Star Toaster- A TOS Review

I wanted to try and find something fun for Popper to do for reading during the summer months this year. I was hopeful when I learned that we were getting the opportunity to review Orphs of the Woodlands at Tangletree by Star Toaster, a 122 page interactive chapter book available as an iOS app. You can download it on iPad, iPhone, or iPod Touch.

I thought this looked like such a great idea! I was really hoping that this would be what we were looking for. Popper was excited to try it out as well. As it turns out, we were not disappointed at all! This is such an amazing app. I am thrilled to get to share this with you!

The story line is very cute! It is about a little flying squirrel named Abba and him taking care of 6 orphs in his treehouse fort. There were several occasions where we giggled while reading, it was such a delight to read together. I loved that we had a book that we were both enjoying!

The chapters were fairly short, which helped since Popper becomes frustrated if they are too long. Itunes says that they app is intended for ages 9-11, but Popper is 7 and really enjoyed it! It was a simple enough story line with just enough words to challenge him and keep his interest. 

One of my favorite parts was that they had certain words and phrases highlighted. This allowed Popper to click on them and learn their meaning. He enjoyed being able to click when he didn't understand something. It helped him have a better understanding of what he was reading.

After reading each chapter, there are 'jobs' available for the kids to do. These are actually ways to help test their reading comprehension. 

Each job has 'job training' that reviews certain parts of the chapter and knowledge about items used in the chapeter. Then the job tests them on that knowledge.

As a reward for right answers, they are awarded stars that they use to purchase things Abba needs to care for the Orphs.

It was amazing for me to see Popper begin to pay attention to more details each time he read. I really believed that this helped with his reading comprehension!

I loved that the 'job' covered multiple subjects! There were lessons on science, math, grammar, vocabulary, and so much more. It was a great way for us to learn together. I never once had to fight him for reading time. In fact, more times than not, he came to me asking if he could do his reading! He loved it! 

I really hope that Star Toaster comes out with more books like this! At $1.99 for an unlimited number of students, this is a must have in our house! The littles are excited that they get to use it when they are older.

You can find Star Toaster on Facebook and Twitter! As always, there were other Crew members reviewing this as well! You can read what they thought by clicking the link below: