Review by Amanda Bindel, Common Sense Education | Updated October 2013

Meet Heckerty

A friendly witch teaches about self-acceptance in sweet ebook

Common Sense says

3

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Grades

Pre-K-2 This grade range is a recommendation by Common Sense Education and not the developer/publisher.

Great for:

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5 images

Kids can read themselves or listen to the story read by a professional narrator.

Interactive images on each page are fun to explore.

When kids tap a word, they'll hear the word pronounced and see it in green text.

Selecting the movie reel takes kids to a page-by-page table of contents.

"Hints & Tips" give written instructions on navigating the book.

Pros: Beautiful, professional narration.

Cons: No definitions are included for vocabulary.

Bottom Line: Fun story offers many topics for discussion.

Lesson & Activity Ideas

Interactive books are great with all kids, but kids on the autism spectrum are often especially drawn to the technology and interaction. Meet Heckerty has received acclaim for its appeal to kids with autism and could be used 1-on-1 with students to discuss empathy and other social-emotional skills or for general reading practice.

It would also work beautifully as a whole-class read-aloud -- either with kids or the teacher reading aloud or viewing on-screen together. Meet Heckerty would work in a Halloween-themed unit or for discussing character development-- she starts off "angry" and then comes to accept herself. Great discussions on accepting yourself and others could certainly ensue!

Tool Overview

Meet Heckerty is an interactive ebook that introduces kids to Heckerty, a witch with a green face -- by accident -- who makes for a relatable, fun character for kids. Heckerty enlists the help of her black cat, Zanzibar, to create a potion and cast a spell to make herself beautiful for her passport picture. Instead of looking for her lost spell book, she tries to remember the spell on her own, mixes it up, and ends up with a green face rather than a clean face. She realizes that "it's the same me, even if I don't want to look at myself in a mirror ever again," and asks the reader to be her friend.

Learning Value

Heckerty is a witch, but not a scary witch -- just a witch who sometimes makes a careless mistake, like anyone. Her message of self-acceptance and her invitation to kids to be her friend is a great starting point for talking to kids about loving themselves as they are and being a friend to others. The interactive images are fun to explore, with a bit of witchy-ick factor. On one page, Heckerty's eyebrows are little hairy worms that wriggle across her face. Kids can tap any word to hear it pronounced in both the read-it-myself and read-to-me versions.

The simply elegant design and animation won't overwhelm kids with sensory overload as some interactive books can. There are no in-app purchases. Kids can connect to Twitter and Facebook as well as the Internet to access Heckerty's blog and coloring pages via the last page of the book.

Rating Details

Overall Rating

3

Engagement Is the product stimulating, entertaining, and engrossing? Will kids want to return?

4

Fun, interactive animations draw kids in. Kids will identify with Heckerty and want to know more about her.

Pedagogy Is learning content seamlessly baked-in, and do kids build conceptual understanding? Is the product adaptable and empowering? Will skills transfer?

3

Reading is the best way to develop readers. Kids can read themselves, tapping unfamiliar words to hear them, or listen to the story read by the narrator as they read along.

Support Does the product take into account learners of varying abilities, skill levels, and learning styles? Does it address both struggling and advanced students?

3

Clear instruction under Help & Tips explains in written form how to navigate the book. Kids can extend the adventure by reading Heckerty's blog or coloring pages they can print online.

Common Sense Reviewer

Amanda Bindel Classroom teacher

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Reading Foundational Skills
RF.1: Fluency
RF.1.4	Read with sufficient accuracy and fluency to support comprehension.

RF.1.4a	Read on-level text with purpose and understanding.
RF.2: Fluency
RF.2.4	Read with sufficient accuracy and fluency to support comprehension.

RF.2.4a	Read on-level text with purpose and understanding.
RF.K: Fluency
RF.K.4	Read emergent-reader texts with purpose and understanding.
Print Concepts
RF.K.1	Demonstrate understanding of the organization and basic features of print.

RF.K.1a	Follow words from left to right, top to bottom, and page by page.

RF.K.1b	Recognize that spoken words are represented in written language by specific sequences of letters.

RF.K.1c	Understand that words are separated by spaces in print.

RF.K.1d	Recognize and name all upper- and lowercase letters of the alphabet.

Meet Heckerty

A friendly witch teaches about self-acceptance in sweet ebook

Subjects and Skills: Meet Heckerty

Take a look inside

Lesson & Activity Ideas

Tool Overview

Learning Value

Rating Details

Overall Rating

Engagement Is the product stimulating, entertaining, and engrossing? Will kids want to return?

Pedagogy Is learning content seamlessly baked-in, and do kids build conceptual understanding? Is the product adaptable and empowering? Will skills transfer?

Support Does the product take into account learners of varying abilities, skill levels, and learning styles? Does it address both struggling and advanced students?

Key Standards Supported

Reading Foundational Skills

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