# Kalley's Machine Plus Cats > Interactive storybook about a child's drawing and a machine with cats. (iPhone/iPad app by RocketWagon, LLC.) - Source: https://appshunter.io/ios/app/kalleys-machine-plus-cats/id905722643 (this page in markdown: same URL + `.md`) - Developer: [RocketWagon, LLC](https://appshunter.io/developer/905722646) - Category: Education, Books - Price: Free (on sale, was $0.99) - Rating: 4.70/5 from 37 App Store ratings · 67 written reviews indexed - Age rating: 4+ - Requires: iOS 11.0 · 35 MB - Languages: English - Released: 2014-09-11 - Data updated: 2026-06-11 - Monetization: paid - User reviews in markdown: https://appshunter.io/ios/app/kalleys-machine-plus-cats/id905722643/reviews.md ## What is Kalley's Machine Plus Cats? Based on a true story of childhood optimism, Kalley’s Machine Plus Cats is the super-fun interactive story about a 4-year-old girl’s drawing and her heartwarming plan to save her dad from his daily commute. PRESS ----------------------------------------------- USA Today (4/4 Stars) : “This app showcases some of the most elegant interactions ever placed inside of a kids’ book app.” Common Sense Media (5/5 Stars) : “Kalley’s excitement about her cool machine is contagious.” 148 Apps (4.5/5 Stars) : “I am so very impressed with the wonderful and witty machines ... as well as the overall quality of this app.” The iMums (5/5 Stars) : “A beautiful and brilliant storybook app unlike any I have ever seen.” AWARDS & HONORS ---------------------------- * USA Today’s 10 TOP KIDS APPS of 2014 * Kirkus’ BEST BOOK APPS of 2014 * 2014 Cybils AWARD WINNER * Common Sense Media's Best Book Apps for Kids * TechWithKids BEST PICK APP * THE KIRKUS STAR - Awarded to Books of Exceptional Merit * mFWA Mobile of the Day - for Interactive Experience STORY ---------------------------------------------- When Kalley shows her dad her drawing for a new machine, he is baffled by the confusing collection of hammers, gears, fire, smoke and conveyors. As Kalley explains each part of her invention, the drawing comes to life even as its overall purpose becomes less and less clear to her dad. It is only when Kalley explains the machine’s final component that her master plan to keep her dad from commuting is revealed. THE STORY BEHIND THE STORY --------- So, there really is a ‘Kalley’. She really drew a machine. Her dad couldn’t build it. So they made an app out of it instead. Full story at kalleysmachine.com. FEATURES ---------------------------------------- ► PLAY WITH MACHINES! Kalley’s Machine was crafted with interactivity as the first priority. Satisfyingly touchable controls put kids in charge of each twist and smash of the machine. Controls come in a wide machiney variety: ● Cranks ● Sliders ● Dials ● Levers ● Switches ● Buttons With the machine, kids can: ● Smash Stuff ● Inflate Stuff ● Shrink Stuff ● Burn Stuff (or lightly toast it) ● Paint Stuff ● Grab Stuff ● Drop Stuff ● Mold Stuff Into Shapes ● Do A Few Other Things Including... ► MESS WITH CATS! Kalley’s Machine is a story based on a 4 year-old girl’s drawing. As such, it includes cats. They are completely irrelevant to the story. However, they are way fun to harass. Tease them. Scare them. Puzzle them. Adore them. We think you’ll love the cats. ► GET YOUR READ ON! Cuz it’s a story, right? Of course, you can read the story the old-fashioned way. But, to aid new readers, we’ve also included two helpful interactive story features: ● Read-to-Me, narrated by Kalley and her dad with highlighted words. ● Touch-to-Read, where words are spoken when they are touched. ► TRY TO LEARN! Honestly, we designed this story to be fun. But if you're not careful, you might actually learn something too! The interactive medium offers kids great chances to explore some basic concepts which are both safer and less messy than their real-world alternatives. Creative parents may recognize the opportunity to discuss: ● Subtractive Color Mixing ● Pressure/Temperature Relationships ● Gear Ratios ● Air Pressure/Vacuums ● How Overcooking Can Burn Stuff ► KEEP KIDS SAFE! We have made this app super-safe for kids by having: ● No Ads ● No In-App-Purchases ● Parental Gates in Our Parents Section ## Key features - Interactive machine play - Smash, inflate, shrink, and mold objects - Interact with cats - Read-to-me narration - Touch-to-read word highlighting - Child-friendly controls ## Recent user reviews (10 of 67) All indexed reviews: https://appshunter.io/ios/app/kalleys-machine-plus-cats/id905722643/reviews.md ### 5/5 — I love this game!!!!!!! *2024-09-11, version 1.4.0* Omg I just found my old I pad and this game is soooooo nostalgic!!!!!! ### 5/5 — Muito bom! *2018-09-28, version 1.3.3* Ótimo app. Meu neto adora! ### 5/5 — :) *2016-03-19, version 1.3.3* This app is so cute it just is so cool;) ### 5/5 — Great interactive book interesting for Maker Ed *2016-03-15, version 1.3.3* I generally don’t take the time to review apps . .but this one got me really excited. I am an education professor and also an Apple Distinguished Educator and i only heard about this App when it was free for a day. its an interactive book that has appropriate reading strategies. I just spent about 30 minutes using it with my 4 year old nephew. He played it again and again and liked each of the machines. One thing that I thought was cool, he kept asking why the “marshmallows” reset on each screen. Auntie I made it small, why is it big again? it lead to a good discussion on how programmers make each page work.. (His daddy is a computer engineer). The reading level is appropriate and it gives good feedback and allows each word to be spoken. The only bit of suggestion for improvement I would include would be to have something interactive on the last page or the the end page. My nephew was a little disappointed that everything was just “over” . .but he went back and started the book again.. (Maybe an interactive hug) .. So who would be interested.. I