Many kids love paper-craft in the real world, but there is also a growing number of children’s apps whose graphics reference the idea. Paper Fox is the latest.

Released by Bento Box Interactive – the developer behind Alicia Keys’ The Journals of Mama Mae & LeeLee app last year – it’s a beautifully-crafted animated storybook for iPhone and iPad.

The star is Paper Fox himself – “a know-it-all fox, whose only desire is to nap in front of the fire” who is shaken out of his lazy ways by a series of earthquakes. Cue an adventure to collect magical objects, meet other paper creatures, and get to the bottom of the ground-shaking mystery.

The production values are high, including the (British!) voice narration. The story is carried forward through animated scenes and spoken dialogue – the words are also shown on-screen.

However, mini-games are also thrown in to keep your children occupied. The first one in the app sees your children swiping around a tree to find bookmarks for an owl.

Paper Fox is a free download on the App Store for iPhone and iPad, although you can only access the first two (short) chapters and that bookmark-hunting mini-game. Unlocking the rest of the app, with six more chapters to explore, costs £1.99 via in-app purchase.

We think it looks well worth the money, but we’re going to be putting the full app through its paces in the coming days for a review, so stay tuned.

In the meantime, here’s a video trailer (oh, and a warning that the app is a 233MB download, so expect a little wait while it downloads). Bento Box worked with Torsion Fork Studios on the app.