When you were a kid, did you ever look at the storybooks you were reading and think “It would be so cool if the characters came to life!”?  With the book, Goodnight Lad, and your smartphone or tablet, this can happen!  Goodnight Lad is a magical book about a little boy, Logan, who refuses to go to bed. His parents take him around the world in efforts to tire him out. 

Features of Goodnight Lad

Here’s how it all works.  You will have to order the book and download the app (more on that below).  Once you have the app downloaded and received your book in the mail, the fun can begin!  Open the app and then aim your camera on your device at the book.  Immediately the page will come to life on your screen!  With each turn of the page, the app will narrate the story to you.  You can interact with the characters and items on the page by tapping the screen.  You can also change Logan’s outfits (see pics below)!

Goodnight Lad’s Average User?

One may look at the book and think that it is only for younger children and the age recommendations are for ages 3+.  I have a 13, 10, and 8 year old that saw me playing around with the book/app when it first arrived and have been begging to have a chance to play with it ever since.  I was completely fascinated with it and have found something new each time I have flipped it open.  Even my husband has commented over and over how cool he thinks it is.  If that is any indication, I would say that all ages will find this intriguing and engaging.  

The Practical Details of Goodnight Lad

You can purchase the book through the Goodnight Lad website or through Amazon for $16.99.  It is a board book, which will make it great for younger children (i.e. no torn pages).  It is only about 4 inches on each side, so it can easily be stowed in your purse to keep the kiddos entertained on the run.  You can download the free app here on the Goodnight Lad website.  It will then route you to the app store of your choice (Google Play, Apple or Amazon Apps).  The app is able to translate the book into 13 languages (see pic on the right).  However it will not narrate the book in any language, except for English.   For example, if you change the language to French, when you look at the book on the screen, it will show the words in French.  Then the child or parent can read the story themselves.  Another really cool feature is that you can change Logan’s outfits by clicking on the “costume’ button.  As you flip through the costume choices, you will notice that there is now a character named Lily that you can chose.  The words of the book will still show Logan, but the narrator will say “Lily” in place of “Logan”.  You can also change the Narrator’s voice (Now Lily can have a female voice narrating).  There is background music that can be shut off on this page.  Also all the sound can be shut off entirely (maybe you are at the doctor’s office with the munchkins or even trying to get them to sit still in church…no judgement here!  I am totally guilty of having let my kids use an electronic during service before.)

If you are thinking that you aren’t sure about this or are hesitant to pay $17 for a kids book, there is a great way to test it out.  You can go HERE and print out a 3 different test pages.  Download the app and it works the same: just point the camera at the page and MAGIC!  See the pics directly below for an example.

Other People’s Opinions on Goodnight Lad

Checking out the reviews on Amazon, this is a 5-Star product across the board.  Everyone is raving about how awesome this product is.  

Goodnight Lad was created and developed by Bradley Grimm, who then used Kickstarter to get the book printed and shipped to backers.  I checked out the response from all the backers and their feedback was overwhelmingly positive, as well.

I have seen a few folks on the Facebook page, bemoaning the fact that this takes away from the old-fashioned joy of reading to your kids without an electronic or that exposing the kids to the screen lighting is harmful (especially before bed).  I can’t really attest to that, but what I will say is there is this thing called ‘balance’ that I think is so amazing in life.  Those things really have nothing to do with the amazing technology happening here.  Furthermore, you don’t have to make it a “right-before-bedtime” book.  

Final Thoughts on Goodnight Lad

This book and it’s app are simply amazing.  I have to say that this is one of my favorite reviews that I have done.  I can’t wait to see how this revolutionizes the book industry.  There is a second book in the works with a Kickstarter planned for the spring to get it rolling out.  This new story is about a machine maker who creates wild and goofy machines.

With the holidays fast approaching, I think this book would make a great gift for the munchkins in your life.  Make sure to click the link above to get yours today!

P.S. You really need to change Logan into the Pirate costume and change the Narrator to the Pirate voice.  

Disclosure: I received this product at no cost in order to facilitate this review. All opinions are honest and my own.