First Look: Interactive Bartleby picture book

My son and I really dug the recent release of the iPad-ized Alice in Wonderland. After reviewing that application, I've been approached by any number of developers working on interactive e-Book titles. For the most part, these have been a disappointment -- providing the iPad equivalent of a "read along" book (the kind with a cassette or CD, and tones to turn the page) rather than showcasing any innovation.

I was really pleased, therefore, to stumble across this Bartleby preview. Under development by Monster Costume and Octopus Kite, and expected to release in July, Bartleby adds child-centric interactive elements to its eBook offerings, targeted at a 4-6 year demographic. As you can see in this preview video, buttons, sliders, and little puzzles expand an otherwise flat story-telling experience.
With Alice, I really loved the length and involvement of the book. It took us a good two evenings to read through it with lots of son-Mom interaction regarding unfamiliar words. I'm concerned that Bartleby may suffer from its brevity; but then again its audience is younger, presumably with less patience.

Will this go beyond the 11-page novelty books that are on eternal discount at Tuesday Morning and other similar remainder stores? It's hard to tell from just a couple of pages but if this app is priced aggressively and expanded into a proper series, it seems to promise a lively entry into the arena. I look forward to introducing the app to my youngest child when it debuts.

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Source: http://monstercostu.me/

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My son and I really dug the recent release of the iPad-ized Alice in Wonderland. After reviewing that application, I've been approached...

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Dick Applebaum

Oh...

I am a 70-year-old kid & my grandkids are 10, 11, 14-- too old for these, except:

I (they) loved Alice!

I love the preview of Bartleby's Book of Buttons/

I love the preview of Thumbelina.

Now, this reminds me of my long ago and far away youth...

There were these little things called "Little Golden Books", Aesop's Fables and such.

More recently things like "Leap Pad".

Consider what you could do with "The little Engine That Could", or "RumpleBumpkin*", "A Flash* In Sheep's Clothing"... or Shel Silverstein's stuff.

* inside joke

Seriously, beautiful, "interactive discovery" books, properly done, and priced...

How about a $5 monthly subscription or in-app purchase of the next book in the series.

This could be the iPad Killer App and revive the Book Publishing Industry...

...and the children will lead the way.

June 12 2010 at 11:05 PM Report abuse Permalink rate up rate down Reply

Omer

I agree that we're seeing a high level of standardization in book-apps.

You would probably feel differently about 'Thumbelina for the iPad', due to be released later this month. you can get a feel of it here: http://touchoo.com/books/Thumbelina, though it's developed quite a bit since we made that demo. BTW, the demo is already the #1 result in YouTube for iPad kid's books.

It is a truly interactive storybook, where the reader takes an active part in helping Thumbelina reach her happy end, in a highly immersive and playful way, not to mention fun and educational.

One thing we don't see enough of in book-apps is multi-language support.
We believe in bringing the experience closer to the kids, and so we've translated the English original into 7 other languages. We'd love our friends in Latin Amirica, Japan, France, Germany and other nationalities and cultures to be able to have this great Story Time experience with their kids in their own language!

Would love to hear your opinion on this.

If you want to be the first to know when Thumbelina launches - register to our New Book Alerts: http://touchoo.com/become-a-friend