Rudolph makes his debut as an enhanced eBook for iOS devices

The beloved holiday star Rudolph The Red-Nosed Reindeer has made it to the iPad, iPhone and iPod Touch as an enhanced eBook. You can choose to have the classic story read to you, or read it yourself at your own pace. Along the way, young readers and tap on objects on the screen to see the name, and hear the pronunciation of the object: Tap on a cave wall, and the word 'cave' appears on screen, and is spoken by the book's narrator.

Additionally, tapping on the characters in different scenes plays audio clips from the claymation special. Overall it is a well produced and fun interpretation of a well-known story to a new format.

Here's a look:

Rudolph The Red-Nosed Reindeer in the app store.

Peekaboo Barn for the iPhone and iPod Touch Video Review

Good news: from what I've observed kids aren't watching as much television these days. The bad news? Parents are instead handing over their iPods and iPhones, perhaps better described as pocket babysitters. If toddlers are going to spend time with your iPhone, you should at least give them a chance to learn something in the process.

Peekaboo Barn is a straightforward app with, as you may have guessed, a barn. Children hear an animal sound, then see the animal, and hear its name. The voice can be either an adult, or another child. The best part though, is both english and spanish languages are available, making it a simple tool to teach kids multiple languages (or at least the names of animals in multiple languages) anytime, anywhere.

Overall, it is a simple app that does what it sets out to do with a kid-friendly, minimal design.

Here's a look:

Peekaboo Barn in the App Store.

Holiday Bells brings jingle to your iPhone or iPod Touch

As we continue our look at holiday apps of the season, today we remember that December is the one month a year when people remember/hear that oft-forgotten musical instrument: the handbell.

At first glance, Holiday Bells appears to do nothing more than present handbells (or sleigh bells) on screen. Tap the handbell, or shake the sleigh bells, and lovely jingles emanate from your iDevice. This app isn't all novelty though, as you can also choose a song, then follow the snowflake to tap your way to handbell proficiency. If you love bells, then it's 99 cents worth spending.

Here's a look:

Holiday Bells in the App Store.

Moxie 2 for the iPhone and iPod Touch Video Review

I consider myself a decent Scrabble player, and a better-than-average Lingo/Boggle style wordsmith. (As an aside, most of us probably consider ourselves better than average.) To conquer Moxie 2 though, requires a whole other level of rapier word knowledge. The game presents a simple grid of fifteen spaces, configured as three different words. You draw letters from the right, and place them on the board. Getting started is the easy part. Once you've filled all three rows with words, you then must place the additional letters to create new words. For example, if one of your words was 'barn' and you pulled a 'y', you would then place it over the b to create 'yarn.' 

While it sounds as easy as UpWords, this is one tough, and if you're up to challenge, addictive word game. As you'll see in the video, I am not up to the challenge.

Take a look:

Moxie 2 in the App Store. Or try the free version.

Cupcakes! Holiday Edition for the iPhone and iPod Touch

I've always been more about eating cupcakes than making them. I know there are others who don't share that feeling: it's the mixing of ingredients, the patience of baking, and the precision of icing the cupcakes that make it all worthwhile. And for some kids, making the cupcakes can be as satisfying as eating them. For them, there's Cupcakes! Holiday Edition.

In Cupcakes! you bake, then more importantly, decorate cupcakes with an assortment of icings and even Jelly Belly Jelly beans. You can then "eat" your creations by tapping on them, or save them, or share with others on twitter/facebook, etc. As virtual cupcake creating apps go, this should have everything you need. The question is, do you need a virtual cupcake app?

Here's a look:

Cupcakes! Holiday Edition in the App Store.