You might think July would be a quiet period for children’s apps, as developers head off on their summer holidays. Far from it.

Last month was incredible in the variety and quality of new apps for kids on iPhone and iPad, from famous brands to indie gems that appeared from nowhere.

We can honestly say we struggled more than ever before to reduce the 60-odd apps that we wrote about in July down to 20 for this roundup. Bear in mind that we try not to write about apps unless we think they’re good, so those that didn’t make it in are still well worth your time and money.

Read on for July’s 20 best iPhone and iPad apps for kids, though:

Ladybird: Read it Yourself (iPad – £1.99 / $2.99)
“The app offers digital books across four reading levels, matching those from the print books. Four are included in the app download, one from each level: The Three Billy Goats Gruff, Pirate School, The Elves and the Shoemaker and The Pied Piper of Hamelin… Children can tap on words to hear them read out loud, and they can record, save and play back their own voices reading the stories too.”
Get it now or read our article

Sago Mini Doodlecast (iPhone/iPad – £0.69 / $0.99)
“Aimed at 2-6 year-olds, it’s still about drawing, speaking and combining the two in videos. However, this time round it comes with 30 ‘drawing prompts’ – questions to spark kids’ imagination when deciding what they’re going to create… The videos are automatically saved for later viewing, and can be exported to your device’s Camera Roll.”
Get it now or read our article

Dipdap (iPhone/iPad – £1.99 / $2.99)
“The app matches the cartoon in its focus on drawing… aimed at 2-6 year-olds, who we think will love the freeform aspect as much as the missions. It’s also part of a mini-trend we’ve seen for kids’ drawing apps to provide prompts to spark their young audiences’ creativity.”
Get it now or read our article

Planes: Storybook Deluxe (iPhone/iPad – £4.99 / $6.99)
“We know all about Disney’s Cars movies, but Planes? It’s the next big-screen installment, set in the world of Cars but… higher up in the sky. In advance of the film’s debut later this summer, Disney has released Planes: Storybook Deluxe for iPhone and iPad. It looks like a sweet teaser for the movie… expect a mixture of text, animation, video clips, music and a mini-game.”
Get it now or read our article

Curious George’s Town (iPhone/iPad – £1.99 / $2.99)
“It’s a town-building game that looks a bit like FarmVille, where your child gets to spend virtual coins on building new items for their town. But wait, we know what you’re thinking. Virtual coins means in-app purchases! But no, there are no in-app purchases in this game. Instead of trying to get children to spend real money, Curious George’s Town wants them to learn to save virtual money AND behave well in the real world.”
Get it now or read our article

Montessori Math: Add and Subtract Large Numbers (iPhone/iPad – £1.49 / $1.99)
“Applies Montessori teaching techniques to help kids grasp these two core mathematical operations. The app uses three different techniques to help children visualise the problem they are attempting to solve: a bead frame (like an abacus), a slate/blackboard to write on, and a stamp game.”
Get it now or read our article

colAR Mix (iPhone/iPad – Free)
“You download and print out some picture pages from the colAR Mix website, then get your children to colour them in. Then point your iPhone, iPad or Android device’s camera at the piece of paper to see the drawing turn into a 3D animation – WITH the colours that your child used.”
Get it now or read our article

Justin Fletcher’s Lettersounds (iPhone/iPad – £1.49 / $1.99)
“The app is firmly focused on the phonics your children will be learning at school, with the emphasis here on the first eight letter sounds: s, a, t, p, i, n, m and d. Video of Justin introduces each letter, helped by ‘a pink pig, an amazing apple and a talking tiger’ among other characters… Each video gets its own mini-game teaching kids to choose the right letter to build a word.”
Get it now or read our article

Monster High (iPad – Free)
“A magazine-app for iPad offering stories, features, a create-your-own designs section, and a clever-sounding rewards system where fans earn digital ‘pins’ to add new graphics and stickers to the design section. Individual issues are sold via in-app purchase at £1.99 a pop, with the promise of lots more content to come in the months ahead.”
Get it now or read our article

The Wind in the Willows (iPad – Free)
“A new The Wind in the Willows iPad app from publisher Beyond the Story, featuring Stephen Fry, who knows a thing or two about voice narration – for example, he read the Harry Potter audiobooks. This new app is faithful to the original book’s text, with Fry introducing each chapter and reading selected extracts. Animation and music are also included.”
Get it now or read our article

