Digital Diary: Duck Duck Moose

In a month which has seen a huge profileration of apps aimed at children – presumably a result of many parents recognising the calming qualities of their handy multi-media smartphone – one app has taken off spectacularly: Duck Duck Moose’s ‘Wheels on the Bus’. 

So much so, in fact, that its developer – the Duck Duck Moose Partnership – has released another two apps to sit alongside their runaway seller, an Old Macdonald app and Itsy Bitsy Spider version – the developer’s latest offering.

Hot off the back of an Apple Staff recommendation, the app has attracted rave reviews from the likes of the New York Times and U.S.A Today.  A musical book, based on the perennially popular song, Duck Duck Moose’s ‘Wheels on the Bus’ creation manages to be both incredible fun and a valid educational tool at the same time.  Alongside a recording facility, the book app allows playback in five different languages, squeezing more educational value in just for good measure.  ‘Itsy Bitsy’, the latest installment, asserts to offer more interactivity and more educational value, with a fly acting as a tutor teaching children about nature and the environment.

Ultimately, the success of these apps has thrown the playing field wide open for developers and publishers alike, confirming a market which many had long thought existed: parents looking to use the iPhone as a means of entertaining/pacifiying their children, in much the same way as a childrens’ book long has.