# The Surprise (Pro) — Wordless book that is animated

> Animated wordless book for creating and saving custom narrated stories. (iPhone/iPad app by Hamaguchi Learning & Development, LLC.)

- Source: https://appshunter.io/ios/app/the-surprise-pro/id527236318 (this page in markdown: same URL + `.md`)
- Developer: [Hamaguchi Learning & Development, LLC](https://appshunter.io/developer/460288922)
- Category: Education, Books
- Price: $5.99
- Rating: 4.47/5 from 15 App Store ratings · 44 written reviews indexed
- Age rating: 4+
- Requires: iOS 12.0 · 68 MB
- Languages: English
- Released: 2012-05-22
- Data updated: 2026-06-10
- Monetization: paid
- User reviews in markdown: https://appshunter.io/ios/app/the-surprise-pro/id527236318/reviews.md

## What is The Surprise (Pro)?

From ConsonantlySpeaking.com: "Hamaguchi Apps has revolutionized storytelling in their application, "You're the Storyteller: The Surprise."

You’re the storyteller! In this beautifully animated, wordless story, the child watches each scene and can then record and/or write their very own narration! **THIS IS THE PRO VERSION, for the iPAD. It holds up to 30 users' narrations and writing. For a single user, please check out our Home Version. (There is no iPHONE version) Perfect for narrative language development!

Check out our Youtube demo video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eyyzZxOt9BA

In this delightful wordless book, a boy brings home a stray dog and attempts to hide it from his mother. Using body language, facial expressions, and carefully selected sound effects, watch the story unfold and find out why it is called “The Surprise!”

There are 8 chapters in this story. Each chapter’s animation clips runs an average of 15 seconds, allowing the child to describe and retell the story in small increments. The user may replay the entire narrated story from beginning to end via the Table of Contents. You can also watch the original story with or without music accompaniment, email your story including the voice file, or print it out!

There are “Challenge Words” provided for each chapter. These are optional and for more advanced language learners who want to try and put them into their narration. The “Questions” bone provides 3 questions for each chapter. Answers and suggestions for both of these are available in the Information page.

This is the Professional version. Up to 30 users’ voice files and written narration is kept in the program. When a new recording or writing is provided for that user, it erases whatever was previously recorded or written for that user. 

Aside from being just plain FUN, this app lends itself well to a host of educational and therapeutic possibilities: practice with articulation, fluency, syntax development, social cognitive skills including perspective-taking and body language/facial expression inference, and much more!

A perfect speech therapy app!

*Please contact our tech support if you are experiencing any technical issues with our apps. We will always help you troubleshoot it and get back to you generally within one business day. We cannot respond to reviews and there are generally easy solutions to every issue. info@hamaguchiapps.com

PRIVACY POLICY: We do NOT collect personal data from our users and have no ads. Personal data regarding user performance on the tasks on this app are self-contained and not transmitted in any way, unless the user chooses to email them to someone else. There are no in-app purchases in this app. A demo link will allow a user with internet access to view a video on YouTube to learn about the features of this app, as well as a link to our other apps in the iTunes store.

Developed by noted speech-language pathologist and author of Childhood Speech, Language & Listening Problems: What Every Parent Should Know, Patti Hamaguchi, M.A., CCC-SLP.
To find out more about this app and our other upcoming projects, visit our website: www.hamaguchiapps.com

Questions or need Tech Support? Email us at info@hamaguchiapps.com

## Key features

- Wordless animated storybook
- Record custom voice narrations
- Write custom text narrations
- Supports up to 30 user profiles
- Challenge words and questions for language practice
- Email and print narrated stories
- Original story replay with/without music

## Recent user reviews (10 of 44)

All indexed reviews: https://appshunter.io/ios/app/the-surprise-pro/id527236318/reviews.md

### 1/5 — Great app- needs updating

*2017-10-03*

I love this app. Went to download it again and cannot. The developer needs to up date it.

**Developer response:** Hi Pattibslp. No worries! We updated it to work with IOS 11 shortly after your review. Can you check and make sure it is working ok now? If so, we hope you will update your rating and review. Anytime you have any issues with our apps, please contact us at info@hamaguchiapps so we can communicate directly with you and help answer your questions.  Justin @ Hamaguchi Apps.