Color Band (iPad – Free)
“At its simplest level, your child draws pictures on the screen by swiping or tapping their finger on the pixels. They can choose from more than 80 colours, with each one representing a different musical sound. Once they’ve drawn their picture, they can play it – either by touching the screen, or by using the iPad’s front-facing camera to move their fingers in mid-air, and trigger the different sounds.”
Get it now or read our article

This Monster: Creatures that Love Colour (iPad – £1.49 / $1.99)
“Beautiful illustrations: handcrafted using paper, fabric and pen, they depict friendly monsters in glorious colours. The app has three sections: Color Eater, Monster Pretend and Monster, Get Dressed! Each section has lots of interactivity, animation and sound effects. There is also full narration and catchy music.”
Get it now or read our article

Our Discovery Island (iPhone – Free)
“‘Tricksters have escaped from Our Discovery Island and are stealing letter-sounds from the English Bank of Phonemes,’ explains its App Store listing. ‘Only you can catch them, using a fun, innovative and immersive Augmented Reality chase game – and by testing your knowledge of phonics.’ How do your children catch them? By taking a photo when you see them floating on the screen, then answering a phonics question to stop the little critter escaping.”
Get it now or read our article

Little Zebra Shopper (iPad – Free)
“Described as ‘the first scanner cash register app for kids’, Little Zebra Shopper works with (pretend) physical products, which your children can scan using the iPad’s camera. Pretend? Well, there is some work for you to do as a parent: downloading a free PDF file from the developer’s website, printing out its products on ‘sturdy’ paper, and then cutting/folding/sticking them together to make items for sale.”
Get it now or read our article

Famigo (iPhone – Free)
“The promise is of ’100’s of premium, educational, and entertaining children’s videos’ from series including The Cat in the Hat, Pocoyo, The Wiggles and Sid the Science Kid. While the app is free to download, you need a paid subscription from Famigo’s website to access the premium shows. That costs $7.99 a month in the US, which works out to around £5.21 here in the UK.”
Get it now or read our article

Chicken Little (iPhone/iPad – £0.69 / $0.99)
“Charles Peattie is the cartoonist who co-created the Alex cartoon strip, and made the marvellous Animals Alphabet and Mix n Match – Farm Animals apps. Now he’s tackling a famous story: Chicken Little. It’s in a new app from publisher Tapisodes, and uses ‘live drawing’ to let kids see the illustrations as they’re scribbled – a neat touch that’s made an appearance in his previous apps too.”
Get it now for iPhone or iPad or read our article

Geo-Me! (iPad – £0.69 / $0.99)
“Geo-Me! was developed with a clear aim in mind: to inspire curiosity in kids,and encourage them to learn about the world around them. Within the app, kids can touch any part of the globe to reveal characters who live there, and find out about their lives. If you allow the app to use your location, your kids can also see their own avatar on the map, and find out about the area they live in.”
Get it now or read our article

Sago Mini Bug Builder (iPhone/iPad – £0.69 / $0.99)
“The title is pretty self-explanatory: you’re making giraffes! Oh, alright, alright. Bugs… There are eight shapes to play with, and kids can make as many as they want. Sago Sago says the app is aimed at 2-4 year-olds, with the promise of no in-app purchases or ads for parents to worry about.”
Get it now or read our article

Mickey Mouse Clubhouse Paint & Play (iPhone/iPad – £2.99 / $3.99)
“There are colours, patterns, stickers and the ability to use the iPhone or iPad’s camera to create new textures – an idea used cleverly before in Toca Boca’s Toca Tailor app. But the twist comes when the coloured-in 2D characters go 3D with the wave of a virtual wand.”
Get it now for iPhone or for iPad or read our article

The Book of Holes (iPad – £2.99 / $3.99)
“The Book of Holes is based on the picture book of the same name. Aiming to entertain and educate, the book looks at what a hole is, what different holes are for, and where we will find them… It has a fun and irreverent tone throughout, and a lot of the focus is on holes in the body, including eyes, ears, mouth and… anus – you have been warned!”
Get it now or read our article

Those are our choices, but what about you? Let us know what apps your kids have been loving in the last month by posting a comment.

And if you’re keen to see the best of other months, try our roundups for June, May, April and March.