Frankly, we knew we were in for some fun when we saw the title of developer Fox and Sheep‘s new app: Hat Monkey.

Yes, its hero is a monkey in a hat, created by picture-book author Chris Haughton as an entirely new character, making his debut in an app rather than a book.

He’s a great character too: all eyes, long body and dangly limbs. And a hat too, obviously.

The main part of the app is its Scenes section, with a choice of nine scenes in which children can interact with Hat Monkey. They start by opening the door for him, then playing hide’n’seek – tapping him as he peeks out from behind the furniture – then sending him a text by choosing one of four icons, to see his reaction.

Other scenes include tapping on his outstretched hands for a high five; helping him pop dance moves including The Robot and The Jellyfish; talking to him on the phone using the microphone; playing the saxophone; feeding him bananas; and turning the pages of his storybook.

Plenty of fun there for young children, especially with the dancing scene, which encourages them to copy Hat Monkey’s moves in the real world.

We’d like to see more of him, hopefully in future apps and/or books – a parent’s section helps you find Haughton’s previous books on Amazon, incidentally.

Hat Monkey costs £1.99 for iPhone and iPad from Apple’s App Store.