The Berenstains' 'Nothing Ever Happens At The South Pole' Slides Into The App Store
August 28, 2012
Written in the 1960s, Nothing Ever Happens at the South Pole preceded The Berenstain Bears’ Bedtime Battle, The Berenstain Bears Trim The Tree, and most of the other tales of Mama, Papa, Brother, and Sister bear. Unfortunately, the Berenstains' South Pole story was quickly overshadowed by the success of the family oriented series. However, thanks to HarperCollins, Oceanhouse Media, and other publishers, Nothing Ever Happens at the South Pole is now something that can happen at story time.
At the South Pole there are humps of snow that sparkle and roll. A penguin walks about hoping for something to write, but there never seems to be anything interesting in sight. It's cold and barren, not much worth sharing. A bear attack, how scary would that be? Maybe an out of control snowball boulder. What am I thinking? Those things never happen to me. Just you wait, I'll find something to say. I'll look and wander if it takes all day.
The app has three ways to experience the story: "Read it Myself" allows reading and viewing the material in the same manner that traditional books would offer, "Read to Me" highlights each word as it is professionally narrated, and "Auto Play" adds narration but also automatically turns the page when it is completed. This is a nice feature for very young children, or to just make the experience a little more like a movie.
Some additional features to promote reading and create even more enjoyment include words that are spoken and highlighted when tapped, noises and narrations when pictures are touched, plus fun animations and sounds to help pages come alive. Even a simple tap and hold on paragraphs is all it takes to restart a narration. A wonderful combination of capabilities to complement the loveable artwork of Stan and Jan Berenstain.
Nothing Ever Happens at the South Pole is a universal app compatible with iPad, iPhone, and iPod touch running iOS 3.1 or later, and available in the App Store for the introductory price of $2.99. You can find all of Oceanhouse Media's The Berenstain Bears and The Berenstain Bears Living Lights Series offerings in the App Store or via their website.