Monday, August 24, 2009


children's picture book on a mobile telephone.
By Richard Savill writing in The Telegraph, 23 Aug 2009

Winged Chariot Press has published The Surprise by Sylvia van Ommen, which tells the story of a sheep which makes a gift for a friend, on the iPhone.
Parents can download The Surprise for 59p direct to their iPhones, and children can follow the illustrations on the touch-sensitive screens.

Neal Hoskins, of Winged Chariot Press, said: "At home many parents already share their laptops and phones as digital entertainment devices with their children.
Now, they can use and enjoy them together.
"The Surprise is the first of many creations on this platform, giving you fantastic and wonderfully drawn images, as well as fun animation and storytelling."
The publisher said the backlit screens meant children would also be able to read stories at bedtime.
Martin Salisbury, a children's literature expert and illustrator Martin Salisbury, said: "Overcoming my innate fear of the screen and lifelong attachment to the turning of the printed page, I was pleasantly surprised by the ease and elegance with which it was translated into this digital form.
"Without excessive gimmicks or gratuitous 'because we can' use of the technology, the simple finger dragging operation allows the narrative to be experienced at the user's pace."
Rebecca Green, project manager for the National Literacy Trust, said: "New technologies, such as this picture book App for mobile phones, offer interesting and unusual mediums for busy parents to share books together with their children.
"Sharing books together is a vital way to foster a love of reading in your child from an early age; and this, in turn, is one of the best ways to ensure their future success when they arrive at primary school and beyond.
I am all for this kind of innovative use of technology."

No comments: