Brush of Truth Book App Rated 5 Stars by Technology in Education; on Sale Dec. 7

Dec. 6, 2012 - PRLog -- Brush of Truth, a book app for kids 8-12, was rated five stars by review site Technology in Education for engaging young readers. Created by Story Bayou, www.storybayou.com, the $1.99 app will go on sale for 99 cents on Dec. 7 on iTunes for iPad, iPhone and iPod touch. Brush of Truth, recognized for its appeal to reluctant readers, also is available on Google Play for Android devices, and for Kindle Fire and Windows 7 devices.

Brush of Truth, www.storybayou.com/books, geared to third- through sixth-graders, is the first book app created by Story Bayou, a mom’s vision to get tweens to read. Written in second person, “your” voice, Brush of Truth lets the user choose how the action unfolds at critical points in the plot. Brush of Truth has 125 pages of story and colorful illustrations, with 65 decision points and 20 possible endings.

“Brush of Truth by Julie Landry Laviolette and produced by Story Bayou is a great choose-your-own-adventure book app for middle school aged children,” said Erin Pickar, a speech-language pathologist who reviewed the app for Technology in Education, a review site for educational apps. “It is a story that is rich in vocabulary and will entertain those who enjoy this genre. I would recommend this app for strong readers.”

Pickar, based in Washington D.C., gave Brush of Truth five stars in overall rating, value for the money and ease of navigation.

“It is easy to navigate, uses a rich vocabulary, and is very engaging,” Pickar said. “I think kids who enjoy reading will enjoy this book. Parents and teachers can enhance the experience in a number of ways such as: reviewing the vocabulary, talking about why a given choice was made, and encouraging the reader to summarize what happened in a given choice.”

Brush of Truth recently won the 2012 Media of the Year award in the Interactive Book App category in Creative Child Magazine’s Creative Toy Awards. The app was named a “Recommended iPad Book App for Older and Reluctant Readers Ages 8-12” by Digital Storytime, and one of “6 Interactive Book Apps to Get Kids Excited About Reading” by Tecca.

The app tells the story of two tweens who find an enchanted paintbrush. They begin to discover its powers as they go in adventures under the ocean, inside a sand castle, and while rescuing a sea creature.

Julie Landry Laviolette, www.storybayou.com/about, author of Brush of Truth and founder of Story Bayou, is a pioneer in the book app market for offering longer-text story apps. “Older kids want a good story that will engage them,” she said. “Brush of Truth not only offers a compelling storyline, but interactions with the plot that make it easy for kids to stick with the book, because they’re having so much fun.”

Laviolette, a New Orleans native, is a former columnist and editor for The Times-Picayune.  She currently lives in Fort Lauderdale, Fl., where she is a freelancer for The Miami Herald, South Florida Sun-Sentinel, South Florida Parenting and more than 30 regional parenting publications in the U.S. and Canada.

Story Bayou, founded in 2011, partnered with Linxter, Inc., a Cooper City software engineering company, to create the mobile app. Brush of Truth was released in February 2012.