Puppets: good. Giraffes: good. Tricky words for children: in need of some memorising help. Now there’s an app for all three!

It’s called Tricky Words with Geraldine the Giraffe, and was released this week for iPhone and iPad. It’s a spin-off from a site called Mr Thorne Does Phonics, and we love the idea.

What idea? 26 videos of different tricky words that your children may find challenging to recognise as they start reading, fronted by a giraffe puppet touting a “cheeky but loveable attitude to learning”.

Aimed at children as young as three, each “appisode” focuses on a different group of words, starting with is, it, in, if, I and the in episode one, and moving on from there. There are also sections for fruit, colour, number and capital letter names, as well as days and months.

We think Geraldine may have a TV career ahead of her, but for now the place for children to meet her is within the app. Tricky Words with Geraldine the Giraffe costs £1.99 for iPhone and iPad on Apple’s App Store.