Jinny Gudmundsen - iPad Apps For Kids For Dummies

iPad Apps For Kids For Dummies

by Jinny Gudmundsen

iPad Apps For Kids For Dummies

Published by
John Wiley & Sons, Inc.
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Copyright 2013 by John Wiley & Sons, Inc., Indianapolis, Indiana

Published by John Wiley & Sons, Inc., Indianapolis, Indiana

Published simultaneously in Canada

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Library of Congress Control Number: 2012951873

ISBN: 978-1-118-43307-2 (pbk); ISBN 978-1-118-43326-3 (ebk); ISBN 978-1-118-52545-6 (ebk); ISBN 978-1-118-52548-7 (ebk)

Manufactured in the United States of America

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About the Author

Jinny Gudmundsen is a leading authority on childrens technology, and especially apps for kids. For the past 12 years, she has been the Kid-Tech Columnist for USA Today and the 82 Gannett newspapers. She is a trusted guru of the best apps, video games, tech toys, websites, and virtual worlds for kids. Jinny also works for Common Sense Media, the nations leading nonprofit source of childrens media reviews. She was the founding editor of Choosing Childrens Software magazine, which is now online as Computing With Kids ( www.ComputingWithKids.com ). Her work has appeared in the Los Angeles Times, ABC News.com, and the San Jose Mercury News. She has contributed magazine articles to Child, Family PC, Your Family, Computer Source Magazine, On, and many others. She has judged numerous app, video game, and toy awards. Jinny appears on national TV and radio as a kid-tech expert.

Jinny got her start in the world of childrens technology during a time when she was taking a break from practicing law to be a full-time mom. When her son Ted was a preschooler, a start-up named The Learning Company asked Jinny if Ted could be one of their first kid-testers for what became the seminal software game called Reader Rabbit. With this glimpse into the inner world of the then-nascent childrens technology, Jinny saw the potential of technology to teach kids. She bought an Apple IIe, back when people thought that IIe meant it was a genetically modified fruit; and she jumped on the Internet before her neighbors deemed it safe. She helped to set up and build computer labs at every new school her sons attended and trained teachers on how to use software in schools.

While a Kid-Tech Columnist by title, Jinny has always considered her most important and best job to be the mom to sons Ted and Peter. Her sons grew up kid-testing their way through their moms technology-rich life and their home was always the coveted place to play because the hottest kid tech arrived every day. With so much technology around when her sons were growing up, it was with great relief and pride that Jinny watched both boys head off to Princeton without wanting to take video game consoles with them. She firmly believes that using technology with kids is all about getting the balance right.

Dedication

This book is dedicated to Dorothy Sands, my 92-year-old mother and personal editor. She has edited every page of this book (and all of my USA Today Kid-Tech columns for the past 12 years) with great aplomb, wit, and loving encouragement. I am inspired by the way she is always willing to embrace new ideas and technology. I couldnt have written this book without you, Mom.

I would also like to include my supportive husband Vance Gudmundsen, who, despite not owning an iPad, is willing to stop his own work to marvel with me when I find an amazing app for kids enthusiastically providing the oohs to my aahs. And finally, a big shout-out to my two sons, Ted and Peter, who continue to be kid-testers for all the technology that I explore; I treasure your support and feedback. If life is a game of Cut the Rope, you guys are the candy to my Om Nom.

Authors Acknowledgments

I would like to thank my USA Today colleague and fellow For Dummies author, Marc Saltzman, for introducing me to the Wiley Publishing group. I would also like to acknowledge my good friend from college, Gail Hochman, a top-notch literary agent, who gave me great advice when I was negotiating this book deal. Thank you Gail youre a real pro!

I greatly appreciate all the work that the folks at Wiley Publishing have done to help me to write my first For Dummies book. In particular, I want to express my heartfelt thanks to Chris Morris, my project editor whose calm wisdom and great insight made this project even more fun to write. I also want to thank Kyle Looper for patiently guiding me through the Wiley process. Im grateful for the special skills of my copy editor Amanda Graham, for Kelly Trents help with marketing, and for Chantal Kowalski and Aditi Shah, my publicity gurus. A special shout out to my technical editor and personal friend Liz Panarelli for her thoughtful suggestions and helpful discussions. Youre the best, Liz.