Ernie’s Wish Trail Children’s Book Review

In every interaction Ernie has, up pops a new wish to be someone else – an enchantment with their natural gifts. Ernie imagines himself as a butterfly, fish, and squirrel throughout the story. Ernie’s wish trail ends in rediscovering simple pleasures and the joys of being himself.

Ernie’s Wish Trail is an augmented reality book. Augmented Reality overlays digital information and brings to life the 2-dimensional images in the book. This provides an immersive learning model to children by enabling an interaction with the story using 3D and sound. This simple story, illustrated beautifully, can be enjoyed with and without the app. Maia Orion hopes it’s a fun experience for both the parent and child, without taking away the simple pleasures of reading a book. They hope you enjoy it as much as they did creating it.

I absolutely love the idea of incorporating technology into literature. I’m always looking for educational programs to introduce to my nephew and step-son, to try and shy them away from video games and YouTube. I can finally do this with Ernie’s Wish Trail. Not only is the story really cute and encourages children to accept and love themselves for who they are, but the incorporation of technology gives the book something extra. I really like how the pages come to life, which will help with your child’s imagination.

My favorite part of the story is near the end when Ernie is imagining himself as a squirrel. He states, “If only I had some pointed claws, I wouldn’t care about gravity laws. But I am certain there are other moves which I can surely perform with my hooves!” Using the augmented reality app, you see Ernie wearing a jet pack blasting off the page. The coolest thing about the app is that you can follow Ernie up into the sky with your iPhone or iPad.

I would like to advise that the augmented reality app is only available for iPhones and iPads. Don’t have an apple? Not to worry…you can still enjoy the story with your children. Make it fun by pretending to be butterflies, fish, squirrels and pigs (which happen to be my favorite animal)…even encourage your children to act out the animal parts with you…I guarantee you’ll laugh for hours and hours.

For parents and grandparents, Ernie’s Wish Trail makes for an amazing Christmas gift for kids ages 2-6. Your kids can engage with characters on the book that pop up in 3D on your iPhones and iPads, just think #PokemonGo. This would also be a great book for my teacher and librarian friends. Your students will go nuts over the interactive 3D popups throughout the story. Ernie’s Wish Trail, currently unavailable, will be available to purchase on Amazon and illustrator Lauren Gallegos’s page.

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Giveaway: One lucky winner is going to win the Ernie’s Wish Trail children’s book.

Giveaway Details: This giveaway is open to residents of the US ONLY age 18 and over. Please read our Terms of Service & Disclaimer Policy before entering. This giveaway will close on January 6th, 2017 at 11:59 pm EST time. No purchase necessary to enter or win.

Giveaway has closed & winner has been contacted. Thanks!

Disclaimer: Sara M. has personally reviewed the product listed above. Sara has not received any monetary compensation for her review. Sara did receive a free product to try out so she could evaluate and use it for her review. Her thoughts & opinions in this review are unbiased & honest and your opinions may differ. Two Classy Chics is not responsible for delivery of any giveaway items won from this blog. We are not responsible for injury or mis-use of any products won from the Two Classy Chics Blog. Please read our Terms of Service & Disclaimer Policy before entering our giveaways.