Brush of Truth By Story Bayou, Inc.
By Erin Pickar
Overall Impression
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. 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.
Overall Rating: 5 
Appy Ratings (Appy’s):
- Educational Value: 4
- Entertains/Engages User: 4
- Customization/Settings: N/A
- Value for the money: 5
- Ease of Navigation: 5
- Quality of Graphics: 3
Category:
- Language Arts
Goals:
- Comprehension
- Reading Comprehension
- Vocabulary
Age Group:
- Middle School (Age 11-13)
Overview
Brush of Truth by Julie Landry Laviolette is a choose-your-own-adventure storybook app produced by Story Bayou. It is about a pair of siblings, you and your sister Erin, who discover a magic paintbrush while at the beach. After discovering the “Brush of Truth” and its powers you and your sister must make a number of choices that lead to adventures involving a variety of characters such as talking birds and seahorses. Each choice you make can lead to one of twenty possible endings to the story. Once the reader has discovered all twenty endings to this story the reader will receive a reward consisting of a congratulatory message, “Congratulations you have proven your worth as a keeper of The Brush of Truth”, a graphic of a crown, and an opportunity to preview the next book in the series: Brush of Secrets. This book app is geared towards children who are in middle school but could be used with older elementary school students if they are strong readers. It is easy to navigate, uses a rich vocabulary, and is very engaging.
As with a typical choose-your-own-adventure book the reader is presented with choices to make at a number of points within the book. However, unlike your classic choose-your-own-adventure book you are not given the instruction to turn to a specific page, rather you just press the button containing your desired choice and it takes you to the appropriate page in the book. Choices that you have not yet attempted will have a green circle in the top right corner. Choices you have attempted will have a green checkmark on the left hand side in addition to the green circle. Finally, choices you have attempted and found every possible ending associated with them, will have a crown in the top right corner. I found these graphics to be quite helpful as I was navigating the storybook and forgot which choices I had already made. I knew if there was a crown on the choice that I had already found all endings associated with that choice and should follow the green circle to discover a new ending. Some chapters are naturally repeated depending on the choices that are made; therefore, chapters that the reader has already read will have a green checkmark in the upper left hand corner.
There are also a few navigational tools that can be used within this app including: a back arrow that will take you back a section, a bookmark tool so you can mark your page, and a fast forward button to skip to the end of a given chapter.
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.
Issues/Wishlist
- I wish that the fast forward button was not an option in chapters that have not been previously read.
- I wish that the app could support multiple users so children in the same family or class could save their individual progress within the book.
- I wish that there was a glossary of terms, especially for some of the marine life as some children do not have that background knowledge to truly understand/visualize these vocabulary terms (even with context clues).
Price and Download link
 |
Brush of Truth 1.99 USD |
View Description from Developer
You choose how the action unfolds in this interactive book app for kids 8-12. Geared to third- through sixth-graders, Brush of Truth, told in “your” voice, has 65 decision points and 20 possible endings.
At critical points during the story, you’ll be confronted with choices. Choose a path, and the story will go on from there. You’ll face challenges, solve riddles and investigate mysteries. You’ll meet curious characters and explore thrilling new places. Your decisions may lead to a glorious victory or a desperate end.
But have no fear. If you don’t like where your choices lead, start over and choose different actions. It’s all up to you. . .
In Brush of Truth, you and your sister find a crudely-crafted paintbrush on a beach and discover it has magical powers. You soon learn it is the long-lost Brush of Truth, created by a medieval sorcerer to hand off his enchantments to his children. In this book app, you help a sea goddess find the key to the ocean’s dying sea life, explore tunnels under the earth and flee talking vultures. But watch out! Descendants of the evil ruler, Tortura, may be after you.
Features: - Choices on how the action unfolds - Ability to go back and find new endings - 65 interactive decision points - 20 possible endings - 125 pages of story - Engaging tale for tweens 8 to 12, including reluctant readers - Colorful illustrations - An ideal fit for classroom technology
This book app is the first release by Story Bayou, Inc., a series of interactive book apps for tweens developed by a parent looking to interest kids in reading through the magic of technology.
Story Bayou (a play on “Story by You”) was created and written by Julie Landry Laviolette, a mom of two and longtime journalist. Wanting a little more fun in her life, she decided to create her own.
Thankyou for this awesome review!