A Charlie Brown Thanksgiving interactive storybook app from Loud Crow Interactive

In time for Thanksgiving 2013, Loud Crow Interactive has released another interactive storybook app based on a classic Peanuts television special. Not surprisingly, that new title is A Charlie Brown Thanksgiving, which retells the story of and recreates scenes from the 1973 show on tablets and smartphones.

The read-along app features narration by Stephen Shea (who performed the voice of Linus in animated specials from 1971-1975, including A Charlie Brown Thanksgiving) together with dialog and music from the show. In each scene, the characters are animated and readers can poke, prod, and pull objects to make different things happen.

The Charlie Brown Thanksgiving app currently sells for $5.99 and is available for iPads, iPhones, and iPod touches from the Apple App Store, for Android devices from the Google Play store, and for Kindle Fires from the Amazon Appstore.  For more information, visit one of the store links, or Loud Crow's website.

This is Loud Crow Interactive's fourth app based on the Peanuts TV shows; the previous interactive storybooks are A Charlie Brown Christmas; It's the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown; and Charlie Brown's All-Stars. The Thanksgiving app seems to be aimed at younger readers than the earlier ones; previously, you had to experiment to find the hidden actions in a scene, but for the most part, the new app shows you exactly where to tap and drag. (There are still a few hidden bits, but not many.) This may be good for younger kids, but in my opinion, it makes the app less entertaining for older readers.

The good news is the Thanksgiving app is free of in-app purchases, which blighted Loud Crow Interactive's original release of the It's the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown app. To their credit, Loud Crow has since released an update to the Great Pumpkin app including all the former in-app purchases for free instead.

Snoopy Coaster game released for iPad and iPhones

Snoopy Coaster, a new Peanuts-themed game for the iPad, iPhone, and iPod touch, is now available at the Apple app store.

In the game, players guide the Peanuts gang on an endless roller coaster ride through various environments such as amusement parks, snowy mountains, and a forest of kite-eating trees as they try to jump and catch coins, pop balloons, and not fall off the tracks.  Snoopy Coaster was created by Developed by Chillingo, CGMagic, and Peanuts Worldwide.

You can see a trailer and more screenshots at the Chillingo website, or read the full press release.

While Snoopy Coaster is only 99 cents (in the United States), beware that it is rather aggressive about offering you "opportunities" and "encouragements" to spend more money for boosters and add-ons via in-app purchases - in some cases it's not clear that clicking on a button will lead to the program asking you to spend money (fortunately, the app store does ask you to confirm and you can cancel).  However, buying these add-ons doesn't appear necessary to play the game, at least not for the first few levels.  It's unfortunate that this otherwise cute game is so pushy.

It's the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown app from Loud Crow Interactive arrives

Loud Crow Interactive is bringing a new interactive storybook app version of It's the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown to all sincere smartphones and tablets this October.

The app features artwork, animations, music, and dialog from the classic television special as well as narration by Peter Robbins, who performed the voice of Charlie Brown in the 1966 TV show.

You can interact with each scene, tapping and dragging objects to make them do new things; create your own costume for a new Peanuts character; bob for apples with Lucy and Snoopy; carve a pumpkin that will then appear in the story; play three old wartime songs on Schroeder's piano; and more.

Loud Crow's A Charlie Brown Christmas app was lots of fun, so this one should be too!  The app is available now from the App Store for iOS devices (iPhones, iPads, iPod touches); the cost is $4.99.  It will be coming soon for Android devices.

Visit Loud Crow's website and Facebook page for more details and preview screens.

Update adds new scenes to A Charlie Brown Christmas app

Loud Crow Interactive has released a free "director's cut" update for their popular A Charlie Brown Christmas interactive digital storybook app for the iPad, iPhone, and iPod touch.  The update adds 4 new scenes from the classic TV special that weren't included in the original release of the app, including the gang trying to catch snowflakes on their tongues and Sally's Christmas list.

You can see more screenshots of the new scenes on Loud Crow's Facebook page.  To get the "director's cut," download the newest update of the app from the App Store (the update is free if you've already purchased the app), run the app, and click the "Visit Store" button inside the book cover to get the free in-app update.

The app update also offers new ornament theme packs that you can purchase to add more variety when decorating the Christmas tree inside the app, and various bugfixes.  Currently the update and director's cut is only available for the iPad and iPhone version of the apps.

Loud Crow also announced a "12 days of A Charlie Brown Christmas" promotion, which is "an in-app scavenger hunt for your chance to win an iPad 2 loaded with Loud Crow apps."  Starting December 13, you can search the app for a special ornament each day for your chance to win.  For more details, visit the Loud Crow Interactive website or Facebook page.

The A Charlie Brown Christmas interactive storybook app costs $6.99 and can be purchased from the Apple App Store  .  For more information about the app, see our previous blog post or Loud Crow Interactive's website.

A Charlie Brown Christmas goes interactive with new digital storybook app for tablets

This week Loud Crow Interactive released an interactive digital storybook app based on the classic TV special A Charlie Brown Christmas.  The app features artwork, animations, music, and dialog from the classic television special and is narrated by Peter Robbins, who performed the voice of Charlie Brown in the 1965 TV show.

Features of the A Charlie Brown Christmas app include touching and dragging objects to make them spring to life, playing Schroeder's piano, finger painting with the gang, caroling with the Peanuts choir and unlocking decorations to decorate your very own Charlie Brown Christmas Tree.  The app is available for the iPhone/iPad/iPod touch, the Barnes & Noble Nook, and other Android devices.

We've spent some time playing with the app and it's very cute, very entertaining, and very faithful to the original special, with lots of nice little touches - we expect fans of all ages will love this app.  Kids, in particular, will probably love poking and prodding at all the characters and scenes.

Visit Loud Crow Interactive's website to see more screenshots and a video of the new app, and links to purchase the various versions of it.  The A Charlie Brown Christmas interactive storybook app costs $6.99 and can be purchased from the Apple App Store, the Android Market, or the Amazon Appstore.

Loud Crow says the A Charlie Brown Christmas app is the first in a series of digital book apps based on classic Peanuts specials that they're creating in conjunction with Peanuts Worldwide (read the full press release).

Help out the Peanuts gang in the new Snoopy's Street Fair game for iPad and iPhone

Do you wish you could spend more time with the Peanuts gang on your iPhone, iPod touch, or iPad?  If so, you may enjoy the new game Snoopy's Street Fair from Beeline Games.  In the game, you help the Peanuts gang build and organize a street fair in order to raise funds for new baseball uniforms.  The street fair includes booths such as Sally's Leomonade Stand and Lucy's Psychiatric Help stand (of course!), among others.  Snoopy's part of the game too, although his antics may hinder as much as help.

Snoopy's Street Fair will be a "freemium" game - it's a free download, and if you spend enough time playing the game, you can unlock the game's features, such as additional Peanuts characters, costumes for Snoopy, mini-games, and Peanuts comic strips for free... or you can also make in-app purchases to progress faster.

For more information about Snoopy's Street Fair:

• Visit the Snoopy's Street Fair website for screenshots
• Watch a YouTube preview of the game
• Follow the game on Facebook
• Read reviews of the game at TouchGEN and 148Apps

Snoopy's Street Fair is now available from the US app store and the Canadian app store.  So far, only an version for iOS deveices has been announced.