Another very popular puzzle game, this one involves shooting angry birds out of a sling-shot at castles that are hiding the pigs who have stolen the birds' eggs. It is a silly premise, but the flinging-to-knock-down-structures part is amazingly well done. With 195 puzzles, each using realistic physics, this app is a hoot to explore

You become a Lego version of Harry Potter and relive the highlights found in the first four books by J.K. Rowling, with a little cheeky Lego humor thrown in. This app is a delight to behold with crisp graphics, haunting music, great touch-control and 40 levels of adventuring. There are over 100 playable characters to unlock, including Ron, Hermione and Hagrid.

By simply dragging your finger over the surface of the iPad, you can "play" the piano. If you trail sparkling dots on the surface, you can create such masterpieces as "Fur Elise," "Flight of the Bumblebee" or "Moonlight Sonata." But kids will also enjoy playing "Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star" and "Happy Birthday." The app provides three different configurations of playable piano keyboards, including one that looks like a spiral.

Kids learn letters, numbers, shapes and colors with schools of fish as their teachers. Little children will be mesmerized by how their every touch makes a new school of colored fish appear. The fish group into formations, so kids learn what a square is by seeing the fish swim into this four-sided shape. Ditto for letters and numbers. For colors, the screen fills with different colored fish; but when one is touched, the other colored fish vamoose and the screen fills with fish of the same color.

For as little as a dollar, you can get 15 high-quality games, including classics like Reversi, Connect 4, Checkers, Solitaire, Mahjong, Minesweeper and Concentration. Some games even involve solving math equations and spelling words. This is a fabulous way to get a group of popular kid games onto your iPad. Some allow two players. All of the games feature holiday window dressing, so when playing Reversi, for instance, the traditional black-and-white game pieces have been replaced with holiday candies.

Based on the board game of the same name, this seek-and-find game is crammed full of objects hidden in crazy cartoons. It can be played alone or with up to four others. The object is to quickly find requested objects or ones that fit a category (such as "items found in the kitchen"). It is a blast to play with others.

This puzzle game has been in the top 10 of all paid iPad apps in the iTunes Store since it was launched in October — and for good reason. It has a simple premise (cut ropes anchoring a piece of candy to send it flying), an adorable main character (Om Nom, a candy junkie, to whom you direct the candy) and its solutions require out-of-the-box thinking. In each puzzle, you use your finger to cut ropes to make the candy fall into Om Nom's mouth and hopefully collect bonus stars along the way. With over 100 puzzles, this is a game that all ages can enjoy.

Help Bartleby in his journey to find new buttons for his collection! Flip switches, press buttons, slide sliders, rotate the ipad, turn in a circle, and carefully read along in this "digital pop-up book" adventure. Designed for parent-led reading for the young child and as a stand-alone story for the older child. This book is a short bed-time story that engages the child in following instructions through reinforced interaction and tactile response - just like a pop-up book!

See William Denslow's masterful illustrations brought to life with innovative pull-tabs, spin-wheels, and elements that bounce and spring with the touch of a finger. Listen to "O Christmas Tree" beautifully performed on piano while you read and interact with each page of the book. Explore every scene and discover the many delightful life-like interactions at your fingertips.

This adorable story about a cat chasing a mouse has more than 80 objects within its illustrations that kids can tap to trigger over 125 animations. Mike Austin wrote and illustrated this book specifically for the iPad so it is much more interactive than many books found in the iTunes Store. "Milo" raises the bar for interactivity within the book apps category, and its delightful surprise ending will have kids wanting to read it again and again. Mr. Austin narrates the book himself with masterful comedic timing.