Gill Robins
Writer & Teacher
Web Design by: JMR Hosted By: 1and1 Created/Updated: Nov 2011
Van Gogh and the Sunflowers
This beautiful and evocative app from the creative developer Auryn is based on the classic children’s book by Laurence Anholt. With great sensitivity, it tells the story of Van Gogh’s 1888 visit to Arles, his empathetic friendship with the Roulin family and the period in which he painted the sunflowers which grew ‘like burning yellow suns’.
Each page, which sympathetically reproduces Anholt’s watercolours, brings animated characters to life as the story unfolds. Challenging features are added for each page; characters can be recreated as works of art using a rich palette and a brush with variable thicknesses and these can then be added to the animation within the book.
View the mechanisms which move the characters, then collapse and rebuild them through a series of timed challenges to unlock the following page. Complete the discovery with a 3D walk around a virtual museum. View some of Van Gogh’s most famous paintings and listen to key facts about each one.
Educational value: art history, building armatures, painting
Fun rating 5/5
Educational rating 5/5
This app, with a wealth of detail to revisit and reflect on, is an essential addition to every child’s digital library. It will provide hours of enjoyment for children across a wide age range.
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