### 5/5 — More, more please!

*2015-10-22*

How great is this app! While it is only one story the versatility and the perfect design of this app makes it an exceptional tool for language impaired kids.   It has been particularly helpful for some of my autistic students. What I've found is that repeated viewing of individual segments or reviewing the entire story over many sessions is very helpful. The ability to pause the story and look at the facial expressions within the context of a story is wonderful.  Hope there will be more stories to come!

### 5/5 — Wonderful App with Many Educational Applications!

*2015-09-23*

My intermediate elementary school students love this app. It is perfect for small groups and can address expressive and receptive language, oral and written narrative skills, perspective taking and inferencing. Please make some more stories!

### 4/5 — Great tool for slps

*2014-08-20, version 1.2*

This is a great story to work on narrative skills. I only wish there was a way to make it go slower because my speech and language impaired students cannot keep up.

### 5/5 — Awesome

*2013-05-01*

I love this app. It's really thought out and there is so much to this app. You get to work on creating your own story based on what you see and think is happening. You get three questions per chapter, but I sometimes will ask my own questions. There is a great info page with tips and suggestions for using the app. Also, with the Pro version you can let your kid listen to other kids stories so they can hear how others interpreted the story. Great job Hamaguchi!

### 4/5 — Author approved App!

*2013-01-14, version 1.0*

As the author of two books, I LOVE this app.  Not only can children speak the story and record it in their own words, but they can type it in too!  My only wish is that it had a few more stories in it.  This app is priced well and can give children hours of thought provoking fun!  It is great for use with children who have trouble writing stories too!

### 3/5 — Slp

*2013-01-01*

I think the app is a great way to improve creativity, syntax and reading among many other areas of speech and language development. The only complaint I have is that there is only one story. There should be more than one story. My kids have mastered this story, answered all the questions, and used all the challenge words. They are bored with it now, and they really want a new story. Are there other stories available? I have the pro version so that I can have multiple users, but I think there should be multiple stories as well.

### 5/5 — Love this app!

*2012-10-28, version 1.0*

This app allows your child to view a video and write their own story.  I love hearing what their little imaginations come up with!  They love to hear their own voice recording and the illustrations are great!!  Highly recommend!

### 5/5 — Awesome!!

*2012-09-29, version 1.0*

Another great app by Hamaguchi Apps!! This is a great app even of your child is non verbal as you can record your own voice telling the story. nothing motivates a child more than hearing their parent's voice!!!

### 5/5 — Good app

*2012-09-28, version 1.0*

This is a great way to give kids a creative way to finish a story a chance to use their imaginations and have fun while doing it too.

## Frequently asked questions about The Surprise (Pro)

### What is The Surprise (Pro) app?

The Surprise (Pro) is a wordless, animated storybook application designed for the iPad. It allows users to create their own narrated versions of the story by recording their voice or writing text for each scene. The app is intended to support language development and storytelling skills.

### What are the key features of The Surprise (Pro)?

Key features include a wordless animated story divided into chapters, the ability to record voice narrations and write text for each scene, support for up to 30 user profiles, optional challenge words and questions for language practice, and the option to email or print the created stories.

### How much does The Surprise (Pro) app cost?

The provided information indicates that this is a paid application. There are no in-app purchases or advertisements mentioned, suggesting a one-time purchase for the Pro version.

### What are the educational and therapeutic uses of this app?

This app is beneficial for narrative language development, articulation practice, fluency, syntax development, and social cognitive skills like perspective-taking and inferring body language. It is particularly recommended as a speech therapy app.

### What devices is The Surprise (Pro) compatible with?

The Surprise (Pro) is specifically designed for the iPad. The description explicitly states that there is no iPhone version available for this Pro edition.

## Version history (last 5 releases)

### 1.5 — 2021-03-05

IOS 14 Bug fix

### 1.4 — 2017-10-05

Updated for IOS 11 compatibility

### 1.3 — 2015-01-21

- Minor fixes
- Video preview for the App

### 1.2 — 2014-04-01

Updates for 
- Parental gate 
- iOS 7 changes

### 1.1 — 2013-04-21

iOS6 compatibility

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## More apps by Hamaguchi Learning & Development, LLC

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All apps by Hamaguchi Learning & Development, LLC: https://appshunter.io/developer/460288922

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*Data collected daily from the US App Store and indexed by [AppsHunter](https://appshunter.io/). User reviews are verbatim App Store reviews. Ratings, prices and chart positions refresh continuously; this snapshot is from 2026-06-10.*