Cosmo’s Day Off: A Review

I love Cosmo’s Day Off. It is my second favorite iPad children’s book of all-time. More on that in a second.

Cosmo’s Day Off is a children’s iPad book with just a ton of bells and whistles. I remember getting excited that every page in the Toy Story book had a fun button you could push on every page. Cosmo’s Day Off has some pages with maybe ten different things kids can touch that gives a cool response.

Cosmo’s Day Off is produced by Ayers Animation which also did Jack and the Beanstalk, a decent book but nothing special – a largely old school, nothing new rendition of a story that has a lot of moral flaws (why exactly does Jack feel at liberty to steal?). Cosmo is in an entirely different league.

The plot is not great. Cosmo is late for work and he rushes to get in on time in 2150 fashion. (Caution! Spoiler Alert: it is Saturday, Cosmo is rushing for no reason). It is cute, it is just not a great plot. But good vocabulary for kids – a bit of a tweener book between picture books and pictureless book in terms of vocabulary – and, again, fantastic graphics and interaction.

I think Bartleby’s Book of Buttons is the best educational iPad book of all-time. Cosmo’s Day Off actually has more interactive fun. But Cosmo comes in second because (1) Bartleby’s has a better plot, and (2) Cosmo has once scene where there is a live bird in the oven who looks like he is hot and wants to get out – I really don’t feel like explaining this to my kids. But it is a big iPad app world and Cosmo’s Day Off comes in second which means it is a must buy.