Comparison

Bob Books Reading Magic #1 vs Monkey Math School Sunshine

Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.

Head to head
About

Bob Books Reading Magic #1

This interactive phonics game helps young children learn to read by connecting letters to sounds and sounding out simple words. With a drag-and-drop interface and engaging animations, it provides a fun and successful first reading experience.

Highlights
  • Phonics-based interactive game
  • Letter-sound connection
  • Sounding out simple words
  • Spelling practice
  • Drag-and-drop interface
  • Full-color animations
Features
Read full description

- Winner Editor's Choice Award, Children's Technology Review - 15 Great Apps for Kids, Babble.com - Parenting Magazine “Best App for Kids” - Parents Choice Approved Millions of kids have learned to read with the Bob Books beginning reader series. Kids can watch their favorite Bob Books stories and characters come to life with Bob Books Reading Magic #1! Start your child reading with this phonics-based interactive game. Even very young children love the simple drag-and-drop interface. Your favorite Bob Books characters and full-color animations encourage kids along the path of learning to read. Bob Books Reading Magic continues Bob Books’ commitment to bringing children a satisfying, successful first reading experience, with easy first steps, wholesome values, authentic hand-drawn illustrations, and beautiful full-color animations. Bob Books Reading Magic will show your child how to: -Make the connection between letters and sounds. -Sound out simple words. -Spell the words they’ve read. The game includes twelve scenes for a total of 32 words. Four game levels provide increasing learn-to-read challenges to children as they play. Bob Books Reading Magic follows the same method and principles as the #1 best-selling Bob Books series. Bob Books were created to lead children to the ah-ha moment when letters first turn into words. By slowly introducing new letter sounds, using consistency, repetition and stories that fit short attention spans, your child will quickly find his or her own ah-ha moment. This is the reading magic of Bob Books. Soon your child will join over 10 million children who can proudly say, “I read the whole book!”® Parents and educators rave about Bob Books apps: "Bob Books #1 - Reading Magic is an excellent introduction to phonics for young children... This app will grow with your learning child, and keep their interest as they read and re-read the sentences on each page." --- Common Sense Media "A fantastic tool for a pre- or early reader -- and a fun way to occupy your toddler during a doctor's visit." --- Infant Bibliophile "Bob Books #1 - Reading Magic is a top learning app for toddlers and for sure one of the best apps for toddlers and preschoolers to learn how to read." --- Fun Educational Apps "One of the best learning app for kids." --- Everything Mom Bob Books respects your privacy! We do not collect, store, or share any personal information or location data. All our apps are ad free, without in-app purchases and are safe for young children. Read more at: https://bobbooks.com/privacy-policy *** We love getting feedback from our users. If you have questions or comments, please send them to info@bobbooks.com. *** For more information about Bob Books, visit https://bobbooks.com

About

Monkey Math School Sunshine

This app offers a playful beach-themed world for children aged 3-6 to build fundamental math skills through interactive games. It features 9 engaging activities that teach counting, addition, subtraction, patterns, and more, with adaptive difficulty and a rewarding aquarium collection system.

Highlights
  • 9 interactive math games
  • Teaches sequencing, patterning, counting, adding, subtracting
  • Adaptive difficulty levels
  • Uninterrupted and unlimited play
  • Interactive aquarium rewards
  • Number tracing and shape identification
Features
Currently charting
Read full description

From the creators of the top selling Preschool App “Monkey Preschool Lunchbox”! Join your child’s favorite monkey in math games and activities in a playfully designed beach-themed world. Monkey Math School Sunshine allows your child to build fundamental math skills while they are endlessly entertained. Your child will count, add and sort their way through engaging games with uninterrupted play. For ages 3 to 6. Praise for Monkey Preschool Games: "5/5 Stars" SmartAppsForKids.com "5/5 Stars" KidsEducationalApps.com “One of the first apps I’d get for a toddler.” BestKidsApps.com MONKEY MATH SCHOOL SUNSHINE FEATURES *9 interactive games that teach kids about sequencing, patterning, counting, adding and subtracting. *With very little interface, your child presses one button to immediately launch into uninterrupted play. *Uses Knack Technology to instinctively adjust the challenge levels to each individual player. *Irresistibly cute monkey guides the child through game play with animated celebrations for correct answers and gentle redirection for incorrect ones. *Kids collect prizes to fill their very own INTERACTIVE AQUARIUM. *Uninterrupted and unlimited play: game continues as long as the player desires. KIDS LEARN WHILE THEY PLAY: *ADD IT UP and TAKE IT AWAY Use your addition and subtraction skills to solve math problems. Trusty crab assistants supply multiple-choice options. *PATTERNS Monkey has a problem: Objects keep popping out of his bucket, creating a pattern - but one piece is missing! Help Monkey by completing the pattern with the choices provided. *SHAPES Is it an octagon? Or maybe a hexagon? Count each side of these shapes and help Monkey figure it out. *SEQUENCES Monkey has a group of numbers in the right order, but some are missing. Help him complete the sequence with the correct numbers. *LESS/MORE Monkey loves to blow bubbles, when he does, groups of shells, fish or turtles are inside each bubble! Use your expertise to figure out which bubble has either the most or least objects inside. *BIGGER/SMALLER Which bubble has the bigger number? Which bubble has the smaller one? Help Monkey figure it out by popping the correct bubble. *CONNECT THE DOTS Baby Turtle is stuck on the beach and she needs your help to get to the sea! Connect the dots to show her the way. *WRITE IT UP! Help Monkey learn his numbers by tracing them in the sand. *BUBBLE POP Monkey is running out of time! Pop all the bubbles that have either the right number or the right amount of objects inside before the time runs out! * Contact THUP! * Have some comments on our apps? We'd love to hear it! Want to find out what we're doing next? Come visit us: Email us: support@thup.com Like us: http://www.facebook.com/THUPgames Follow us: http://twitter.com/THUPGames

Screenshots

Bob Books Reading Magic #14 screens
Monkey Math School Sunshine4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is review sentiment: Monkey Math School Sunshine at 90% against Bob Books Reading Magic #1's 66%. Monkey Math School Sunshine also leads on chart position (#132 vs unranked) and price ($1.99 vs $2.99). Bob Books Reading Magic #1's advantage is rating (4.6 vs 4.3) and ratings volume (602 vs 58). On update cadence, ads, in-app purchases and monetization model there is nothing between them.

