Posted on: 07/05/2013
Many of our blog posts have been confessional in the last year. Admitting to liking grammar was controversial enough (only in context mind you!) but then we spoke about how we used spelling as an opportunity to play with words. In this blog, we are admitting that we quite like storybook apps. That’s right, books which are not printed on actual pages, but which are available on an iPad, or any other tablet device. Like many adults we can talk nostalgically about books and the magic of discovering characters in stories that opened worlds for us that we could only dream of. We would sniff books and thumb pages in bookshops. Being read to as a child, whether in school, or by a parent, was sometimes the only opportunity we had to hear a story that day. Books were expensive and therefore libraries were essential. These grown-places felt as if they contained all the knowledge and magic in the world and even if you didn’t class yourself as a ‘reader’ you couldn’t deny being in awe of the power that a library seemed to hold by being in possession of all the knowledge and stories in the world.
But the power of books has not changed. The draw of a good story can still sooth and excite, making us yearn to reread some stories and take characters into our homes as friends. Yet, as time moves on it is becoming obvious that children have more than books to choose from for entertainment and if not given the opportunity to give time to a book, instant gratification can be sought and won from video games, endless TV channels and gaming devices.
So as a resource to support the engagement of new readers, we welcome a good storybook app. Of course we recognise that these would not exist without the book themselves, and in fact in our view, many of the best apps are adaptations of previously published and beautifully illustrated books, e.g., Oliver Jeffers The Heart and the Bottle or a modernised version of a well-known tale, e.g. Alice by Atomic Antelope. Not only do these provide an experience that blur the lines between animation and illustration; they also provide an interactive narrative that guides children though a story, hooking them into the plot by needing a ‘helping hand’ and so this is where the magic begins. By giving children the opportunity to direct the action either by perhaps helping a character to decide what to do next, or to design the scenery, the reader is being given ownership as a storyteller who is allowed to innovate within the safe parameters of a known plot. We have used iPads within our own training for teachers and used them with demo Guided Reading sessions and it is exciting to see how many times one page can be re read by one child when they are trying to discover all the different plot possibilities. This is part of being literate; having the ability to deconstruct the bare bones of a story to see how the different components work together.
Of course storybook apps don’t do everything and in many cases you may be better with the actual book. Some are less interactive than others and there are some that lack the visual detail needed to hook a reader. However, they are getting better all the time and developers such as Nosy Crow continue to produce high quality material (the latest being the stunning Red Riding Hood).
In the same way that adults are changing the way they find and read the news, we need to be open to the different platforms children can use to access stories so we can support them to make choices about the best way to access text. These are the readers of the future after all.
The Heart and the Bottle Developed by Harper Collins
Numberlys Developed by Moonbot
Alice Developed by Atomic Antelope
Little Red Riding Hood, The Three Little Pigs and Cinderella Developed by Nosy Crow
Sneaky Sam Developed by Sneaky Sam Productions
Don’t Let The Pigeon Run This App! Developed by Disney Enterprises Inc
The Fantastic Flying Books of Mr. Morris Lessmore Developed by Moonbot
Goodnight Moon Developed by Loud Crow
Fat Shadow by Scarpetta & Lauria Production
