You might remember Pango, the adorable blue raccoon, from our previous review of Pango Imaginary Car. Developer Studio Pango has just released a cute seasonal app which is, best of all, multilingual. Pango Christmas 2013 is a fun way to keep kids excited about the upcoming holiday.

In this app, Pango is getting ready for Christmas with his animal friends. They are setting up the wreath, building a snowman, and staying warm by the fire while they participate in other traditional preparations.

Each interactive page has some fun surprises and funny new characters. It’s highly entertaining for preschoolers and offers an opportunity for Spanish reading practice for the slightly older kids.

Note: Just change your device language to Spanish (or any of the other 7 languages compatible with Pango apps) and the app language will change.

Find Pango Christmas 2013 in iTunes, Google Play, and Amazon App Store

Available for iPhone, iPad, and Android

Recommended for ages 3 and up

Price: $2.99 – $3.66

Check out more from Studio Pango on their website.

WiseKids, a unique app developer with a refreshingly global outlook, is launching its latest multilingual app: Shape the Village. With this app, kids can be creatively stimulated while learning about círculos, triángulos y cuadrados. There are 16 different corners of the “village” to visit and manipulate shapes. Like all the apps from WiseKids, this one has narration options in 8 languages, including English and Spanish.

It’s true that the music is cute and graphics are adorable, but this app was developed with much more than aesthetics in mind. WiseKids focuses on multiple intelligences (the idea that we all learn differently) and encouraging real learning through imaginary worlds. Knowing about the passion with which apps were created makes it more meaningful to share them with our niños.

One particularly unique feature of Shape the Village is the Workbook, which has printable materials related to the skills emphasized in the app. These would be excellent supplements for homeschoolers or teachers.

Find Shape the Village in iTunes

Available for iPhone and iPad

Recommended for ages 2-5

Price: $2.99; OR try the lite version for free

Check out more apps developed by WiseKids on their Facebook page and website.

We are big fans of StoryToys apps, since they offer such a great mix of game play and reading. The new Haunted House 3D Pop-Up Activity Book app is no exception. It’s a wonderfully creepy ebook with 8 pop-up scenes that require some sort of action. From tickling monsters to decorating jack-o-lanterns, the activities leave no Halloween creatures out.

Like other StoryToys apps, this one is available in 4 languages: English, French, German, and Spanish. The narration is professional and especially creepy to match the occasion. These 3D apps really offer an incentive for children to improve listening skills, since each activity page includes new, sometimes multi-step directions. There is also a puzzle section and a sticker section for hours of additional fun.

My favorite thing about this app is that it is long enough to offer surprises each time my little guy uses it, so he won’t get bored after the first couple times. Since he, like most kids, absolutely loves Halloween, I know he will revisit the Haunted House 3D Pop-Up Activity Book all year long.

Bonus: Take advantage of the half-price deal and get this quality app for just $0.99 until November 2nd!

Find Haunted House 3D Pop-Up Activity Book in iTunes and Google Play

Available for iPhone, iPad, and Android

Recommended for ages 5-9

Price: $1.99; ON SALE for $0.99 from October 25th-November 2nd

Check out all of the 3D apps from StoryToys on their website and Facebook.

All parents try to ease their children into new experiences. Historically, reading a relevant book has been helpful to prepare children for a change. Now, we have the great option of using educational multimedia to do the same.

The Luca Lashes/Luca Pestañas series of ebooks, apps, and activities is one way to do this. Luca is a young boy who gets nervous as he goes through lots of “firsts,” including going to the dentist and getting his first haircut. In Luca Pestañas Aprende a Cepillar sus Dientes, he is hesitant about brushing his teeth because of the scary-looking bristles on the brush, but he uses his magic truco of blinking his eyelashes to give himself courage and finally learns to do it.

Likewise, in Luca Pestañas y su Primera Clase de Natación, Luca is nervous about swimming until he remembers all the other “firsts” he has achieved with his eyelash trick.

