Grade: B+ | Age rating: 2+ | Price: Free

JibJab Jr. Books has launched a story app that includes a free introductory book  called “The Biggest Pizza Ever”.

Simply upload a photo of your child’s face, trim and resize it to fit, and the app plugs your child into the animated story.

If you like the experience enough, you can buy additional stories a la carte for $7.99 or subscribe to monthly stories for $3.99.

Why we like it:

If you’re one of those people who can’t get enough of  Elf Yourself , this is the app for you.  There’s not quite as much dancing as in the web-based JibJab applications, but so what?  It’s still funny.  Since there’s only one character (your kid), it’s also much less work.

This is not award-winning children’s literature (spoiler alert: child makes ridiculously large pizza and must deal with the consequences), but it’s fun.  Don’t overthink it.

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We tested version 1.1, which is compatible with the iPad (version 4.3 or later). Developer JibJab Media Inc. Read our disclosure policy.

Those of you who didn’t jump on the iPhone and iPad bandwagons are finally being rewarded for your patience.  The Android Market has finally gone online. Internet heavyweight Amazon.com has gotten in on the action too with their own Appstore for Android, which offers a free app of the day every single day.

Looking for the best free, fun, and educational Android apps and games for kids, toddlers and preschoolers?  Here you go.

1. ABDUCTION!
Grade: B+ | Age rating: 2+

Buy on the Android Market

Imagine for a moment that you are a cow and your cow friends have been abducted by aliens.  Now it’s up to you to save them! Follow the platform trail as you hop ever higher upwards into space, grabbing power-ups and rescuing friends as you go. Watch out for parachute bombs and other hazards.  Destroy the mothership if you can, and make sure you don’t fall.

Best part of Abduction?  You can set it to kids mode which prevents the cow from ever falling.  Why don’t more platform games do this?  It’s great for frustration-free learning.

2. FRUIT NINJA
Grade: A+ | Age rating: 3+

Buy on the Android Market

Use your finger as a blade to swipe and slice various pieces of fruit that fly up in the air in this juicy action game.   In classic mode, you also have to avoid the bombs.  It’s very simple, but the best things often are — also no gore and questionable ethics!

At the end of every round, you are served a Sensei’s Fruit Fact such as “In some parts of the world, trained monkeys are used to harvest coconuts!”  Sweet.

3. JEWELLUST
Grade: A- | Age rating: 4+

Buy on the Android Market

A connect-three puzzle game with an ancient Egyptian flavor.   Swap and line up matching jewels to burst them and collect tiles before time runs out.  Advance through 30 levels in 7 pyramids and choose from survival and story mode.

Compete on leaderboards, if that’s your thing, or just entertain yourself and your kids when you have a spare moment.

4. DOODLE JUMP
Grade: A | Age rating: 4+

Buy on the Android Market

The insanely addictive platform jumping game is now available on Android.  Tilt your device left and right to make the Doodler jump from platform to platform, avoiding the brittle brown logs that break and make you plummet earthward.  You can even exit the right side of the screen and come in on the left.

Jump, jump, jump your way to the top and try not to think about the many hours you’re spending doing it.  This too shall pass.

5. GEOCACHING
Grade: A | Age rating: 4+

Buy on the Android Market

Geocaching is hands down the most fun you can have with a smartphone.   People hide small trinket-filled boxes all over the world, and upload the coordinates to a website.  You use your phone to navigate to the hidden boxes (called caches).  When you find one, take a trinket and leave a trinket and sign the log.

Sound easy?  Sometimes it is.  Other times not so much.  It’s not a cheap app, but it’s the most fun you can have for $10 and you’ll use it over and over again.  What kid (or adult, for that matter) doesn’t love a treasure hunt?  Try it.

6. LABYRINTH
Grade: A- | Age rating: 5+

Buy on the Android Market

The classic maze-navigation game of your youth has come to the Android.  Control a steel ball by tilting a wooden labyrinth, but don’t fall in the holes along the way.  It has over 1,000 levels, so you won’t run out of gameplay options anytime soon.

Try the free lite version first, to see if your kids warm to it.  If they do, download the paid version.

7. MONKEY PRESCHOOL LUNCHBOX
Grade: A- | Age rating: 1+

Buy on the Android Market

Introduce your toddlers to colors and letters from home well before preschool. Young children will think this is a game, but moms and dads will feel good in knowing it’s completely educational too.

In each individual game a monkey asks you to complete short tasks like counting fruit, touching the corresponding word that the monkey asks for and matching cards with fruit on them. The goal is to finish these and fill the monkey’s lunch box. When you complete a game the monkey flips and squeals, then sends you on to the next game.

8. ONE FISH TWO FISH RED FISH BLUE FISH – DR. SEUSS
Grade: A- | Age rating: 1+

Buy on the Android Market

This delightful and much beloved classic comes to life with a few choice interactive touches.  Dr. Seuss still poses such ridiculous and enchanting questions as:  “Did you ever fly a kite in bed? Did you ever walk with ten cats on your head?” and kids still love it.

