ARBI and the Fire Breathing Dragon: Augmented Reality book

I love this book. Love it. Abslolutely love it.First of all, I have to admit that I am the idiot that didn't follow the directions. I saw that it said "point your camera to the book as you read" So, I quite literally used the camera of my cell phone to read the book. I thought it was a great book but I was initially underwhelmed by the augmented reality. Then, as I was getting ready to write this review I thought about the fact that I had downloaded an arbi app, but had never used it so I went back to the book, opened the app, pointed the app camera at the book and wow wow wow, I was transported into 3D arbi land. I was already planning on giving the book 5 stars without this 3D wonderland. But with it I was happily transfixed and would give 6 or 7 stars if I could.The book is such a solid good read for kids. I am not sure what age the author was aiming for, but the messages intrinsic to the book are great for any child. In this day and age of rampant anger and bullying, we have such a sweet little book about cooperation and capitalizing on each other's strengths while knowing your own limitations. It is pure and simple and not heavy handed at all as our four heroes band together to defeat the enemy. And when the "enemy" turns out to be nothing more than a sad outsider, we find forgiveness and more cooperation. Because of how sweetly this is written, I think the message will get through. And the fact that there is all this 3D fantabulousness will hold kids' attention and keep them in awe and wonder. Well, it kept me in awe and wonder. The illustrations in the book even without the augmented reality are terrific as well.BOTTOM LINE: All around this is a very special book. Download the app, read it with your children and have fun right along with them. I hope we'll be hearing more from Mr Burguera.I received a complimentary copy of this book for the purposes of a review. I could not be happier and plan to purchase more to give as gifts. It is a gem like this one that makes me happy to be a product reviewer.EDITED A MONTH LATER: I never tire of showing this book to people and almost unanimously (I've had one naysayer) people fall instantly in love with the book and the special effect. I've already purchased several copies as gifts and every receiver has been thrilled. Augmented reality is the future. Perhaps when it becomes more run of the mill I will be less enchanted but for now I am just thrilled that this sweet little book found its way into my hands. Kudos to the author.

I have a 4 year old son and he loved this book! You must install the Arbi App and load it up for this to work. The biggest issue I had was that the Arbi app did not seem to work on older devices, but worked fine on my newer ones. The animated scenes that pop up are tracked to the book, so if you move the book the 3D figures turn as well!My son couldn't get enough of this book and was intrigued at how the augmented reality worked. The message af the book pretty much seemed to be about cooperating and helping one another, as well as to include outsiders who may have been misunderstood.The book itself is just a standard paperback book, but the material does feel to be of higher quality than the typical children's paperback book. With the 3D Augmented Reality feature via the app, it really helped hold my son's attention.Overall, I highly recommend this book, especially if the child is tech savvy! They will be enthralled at the 3D effects and will have fun just turning the pages!DISCLAIMER: I was provided a sample unit by the company. I did not promise them a review but seeing as I used it, and I love to review things, I was more than happy to provide a fair review to help other users make an informed purchase.

Loved this book and would have given 5 stars but here is why I didnt.A couple pages in the scene isboocked until u answer a question correctly. Sounds fine only that it asked a question about it never talked about! We eventually guessed it but kind of odd.Then if you want to focus on a certain part of the story you cant because you have to go back and unlock the scenes again and work your way to your location.Fun book and will find more of the series.

WOW! I love the Arbi books! I am an EdTech Consultant and I travel all over the world training teachers on using Augmented Reality (AR) with their students and in their classes. I’m always looking for new AR books to share in my presentations and was so excited when I found the Arbi books! The AR is fabulous. The illustrations on the pages are well done, but, when the AR pops off the pages, it is incredible. It really pulls the reader into the story! These books are not just for the little ones. I recently shared these books with a group of 6th and 7th graders in Arkansas and they loved them. I’m telling you these almost teenagers loved them too. They were amazed by the dragon and loved the page where the dragon could no longer blow fire, but only smoke. They all wanted to take their pictures with the dragon. The AR in these books not only grabbed the attention of these students, but it held their attention and pulled them into the storyline of the book. They were engaged the entire time.The storyline is exactly what our kids need to hear. Teamwork, friendship, getting along and working together are skills that are so important and they are valued and the focus of this story. These kids even had empathy for the dragon when he lost his ability to blow fire and were happy to see a happy ending as Arbi and his friends welcomed the defeated dragon into their circle and even gave him an important job of protecting their village.The second book, Arbi and the Treasure Chest, continues the story of Arbi and his friends in a new adventure that leads them to an island with a treasure chest. They also meet up with some scary pirates that are wanting the treasure as badly as they do. The story has a way of pulling the reader in with anticipation of what’s coming next. Through all the twists and turns to get to the treasure and the struggle with the pirates, they learn that they already had the best treasure of all, family and friendship! The skills of perseverance and sharing play important roles in this book and the lessons learned go far beyond the excitement of the AR!On a side note, I love the books themselves. The colors are vibrant and cheerful and the books just feel really good in your hands. They are so soft and smooth that you just don’t want to put them down. Very well crafted on all levels.As I said, I love AR and am always looking for great examples to share with teachers and students everywhere. I will have to say, though, that the storyline of these books are just as well written as the augmented reality that pops off the pages. These books would make excellent gifts for kids of all ages, teachers and anyone just wanting to engage in a fun way with great stories!

Story isn’t terribly creative or interesting. AG doesn’t add much. Not impressed.

Good took a bit of getting use to.

Historia con moraleja. Ilustración y AR muy cuidada, pero sencilla a la vez. Es una opción genial para que lxs niñxs lean, se diviertan y usen las nuevas tecnologías!Habrå que hacerse con el capítulo 2!Lo pueden leer y manejar ellos o un adulto si son más pequeñitos, pero lo de ver en Realidad Aumentada, les encanta en cualquier caso.

Es super chulo. Tengo otro cuento de realidad aumentada y es mucho más cutre. En este vuelan los dragones y todo. Me encanta. Mis hijos alucinaron!!