Talking Ginger apps are big hits with kids, who don’t seem to be able to get enough of the cutesy ginger kitten. After Talking Ginger and I Want To Be Big, now it’s time for a celebration.

A birthday celebration, to be specific. Ginger’s Birthday sees developer Outfit7’s cheeky feline turning five years old, and celebrating with party snacks, whistles and a cake.

As before, the app is essentially a virtual pet. Children can talk into the microphone to hear Ginger (squeakily) repeat their words. They can also poke and stroke him, feed him party treats, blow the party whistle and play a candle-blowing mini-game.

The more they play, the more pieces they unlock from 40 birthday-themed digital jigsaw-puzzles, which can be scattered and then put back together at will.

The app is free to download and use, making its money from a mixture of advertisements and in-app payments. The latter are used to buy snacks to feed Ginger with, starting at £1.49 for 500, which also turns off the ads permanently. Snacks can also be earned by watching video ads.

Here’s a good thing though: the very first time you load the app, it asks if you want to run it in Child Mode, which turns off the in-app store, the ability to watch YouTube videos and other features you might prefer to keep hidden from a younger child. It’s a responsible option to include.

Talking Ginger is a free download on the App Store for iPhone, iPad and iPod touch. It’s also available for Android, again as a free download. And if your child owns one of the Talking Friends Superstars plush toys, the app works with that too.