Van Gogh and the Sunflowers: Activity & Storybook App

The bar has been risen. This app is spectacular, and I’m excited for all of you to put this in your family’s hands.

Your child will grow a deeper appreciation for art and the masterpieces of Vincent Van Gogh with this revolutionary activity and storybook app, Van Gogh and the Sunflowers, by Auryn Apps.

This app is at a great introductory price of $1.99, and is available for the iPad. Van Gogh and the Sunflowers is recommended for children ages 4-11, and is based on Laurence Anholt’s book by the same name.

Your child will befriend Camille, a postman’s son who meets a lonely and poor artist named Vincent Van Gogh. Camille and his family share friendship and compassion to the outcasted artist, and Van Gogh opens Camille’s eyes to a new way of viewing the world around him, through art. This story actually took place in real life, making this app like an art history lesson. Your child can take an inside look into what motivated some of Van Gogh’s real paintings, like how his Sunflowers painting was inspired by those same flowers where Camille lived.

I love how the pages come to life. Once you turn the page, the static illustration illuminates, and seems to pop-up like a pop-up book and move mechanically. You can see how each character becomes mobile by taking a “behind-the-scenes” look at the mechanics, which becomes an armature puzzle game if you tap on the characters a second time. You solve the armature game by putting in the correct working gears and levers in their appropriate places. When your child correctly solves the armature puzzle, they will unlock new levels throughout the remaining pages. The first seven pages are unlocked, meaning the characters are animated, but it’s up to your child to solve the puzzles, allowing characters to come alive further on in the story.

In Van Gogh and the Sunflowers, your child becomes an artist too. Touch a moving character and have your child use their artistic fingertips to color in the figures. All of their painting stays within the lines of the drawing. If your child particularly enjoys this painting feature, be sure to check out Auryn’s watercolor painting app, Auryn Ink (for the iPhone and iPad).

My favorite part of Van Gogh and the Sunflowers is entering the 3D museum after tapping on a painting within certain pages. The museum displays paintings of Van Gogh, and you can “walk” around the museum, select one of the ten paintings, and learn a little more about it.

The story is narrated aloud, as the words are highlighted in red as spoken. I think it would be great to have a “Read Myself” feature incorporated in the app, to opt-out of the narration, so older children can read on their own, or have the story read by their parents.

Check out the video below to see all the great features included in this amazing app.

Van Gogh and the Sunflowers is a heartwarming, intellectually challenging, and creativity-enhancing app that hits all the high marks on interactivity, storyline, and visual appeal. A must-have app for your iPad library.

Seem like a cool app? See my other reviews of apps by Auryn, Inc. here.

Disclosure: I do not receive compensation for writing this app review. I received a promotional code for this app in faith of writing an app review. The photos used were taken as screen shots from my iPhone or iPad.  Views expressed in this review are purely and only mine. Pricing was accurate at the time of this review.