The new app, Inside Your Outside: All About the Human Body, from The Cat in the Hat’s Learning Library and Oceanside Media, gives kids ages 5 to 10 an enhanced way to learn about the human body. Utilizing classic Dr. Seuss characters, including Thing 1, Thing 2, and the Cat in the Hat himself, the app contains both read-along and non-narrated versions of the 2003 children’s book, written by Tish Rabe. This time, however, as Dick and Sally explore the different parts of the human body—such as the brain, bloodstream, and digestive tract—animation, music, and more accompany their journey.
There are times in which the fantastical nature of the story and app enhancements combine for dramatic effect: For example, the section in which both the children and the Cat in the Hat are inside a humongous blood tank now features blood cells moving all around them. Meanwhile, kids can touch any on-screen word or object to hear it spoken aloud, and in the case of words pertaining to actual body parts, more in-depth descriptions will pop up.
Users can also record their own narration, which has the potential of letting parents and kids share the experience of Inside Your Outside, even if they can’t enjoy it together for whatever reason. None of these impressive bells and whistles, however, overshadows the best part of the app: the story itself, which arrives intact with Rabe’s flowing, rhyming verse, and illustrations by Aristides Ruiz, whose droopy-looking characters and bright colors are a dead-on homage to Dr. Seuss. Fun, innovative, and educational, the Inside Your Outside app just might be what the doctor—and parents—ordered.