Scored on Price · Rating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings · Update frequency · Ads · In-app purchases · Monetization · Best chart rank · Devices · Requires iOS

CostPrice · In-app purchases · Ads · Monetization

Bob Books Reading Magic #1 costs $2.99 and Monkey Math School Sunshine $1.99 up front. Neither carries in-app purchases, so what you see is what you pay.

ReceptionRating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings

Bob Books Reading Magic #1 holds the better App Store score, 4.6 against 4.3. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: Bob Books Reading Magic #1 has 602 ratings behind it against 58, so its average is the more settled of the two. Written reviews complicate that: 66% of Bob Books Reading Magic #1's written reviews are positive against 90% of Monkey Math School Sunshine's, so the app with the better star average is not the one people write more warmly about.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

Both ship on a similar rhythm, roughly every 4 months. Both last shipped on October 24, 2026.

Scorecard6 real differences · 5 level
Bob Books Reading Magic #1 versus Monkey Math School Sunshine: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterBob Books Reading Magic #1Monkey Math School Sunshine
Price$2.99$1.99 — better
Rating4.6 (602 ratings) — better4.3 (58 ratings)
Positive reviews65.6% of reviews90.3% of reviews — better
Number of ratings602 — better58
Update frequencyEvery 4 monthsEvery 4 months
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesNoNo
MonetizationPaidPaid
Best chart rank—#132 — better
DevicesiPhone, iPad, iPodiPhone, iPad, iPod
Requires iOS11.0 — better15.0
Further details — not scored
Size175 MB252 MB
Age rating4+4+
DeveloperBob Books Publications LLCTHUP Games

Customer experience

Bob Books Reading Magic #1

All ratings602 ratings
Positive90.5%
Neutral4.0%
Negative5.5%
Written reviews90 reviews
Positive65.6%
Neutral10.0%
Negative24.4%

Monkey Math School Sunshine

All ratings57 ratings
Positive84.2%
Neutral3.5%
Negative12.3%
Written reviews195 reviews
Positive90.3%
Neutral4.1%
Negative5.6%

User reviews

Bob Books Reading Magic #1

From 602 App Store ratings

What we love

  • 👍 Fun and interactive learning
  • 💡 Great for special needs children
  • 🚀 Keeps kids engaged
  • 👍 Intuitive and easy to use
  • 👍 Excellent teaching tool

Room to improve

  • 🐛 Sound issues
  • 💰 Expensive for limited content
  • 🤔 Repetitive scenes and activities
  • 🤔 Not enough progression in difficulty

Monkey Math School Sunshine

From 58 App Store ratings

What we love

  • 👍 Fun and educational
  • 🚀 Keeps kids engaged
  • 💡 Customizable difficulty levels
  • 👍 Rewards system motivates learning
  • 👍 Intuitive and easy to use

Room to improve

  • 🐛 Sound issues after updates
  • 🔋 Aquarium fills up too quickly
  • 🔍 Limited game modes and progression
  • 🔍 Repetitive gameplay

Bugs and requests

Bob Books Reading Magic #1

Reported bugs

3 issues
  • Sound not working
  • Inability to progress to higher levels
  • Compatibility issues with older devices

Requested features

4 requests
  • More books and content
  • Ability to vocalize letter sounds
  • Varied word choices and sentence structures
  • British English voice option

Monkey Math School Sunshine

Reported bugs

3 issues
  • Voice directions cutting out
  • Number bubble counting issues
  • Inconsistent touch responsiveness

Requested features

4 requests
  • More advanced math concepts
  • Ability to disable certain game modes
  • Option to save progress across multiple users
  • Expanded aquarium or multiple aquariums

In-app purchases

None

Bob Books Reading Magic #1

No in-app purchases

None

Monkey Math School Sunshine

No in-app purchases

Questions

Is Bob Books Reading Magic #1 free?
Bob Books Reading Magic #1 costs $2.99, with no in-app purchases.
Is Monkey Math School Sunshine free?
Monkey Math School Sunshine costs $1.99, with no in-app purchases.
Which has better reviews, Bob Books Reading Magic #1 or Monkey Math School Sunshine?
Bob Books Reading Magic #1 is rated higher. Bob Books Reading Magic #1 averages 4.6 out of 5 from 602 ratings, while Monkey Math School Sunshine averages 4.3 from 58 ratings.
Do Bob Books Reading Magic #1 or Monkey Math School Sunshine have ads?
Neither Bob Books Reading Magic #1 nor Monkey Math School Sunshine shows ads.
Which is updated more often, Bob Books Reading Magic #1 or Monkey Math School Sunshine?
Bob Books Reading Magic #1 ships an update every 4 months, and Monkey Math School Sunshine every 4 months. Most recently, Bob Books Reading Magic #1 was updated on October 24, 2026 and Monkey Math School Sunshine on October 24, 2026.

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