While "app surfing", I found a great FREE iPad app called "Race of the Zodiac" from StoryChimes. It tells the story of the reason the Jade Emperor called for a race, and how the animals were chosen for the Chinese Zodiac and how their order was determined. The only thing that was slightly different in this story, (from most other versions that I've read) is that it talks about the cat slipping off the Ox's back into the water, rather than being pushed by the rat. So it explains how the cat comes in last (and misses his chance to be in the zodiac), but not why the cat and rat have been mortal enemies ever since. The story is only read in English though there is an option to read to yourself (so the voice can be turned off). There is also a memory game that you can play at the end. To project the iPad onto the whiteboard, you only need the "dongle" cable that connects from the iPad to the projector. It was remarkably simple. However, the controls still had to be run from the iPad--it was static projection rather than an interactive whiteboard.
Since this was such a great way to tell a story that i decided to search for other stories that could be told via an iPad application. I found a great iPad app that tells the story of the "Nian Monster." I found an app that tells the story (in Chinese) and has some really nice features. For example, touch people in the pictures to hear what they say; touch things in the pictures, like tree and house and hear the Chinese words for those items. Touch the firecrackers and you hear the appropriate sound effect for popping firecrackers! The story told is also a good version of the story. I paid $3.99 for the story app, which is more than I would usually pay for an app, but for teaching, this one is worth it--the artwork is well done, and the story is told well (easy to translate on the fly). In the App store, it's called "The Tale of Nian" and is from Hongen Education and Technology Co., Ltd.
My favorite story app on the iPad (and was one of the reasons I really wanted to buy the iPad--so I could purchase this app for $2.99) is called "The Three Pandas Animated Storybook" by See Here Studios, LLC. This story gives a new twist on the traditional tale of "Goldilocks and the Tree Bears." Instead of three bears, there is a panda family and instead of Goldilocks, there is a little girl named MeiMei. You have several options on how you would like to have this story presented--you can have it read to you in English or Chinese, (there are also subtitles in English or Chinese) or you can read it yourself, and even record your own voice, though I haven't tried this feature. You can also have it autoplay (without stopping), though I don't recommend it because it doesn't leave you much time to explore each scene of the book. When you tickle the pandas, they move and make sounds. When you touch Meimei, you can see what she does! There is also a page with additional information about pandas and a link to Pandas International. The quality of the images is outstanding and the book is simply delightful. I highly recommend this storybook app as one of the best I've seen!
I'm not always a fan of using "gee whiz" technology for the sake of technology, but in these cases, the technology and presentation definitely do add richness and dimension to the stories being told. If you have a chance to use the technology, I hope you'll be able to try them out too!