As the calendar moves from summer to fall, many of our thoughts turn to OfficeMax and their free, now-legendary ElfYourself service -- we’ve all been sent one (or more!) by a friend or family member, right? Now the creators of that clever holiday fun have turned their focus to the App Store with a free iPad only app called JibJab Jr. Books.

JibJab has announced the release of JibJab Jr. Books, the company’s first iPad app that aims to infiltrate the kids market in the same way their OfficeMax ElfYourself does every holiday season. The premise of the free app is simple -- to make your children the star of the show during those special story time moments.

“With a few taps and swipes, parents can easily create a JibJab Jr. book with their child’s face, name, gender and skin color, then drop them into the center of the action of a beautifully illustrated and animated tale,” the company explains in a press release.

“JibJab Jr. Books launches with two titles, ‘The Biggest Pizza Ever,’ about a kid who wreaks havoc on a town with a gargantuan pizza pie, and ‘The Alphabet Wrangler,’ about a kid who has to chase the letters of the alphabet around the house after they mischievously escape from a book,” the press release continues. “New titles will be released every month, starting this September with ‘Ocean Commotion,’ an underwater adventure featuring singing and dancing sea life.”

Unlike many of the iOS apps aimed at kids, JibJab Jr. Books isn’t full of gaudy, clickable toys and other distractions -- each book features great stories, beautiful art and simple, tasteful character animations to enhance that all-important “wind-down time” parents spend with their children each night.

Aimed at children ages two to six, JibJab Jr. Books is available now as a free 41.8MB download from the App Store, bundled with one book. Additional books are $7.99 each, but parents can sign up for the “book of the month” club and get a steep discount at only $3.99 each (the plan can be cancelled at any time). Purchased books can be personalized an unlimited number of times at no additional cost, and the app is compatible with all iPads running iOS 4.2 or later.

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