They’ll have so much fun, in fact, that they probably won’t even notice they’re learning to read.

9. ANGRY BIRDS
Grade: A | Age rating: 4+

Buy on the Android Market

Did you think we were going to skip Angry Birds?  No such luck.  This hugely popular app has become part of the collective consciousness and with good reason.

First of all, we love the silly story line.  Evil green pigs have stolen the birds’ eggs and are now hiding out in their castles.  It’s up to your kids to wreak revenge on them using (of course!) little red and blue birds and a giant sling shot.  Huh?

There are almost 200 levels of gameplay, so it’s unlikely your kids will ever run out of fortresses to assault.  Once they conquer a level, they can re-play it to improve their score.  In the (very likely) event they don’t conquer a level on their first try, they can just try again!

10. WORD MIX
Grade: A | Age rating: 5+

Buy on the Android Market

Remember the anagram-style word games we all used to play as kids before school vacations?  Teachers would hand around dittos that challenged us to make as many words as we could out of a phrase like “Happy Holidays”.

This app does the same.  You get a random set of letters and a set amount of time to form as many words out of them as you can.  Not only is it fun, it builds vocabulary too.

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Grade: A| Age rating: 6+| Price: FREE

BrainPOP Featured Movie is an innovative educational app that delivers one — yes, just one — short animated educational movie every day on a variety of topics.

Your kids watch the hosts Tim and his robot pal Moby explore tons of subjects ranging from dinosaurs and aliens to natural disasters and the U.S. Constitution.

What’s Hot:
The movies are very subtly amusing and very informative.  Best of all, they are really short.  Pretty much anyone can stay tuned in for four minutes, right?  Right?

Kids will love the quiz that they can take immediately following the movie.  The app tracks and records your score, which is fun.  Let’s be honest, plenty of adults will like this app too.   I mean, who wouldn’t want to watch a 4-minute video about Yo-Yo Ma?

What’s Not:
Some subjects are boring or not just appropriate for all ages, such as “Mortgages”.  Never fear!  Just click More BrainPop > See More Movies, and choose something more interesting for your child.

The Bottom Line:
Free.  Awesome.  Download now.

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We tested version 1.3.2, which is compatible with the iPhone, iPod touch and iPad.  Developer BrainPOP. Read our disclosure policy.

Grade: B | Age rating: 4+ | Price: FREE

Fling Free is the no-cost version of a fun and challenging app called Fling, and a great way to try before you buy.   The object of this addictive game is to “fling” the fuzzballs into each other across your iPhone screen and knock them off the grid until there is only one remaining.

Like puzzling over challenging mind games to which there is only one solution?  This is the app for you.

What’s Hot:
The undo button is a fantastic and essential feature–it allows you to go back and try different scenarios when you get stuck.  An untimed mode for people like me who don’t enjoy racing against the clock. 

What’s Not:
Gameplay is over way too quickly, even at the most difficult setting!  We understand that the developers want us to buy the full version, but only four levels?  Would it have killed them to include another level or two?

The Bottom Line:
Will leave you wanting more, which is the whole point.

We tested version 1.1.3, which is compatible with the iPhone (OS 3 or later) and the iPod touch. Developer Candy Cane. Read our disclosure policy.

Grade: B | Age rating: 4+ | Price: Free

Paper Toss is exactly what it sounds like:  a dumb but harmless virtual office app where kids can try their hand at lobbing crumpled balls of paper into what one hopes are recycling containers on the iPhone screen.

A fan blows at varying speeds from the left and right to keep things interesting, but it’s a pretty one-dimensional game.  There’s a little skill to it, but not much.

What’s Hot:
Funny background noises (phones, colleague cat calls, and typing at the office, and boarding announcements at the airport) .  

What’s Not:
There are ads across the top of the page, but your kids probably won’t notice or click them.  Still, it’s probably worth telling them not to (you can buy an ad-free version for $.0.99, but we don’t recommend it).  Your score is a function of how many shots you nail in a row, so it’s all too easy to go back to zero.

The Bottom Line:
A fun app for kids preschool age and up, but probably a one hit wonder.  You can’t beat the price though.

We tested version 1.3, which is compatible with the iPhone (OS 2.2 or later) and the iPod touch. Developer Back Flip Studios. Read our disclosure policy.

1.  Flashlight

Forgot your book light?  Lost a toy under the couch?  This handy and free utility app will save your bacon.

2.  Tweezzle Lite

A simple, but addictive puzzle game that challenges kids to see patterns and clear the board.

3.  Chicktionary Lite

A funny, educational word search game with hints and 12 free levels.

4.  Fling Free

The lite version of one of the most original puzzle games in the iTunes store.  Only four levels, but better than nothing.

5.  Paper Toss

Ready, aim, and fire crumpled balls of paper at trash cans in various office environments.

6. Touch Physics Lite

An educational app that teaches and entertains, provided your kids don’t get so frustrated they throw your iPhone at the wall.