Try these two or any of the other 7 Luca Pestañas books to acquaint your niños with new adventures, big or small. Between November 15 and December 15, visit the Luca Lashes Facebook page to enter a contest to win the entire series in the language of your choice: Spanish, English, Italian, or Chinese.

Find Luca Pestañas Aprende a Cepillar sus Dientes and Luca Pestañas y su Primera Clase de Natación in iTunes

Find Luca Pestañas Aprende a Cepillar sus Dientes and Luca Pestañas y su Primera Clase de Natación in Google Play

Available for iPhone, iPad, Android, and Nook

Recommended for ages 0-4

Price: $1.99 each

Check out more about the Luca Lashes series here.

PlayTales Gold! is my favorite kind of app. It offers endless entertainment and bonding opportunities for kids and parents. PlayTales Gold is an interactive library with a wide selection of kids’ stories, games, songs, and personalizing options.

Sesame Street is also one of my favorite classic kids’ shows because of its wide array of characters and its integration of Spanish.

Now these two great educational offerings are coming together. PlayTales has teamed up with Sesame Workshop to bring us four new multilingual ebooks. Your kids can read fun titles such as Elmo Loves You! in English, Spanish, German, and Italian.

This partnership truly reinforces the global reach of Sesame Street programming and gives us yet another way to make learning in English and Spanish more exciting for our Spanglish speakers.

All of PlayTales’s books download quickly and remain saved in your library, and each has “Read to Me” and “Auto Play” options in case you don’t want to read it yourself. New titles are added every week, which is especially useful for kids whose reading levels are rising and whose homework includes nightly reading. Apps like this save us from having to spend a fortune updating our home library!

PlayTales Gold offers several different subscription options: monthly for $4.99, semi-annual for $9.99, or annual for $19.99.

Find PlayTales Gold! in iTunes and Google Play

Available for iPad, iPhone, and Android

Recommended for ages 1-12

Price:  Various subscription levels (see above)

Check out the PlayTales website for more info and to begin downloading your copies of the new Sesame Street books.

The Giveaway!

We are giving away one annual subscription to one winner AND a monthly subscription to FIVE winners for a total of SIX winners! All you have to do is leave us a comment telling us who you’d like to share this prize with. Then, enter the Rafflecopter below.

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Pango Imaginary Car is a cool new app from developer Studio Pango. There are no words or complicated instructions. It’s a grid with empty spaces and eight categories of vehicle parts. Drag the pieces, which include everything from wheels and ladders to a computer and wings, to create the crazy vehicle of your imagination. You can start from scratch and piece together the wacky items of your choice, or start with a preset grid that shows you where to place the pieces to make whatever kind of vehicle you prefer.

Although there is no narration, the instructions and parent settings can be switched to Spanish (or any one of 6 other languages) by switching your device’s language to Spanish.

This app is simple and affordable, and a great way for kids to pass time during the summer. Check out my son’s creation:

Find Pango Imaginary Car in iTunes and Google Play

Available for iPhone, iPad, iPod Touch, and Android

Recommended for ages 2-5

Price: $1.99

Check out more from Studio Pango, including interactive stories and puzzles, on their website.

Color the Cartoon: Farm is a fun interactive app for toddlers. It’s an easy-to-use virtual coloring book. Learn the words for each farm animal as a cute gatito walks through the farm in search of the cow and her milk. Each time the kitten reaches a new animal, you must “color” it in to activate it. The kitten has a conversation with each animal and then continues on his way.

On each screen, kids can also look for hidden background objects, such as the tractor, and tap them to see and hear the effects.

This app is a great one for the littlest technology lovers, who may just be learning to use an iPad. There are no complicated instructions or ways to accidentally go off course. It’s simple, colorful, and fun.

The app is available in English, Spanish, German, French, and Italian. Just change the default language on your device and the app’s audio will change accordingly.

Find Color the Cartoon: Farm in iTunes

Available for iPhone and iPad

Recommended for ages 0-5

Price: $2.99

Check out more from FDG Entertainment on their website, Facebook, and Twitter.