think this is really appropriate for maker education as well.. i could see using it as an intro to a lesson on designing machines. ### 5/5 — Adorable! *2016-03-09, version 1.3.3* My kids love the cats! ### 2/5 — Please allow parents to disable swipe *2016-03-09, version 1.3.3* My toddler likes this game, but she finds it very frustrating that when she is just touching the screen to make something move, over half the time she swipes to another page. Since this app is premised on kids touching the screen, please at least allow parents to disable the swipe feature. ### 5/5 — Fun! *2016-03-07, version 1.3.3* My kid loves this app ### 5/5 — We still LOVE this app!!! *2016-03-04, version 1.3.3* There is a reason this app is still getting featured by Apple. Our kids are older now, but this story still has a place in our hearts. And we have friends with young kids who crack up at the cats and love playing with the machines. It's cool to see them enjoying it too. ### 5/5 — Obsessed *2015-06-16, version 1.1.0* My two sons (ages 2 and 4) are obsessed with this app. We're dog people and they're both violently allergic to cats so I'm not sure how they can spend so much time playing it but they do. It's easy to navigate, whimsical, entertaining and most importantly (as a parent) the sounds/noises aren't annoying. We're looking forward to more apps from Rocketwagon! ### 5/5 — Good job! (Fake review, but this app is still very good) *2014-12-22, version 1.1.0* My ten year old kid loves to play with this app, She loves to interact with the things and find out what happens. My ten year old has trouble reading the words sometimes so she asks her younger, two year old sister to help her, my two year old thinks this app is to young for her and should stick to reading harry potter instead. XD LOL SORRY IF I DID WRONG OR IF I OFFENDED YOU OR SOMETHING..... REAL STORY, I AM TEN AND SAW THIS APP, I THOUGHT IT KINDA LOOKED COOL, SO i looked on appsgonefree and it was free so i got it, it is good quality for a kid's app, but i have no idea what nonchalant means and i had to look in the dictionary. ## Frequently asked questions about Kalley's Machine Plus Cats ### What is Kalley's Machine Plus Cats about? This app is an interactive storybook based on a 4-year-old girl's drawing of a machine. It tells the heartwarming story of her plan to help her dad and brings her imaginative creation to life with playful interactions. The app also features cats that are fun to interact with. ### What are the key interactive features? The app allows children to play with the machine by using various controls like cranks, sliders, and levers. They can make the machine smash, inflate, shrink, burn, paint, grab, drop, and mold various objects. Additionally, users can interact with the cats in fun ways. ### How does the app support reading? The app offers two helpful interactive story features for young readers. The 'Read-to-Me' option provides narration by Kalley and her dad with highlighted words. The 'Touch-to-Read' feature allows words to be spoken when touched, aiding in word recognition and comprehension. ### Is this app suitable for young children? Yes, the app is designed for children, particularly those around 4 years old and up. It is praised for its child-friendly controls, engaging story, and interactive elements that encourage creativity and early literacy skills. The content is based on a child's drawing and imagination. ### What is the cost of Kalley's Machine Plus Cats? Based on the provided information, this application is a paid app. There are no mentions of in-app purchases or advertisements, suggesting a one-time purchase for full access to the story and interactive features. ## Version history (last 5 releases) ### 1.4.0 — 2023-12-14 The cat party is now full on automatic! All six available cats are ready to play upon update! We originally included a cat party after the story to encourage sharing. You had to post about our app to get more cats. We have ditched the sharing nonsense and just given you the cats up front. ENJOY!! ### 1.3.3 — 2016-03-03 This app has been updated by Apple to display the Apple Watch app icon. We've added helpful prompts to make sure young explorers find all the dials, levers, switches, sliders and buttons on every page! We kind of liked letting kids discover that stuff on their own. But then we realized some kids were missing some of the fun. And that isn't cool. So we pointed out the fun stuff. We've also made a bunch of little improvements. You probably won't notice. But . . . well . . . we did. So we made things better. ### 1.1.0 — 2014-12-07 ** It’s time for a CAT PARTY!! ** We’ve thrown a brand new cat party at the end of our story as a way to thank you for sharing our story with your friends. There’s a cat DJ. A hungry cat. A cat doing a hoedown. Some random dancing cats. And a cat drinking out of the punch bowl. All around, they seem to be having a good time. PRO TIP: The food you make at the end of the story ends up on the refreshment table. So it can be all birthday cakes if you want! Or tacos. Whatever. It’s your party. Thanks again for all the awesome reviews and general love you’ve shown our first story. It means a lot to our family. -------------------- Please rate Kalley’s Machine after you update - Your feedback really helps us create the best experience possible. And hit us up at support@rocketwagon.com if you have any issues. We want to make sure everything’s working right for you. ### 1.0.4 — 2014-10-15 - Colored in the black and white stuff on the title screen. It's pretty boss. Check it out. - Updates for iPhone 6 - added App previews ### 1.0.2 — 2014-09-24 Fixed a bug on some devices which caused the navigation to completely lockup on the home screen. Man. 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User reviews are verbatim App Store reviews. Ratings, prices and chart positions refresh continuously; this snapshot is from 2026-06-11.*