Parrots. We’re fans of parrots: colourful birds with distinctive cries that help your children learn to spell. Well, okay, not all parrots.

But Pip the Parrot from Oxford University Press‘ new app certainly does. He’s the star of Spell with Pip: An Oxford Spelling Game, which was released this week for iPad.

Aimed at 4-8 year-olds, it’s a jungle-themed spelling game based around Pip’s attempts to return to his home, with OUP putting its experience to work ensuring that the words are exactly the ones that children often have problems spelling. Thousands of ’em.

The game has 18 increasingly-difficult levels for children to work through, collecting letters scattered around the screen with the help of Pip. The words are then collected into an in-app dictionary just for your child.

We’re always conscious of not wanting to make our six year-old feel self-conscious about spelling words wrong, or putting pressure on him to get them right. Spelling exercises as a friendly game seems like a good idea, then.

Spell with Pip: An Oxford Spelling Game costs £2.99 for iPad on Apple’s App Store.