Saintlings: Catholic Kids

Saintlings is a saint-a-day storybook app for young children. It is aimed at ages four to seven and follows the Church's calendar.

Each day a little angel guide named Lucy introduces the saint being remembered. The story is hand-painted and narrated, with each word highlighted as it is read so a beginning reader can follow along. Tap any word and it is read again. After the story there is a small game drawn from that saint's life — helping St. Anthony find something lost, catching St. Therese's roses, delivering St. Nicholas's gifts. Finish and the child earns a collectible card for a treasure box. There is also a prayer corner with the Our Father, Hail Mary, and Guardian Angel prayer, done as read-along and echo-back.

The design decisions here tell you the developers have children. No timers, no way to lose, nothing frightening. A child who cannot read yet can still navigate the whole thing. A parental gate keeps kids out of the account and purchase screens, and there are no ads, no chat, and no links out to the internet.

Good for the age it names — preschool through second grade. It works well on an iPad on a Sunday morning, and the games give a child a reason to remember which saint did what. Parents looking for something to hand over that is not a cartoon will find it here.

It is young. Two ratings on the App Store as of this writing, and the free tier includes seven saints, so most of the calendar is behind the subscription. The card collecting is a mild engagement hook, gentler than most, but it is still there.

Free for seven saints, their games and cards, and the prayer corner. A Family Plan unlocks the full year at $49.99 annually or $5.99 monthly, shared through Family Sharing. By Slateworks, LLC. Available on the App Store: Saintlings: Catholic Kids. One of the better Catholic apps for small children I have seen.