NOOK kids for iPad app -- another reason to buy the kids their own iPad

Did you see those Barnes & Noble ads over the holidays where they were showing off those nice interactive color children's books that run on the company's US$249 NOOKcolor e-book reader? Well, if the kids were drooling at the NOOKcolor, now they can start hounding you for their own iPad.

Barnes & Noble has released a new free NOOK Kids for iPad app that is specifically designed to play over 230 interactive picture books. More than 50 of the books have professional narrations, including the Thomas and Friends, Richard Scarry and Olivia series.

Parents can decide what books are appropriate for kids of different ages by using the "Parent's Corner" to set limits. To sweeten the pot, Barnes & Noble is offering two free interactive books -- Richard Scarry's Colors and Kipling's The Elephant's Child -- when you sign up for the NOOK service and place a credit card number on file with the bookseller. For the adults in the family, Barnes & Noble also provides the free NOOK for iPad app.

[via The Mac Observer]