If you have ever read books to toddlers you know there's something really special about seeing them enjoy the story. The more they understand, the more they enjoy it and it becomes a bit of a feedback loop until they suddenly move on to new stories. You may also have noticed that there's a certain age where books with lift-up flaps, textures, things that move and instructions for the reader often become favourites among toddlers. That's because they thrive on interactivity at this age. The more the better.

In fact, interactivity is often cited as a great learning tool. This is because the act of getting involved actually helps you to remember things. So, stick an interactive book in front of a small kid and you will teach them easily and most likely find that they love the book. If it's also free, gorgeous and full of great lessons, there's nothing to lose. Install the following great eBook apps for an extremely memorable experience.

"I hear and I forget. I see and I remember. I do and I understand." - Confucius

Icky Mr Fox

Icky Mr Fox is all about Mr Fox's disastrous efforts at getting some dinner, as he tries to catch Mr Rabbit and Mr Mole eating afternoon tea. The book is full of "tippy-tappy" objects which show the object's name as words and sounds, designed to get kids learning about all the things they see in the story.

The app needs Adobe Air to run, but is the smallest app of the bunch at 7.5M.

Even Monsters Get Sick

Even Monsters Get Sick is a tale to teach little ones about looking after other people and to remind them that everyone gets sick sometimes. It's a cute story about a kid with a sick monster - and how they wind up looking after all the neighbourhood monsters.

This app has beautiful artwork with animations and activities on every page of the story, plus 6 small games the kids can play along the way. The games are very much a part of the plot, so the kids get to feel they're helping. The story itself can be read by your child or by a professional child actor.

Meet Heckerty

The Meet Heckerty book is designed to be an educational, but sweet story. Heckerty is dubbed the Harry Potter for small children - all magic and violence-free, good-hearted deeds. The aim of this story is to teach kids that learning can be fun and that making mistakes and laughing while you learn is great. Heckerty is 409 years old and still making mistakes as she learns.

The storytelling is fantastic and aimed at either 3-8 year olds or people learning English. The app is also used by speech pathologists and people who work with kids with dyslexia or autism.

This book is the first in an intended series, so we can expect more wacky and magical adventures from this witch.

Nighty Night - Bedtime Story

The Nighty Night app is the ultimate bedtime story for little kids. As part of your bedtime routine, get your toddler to read this story as one of the books for the evening. This adorable story takes you to meet lots of animals and the reader has to put each and every one of them to bed. By the end of the story, your toddler should have gotten the message that we all go to sleep at the end of the day. If you're lucky, they'll follow suit.

The pictures are beautiful and the soundtrack is gentle and sweet. This app is the perfect addition to the bedtime routine.

This app is the biggest of the bunch, taking up a whopping 130 MB of space. If you've got room for this on your phone or tablet (more likely) then it's worth taking a look anyway. Your kids will love this one.

Why Apps Rather Than Books?

When it comes to kids, toddlers especially, the line between an app and an ebook can get very blurry. This is because they really can't read by themselves, yet they understand and enjoy both a great storyline and interactivity. Obviously, real books will always have their place, but with free eBook apps we can animate a few great stories, putting the kid in charge of the narrative at times and hopefully we can instill a love of stories and books for life. Check out a few more kids eBooks and apps like Playtales.

Which of these kids eBook apps did you enjoy the most? Tell us in the comments!

Image Credits: Happy girl Via Shutterstock