“In this deceptively solemn retelling of the Epiphany, the three kings not only travel with their wives to Bethlehem, but defer to their sensible suggestions for gifts.

Following a course traced by fingertip on a very generalized recurring map, Queen Hekima and King Balthazar travel from North Africa to pick up King Caspar and Queen Sophia in the Balkans and King Melchior and Queen Mingzhi in China. The party then makes its way to Bethlehem to kneel and worship at the manger—with the traditional gifts rather than, as the kings first impractically propose, a live lion, a heavy golden crown and a massive throne. Along with a tap-activated chorus of angels and occasional camel noises, snatches of “We Three Kings” and other music play in the background on short loops; touching the angel icon beside each block of text activates an even-toned audio reading. The cutout figures in Barlogh’s illustrations are dressed in richly colored if generic regional costumes. They drift or change position with a tap amid, in some scenes, tilt-sensitive showers of leaves or cherry blossoms. Handsome as it is, the art is a weak link; in one scene, book-loving Sophia points to a scroll of Latin that accompanies a picture of an infant baptism as she refers to the baby being “blessed at the Temple.”

Reverent for all its gently tweaked premise but careless with cultural markers. (iPad holiday app. 6-9)”

“Three Wise Queens is an app of a whole different nature, which I had yet to review one like it. A storyline, it presents a perspective on a well-known scriptural event that is geared toward several audiences.

Based on The Three Wise Men, this app brings into your home a beautifully designed story that follows the wives of each king, and focuses on their contributions and point of view during the events that led the strangers from distant lands to Jesus who laid in the manger. From following this complete story via an iPad app, I not only got my daily dose of experiencing more in the world of Christian technology, but I also was able to glean something very important. It was not just the kings who were led to Jesus: it was all of us through our spiritual connection in Christ that were brought to Him. And so this app was outstanding in that beneath the lines it was able to capture not only the female and child audiences, but brought with it a strong message of our brotherly and sisterly connection with one another in His birth.
The graphics were outstanding and second to none. The audio was fitting and Three Wise Queens Angelengaging. The story itself did not fall short of substantial content, and it was engaging at the same time as you could click on the image of an angel to have it read to you. The only technical drawback was that, being quite lengthy, I was looking for a link back to the start once I reached the end of the story but could not find one.

I urge you all to try out this innovative take on a well known event in biblical history! Your child is sure to add this to their list of stories that, whether during the day or for bedtime, are going to want to hear it more than once. I rate this 5/5 crosses!”

““Three Wise Queens” is an app created by James Allen which tells the fictional story of the Three Wise Men from a different perspective. You can either read the story yourself or click on the angel to have the story read aloud. Each page has an interactive activity whether by sound or movement making each page come to life.

The author wrote the story after his daughter questioned him about the three wise queens after hearing the story of the Three Wise Men. Allen takes liberty with the famous Christmas story capitalizing on the mystery surrounding the wise men.

The app is best suited for ages 5-6. My almost eight-year-old daughter enjoyed the story but did not really like the app. She said it was okay but not really fun. The story itself is entertaining and sparks the imagination about what could have happened if we really knew the whole story about the three wise men and their queens.”