Scribble Press is an iPad app by the Scribble Press publishing company. Using the application, children can create drawings using a wide range of colors and brush tips, clip art, or photos from the iPad photo library. More unique to the app is the ability to create illustrated e-books, using pre-written book templates (fill-in-the-blank style) or writing completely from the imagination. Books and drawings can be uploaded to the Scribble Press site and used to create print versions in the form of books, puzzles, notebooks, cards, or other options. Created books and drawings can be shared publicly on the Scribble Press site, but the parent must create a password-protected account to do so, which prevents the child from accidentally sharing personal information.

Scribble Press provides a lot of functionality for a free app, and my children all enjoyed using it. My youngest has returned to it repeatedly, and my oldest (a bit of a connoisseur of computer art programs) enthusiastically gave it her stamp of approval, though she said she wished it had a bucket-fill operation for coloring large areas. It is well-designed, stable, flexible, and fun. If my children are to pass the time in front of an electronic device, a free program that encourages creativity in several directions and does little of the work for them is exactly what they should be using.