Confessions of an IT Girl

Thank you to who?Comics for sponsoring this post and encouraging my child to read biographies in comic book form! Please click here to learn more about the app. And follow who? Comics on Twitter for updates!

Podotree, the people behind the adorable CubeDog app, have launched another very fun and educational app.  Who?Comics is a biographical series on the iPad, containing the life stories of 10 of the most dynamic leaders of our time and 19 historical figures of the past. Get ready to read and learn about the amazing lives of Hillary Clinton, Steven Spielberg, JK Rowling, Barack Obama, Warren Buffett, Stephen Hawking, Nelson Mandela, Jane Goodall, Bill Gates and many more.   More than an ordinary book, you can experience the lives of these amazing people through comic book form.  You can even collect badges easily as you read the comic books and challenges to finding and collecting hidden badges for each great figure.  Y’all know how I love those badges!

When you download the app, you get the Bill Gates comic immediately for free.  After that, you can purchase additional books from within the app.  Most of the comics are priced at $4.99.  You can buy collections for $9.99 or the entire set of comics for $29.99 (prices were accurate at the time of writing this post, but know that these kind of things are subject to change.)  For graphic books like this, the price is pretty fair.

Soccer Girl was up for the challenge of giving it a whirl.   I asked her to read the Bill Gates biography comic.   Initially, she was not interested and moaned and groaned about having to read about a “nerd” (hello, she lives with one!), but when we got in there and checked it out, she was pretty into it.  Right away, you could see that the graphic approach was bringing the subject matter a little closer for her and making it more interesting.  She learned a lot of things about Mr. Gates that she never knew – this might come in handy some day.

The comic  layout felt to me like a cross between manga and anime – let’s just say it was pretty unique.  Navigation was really easy – I didn’t have to show her anything and she figured out how to get around by herself.  The books all close with a “cheat sheet” timeline of all the important events in the subjects’ life.  Very handy to refer back to when you are reading the book.

I gave her the choice of another comic to download.  I figured she would want J. K. Rowling, but as soon as she saw Walt Disney was an option, she practically hit the BUY button herself.  She dove right in and didn’t put down the iPad until she was done with the entire comic.  I asked her what she thought and she replied that she found it a really creative presentation.  She thought that there would be a lot of kids her age who would enjoy reading biography material this way.  Keep in mind, I’m the history nerd in the family.  She’s wonderful at math and reading/writing, but when it comes to anything smacking of moldy old history, she is OUT.  I was happy to find something that went a ways to keeping her interest and inspiring her to go further.

Age wise, she’s 12- the app says ages 8+ but depending on the subject matter and your kid, your mileage may vary.  Heck, I may pick up the Disney one myself.  I think this is a great product and I’m glad I got to take it for a test drive.

Thank you again to who? Comics for sponsoring my post. Please click here to learn more about the app. Visit who? Comics for updates. I was selected for this opportunity by the Clever Girls Collective but all opinions expressed here are my own. #CleverWhoComics #spon