'Appy Dickens Day

Today is the bicentenary of Charles Dickens birth, and I've been celebrating by finding apps for my iPad that will increase my knowledge of the illustrious author. I already had some - Christmas Carol is after all my favourite book of all time - but I've found some other gems to add to my digital jewel box too! 

Christmas Carol, Padworx - already had this and have loved it ever since I first downloaded it. I enjoy all of Padworx' apps (Dracula is also very good) , the sound effects and interactive elements make reading on the iPad a more immersive experience than reading one of my well thumbed paper copies.

A Christmas Carol, Starlight Storybook - This one tells the famous festive story in the form of a poem, written illustrated and animated by John Marr. It would be perfect to introduce younger children to Dickens and the animations are charming. Very happy to have discovered this today!

Dickens Dark London, Museum of London - This app was produced to celebrate the Dickens exhibition at the Museum which runs up until the 10th June. It's extremely dark and atmospheric and follows Dickens on his night walks around London whilst suffering with insomnia which is something I can certainly empathise with. Includes a map than transforms from Dickens' times to the present day and will eventually have 5 walks narrated wonderfully by actor Mark Strong. The first walk , Seven Dials is available to download for free and the following ones will be £1.49 each, or free to download when at the museum or at the location. Very clever, I feel some field trips coming on!

Dickens Papers, - a series of Dickens works that are going to be published in periodic installments echoing the way much of the author's work was published. Includes video and photos from the present day as the creators walked in the footsteps of Dickens. As a keen amateur photographer, very much enjoying this one.

Charles Dickens Works, PicoJoys Studio 2011 - I have always meant to read more Dickens but hadn't got round to it. This app is basic, just books in the usual swipe to turn the page format but it will stop any excuses I may have been making about not having the books with me. Now which shall I choose first?

Audio Book Shelf, Cross Forward Consulting - I enjoy listening to audio books when travelling and this one although not exclusively Dickens , is great value for £1.49 with 13 classic books to choose from and an in app purchase of 69p getting you a further 6 adventure stories. Nicely presented in the form of a virtual bookshelf , books download to the iPad when you click on them to start reading so would probably be a good idea to do this when using wifi not 3G.

Have a great Dickens day.......off to listen to a story now ;0).