dinosaurs. I thought that she might me intimidated by or scared of them, but she isn't. In fact, she is just fascinated by these prehistoric giants. Many days, she will walk around the house and "roar", telling me that she is a dinosaur. So, when I heard about It's Tyrannosaurus Rex!, a new title from Oceanhouse Media, I was excited to check it out.

There are three ways in which this omBook can be read:

• "Read to Me" — listen to the narrated story with words highlighted as they are read
• "Read it Myself" — read the book in its traditional form
• "Auto Play" — plays like a movie, automatically reading and turning pages. Great for younger children!

First, we tried out "Read to Me". I did this so that I could really use the book reading as an educational experience and talk with Raileigh about the dinosaurs that we saw. The story centers around a Tyrannosaurus Rex looking for something to eat. We did a lot of predicting. Each time the Tyrannosaurus Rex would find a new dinosaur he wanted to try and eat, I would ask Raileigh if she thought he would catch the dinosaur.

The whole time we were reading, I wondered if she would be upset when he did catch another dinosaur and eat it. I know it is just part of the cycle of life, but I can also understand how this image might be a bit scary to young children. She handled it quite well, though, and didn't seem phased by the imagery in the least bit.

There were several dinosaurs mentioned in addition to the Tyrannosaurus Rex. I honestly had no idea how to pronounce a few of their names. So, we just used the Picture/ Word Association feature that is part of the book. When you touch a picture, words zoom up and are spoken that are associated with that picture. For example, when we got to the "Hypsilophodon", Raileigh just tapped the picture of the dinosaur. It said "Hypsilophodon" and the word flashed up on the screen.

We have also used the "Auto Play" feature. The narration is incredible and allows a story to be read to Raileigh when I am busy or we are riding in the car. During "Auto Play", the words are highlighted as they are read, helping beginning readers to follow along easily. There is also background music and sound effects that contribute nicely to the overall effect of the story.

I have enjoyed sharing this educational and very exciting book with Raileigh. I look forward to the release of many more titles from the Oceanhouse Media and Soundprints collaberation.

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No monetary compensation was received for this post. A promo code to download this digital book was sent to me for review. All opinions expressed above are my own.