Allright, it’s almost happening. We are soon launching Thumbelina.
Thumbelina is of course a classic story that everybody knows and when I first read it as a consideration for the Touchoo collection I thought to myself: “Was it always this scary?” She gets abducted by all kinds of big animals and almost trapped into marrying a scary mole. That’s when we knew we wanted to take the general idea of the classic story and make it into something new, something that our kids could read without having nightmares. So that is what we did and I am so proud of the result.
Thumbelina is also our first StoryBook App to be released with translations into Spanish, French, German, Italian, Hebrew, Chinese, Dutch and Japanese. I am excited to see how it is received outside of the US.
What makes the launch of Thumbelina even more special is that this is our first StoryBook App to be released on the iPad.
I really like the iPad: I love the design, the contrasts and colors are amazing, the user interface is very intuitive, the videos, the cool apps, games, the battery life that’s very decent… Should I go on? It seems like it really does have the potential to change our habits, and I can’t wait to see how this new technology is accepted by the world.
Of course it could never replace the real thing; could anything beat the smell of an actual book? The feel of it? Not for me! However, reading on the iPad can certainly add to the experience in many ways, and create a rich, exciting experience through a skillful application of interactivity.
Another amazing aspect is the friendliness to kids and to the environment: when walking past the school close to where I live the other day, I saw all those tiny little kids with their huge backpacks filled with books and I thought to myself “Go iPad!”
Let me know what you think of reading on the iPad versus reading a real book. I am very curious what your opinion is on the matter.
Remember, always feel free to spread the word about us and our upcoming release of Thumbelina, by directing your friends, colleagues, family, acquaintances and random relevant strangers to Touchoo, or share with them info about us through Facebook or Twitter.
Toddlers are at a stage where they are learning their language communication skills and experimenting with word meanings using visual and auditory senses. Reading to children while they are still in the 0-4 age range is critical in their overall development. Today there are many tools for toddlers to use such as interactive books or even computer programs with interactive stories.
Sitting down and having a toddler watch a parent as he/she reads to them is a classic approach. Bringing a story to life using hand gestures, voice, and facial expressions to spark the imagination, encourages creativity in children. This does not mean one has to completely dismiss the use of the interactive books available today. In fact, these tools with interactive stories can actually be helpful in giving the child a complete visual sense of the characters in them.
Toddlers have a very short attention span, and it takes great skill to keep them rooted to one spot for very long. For those new parents who think they have failed each time “junior’ disappears from view during storytelling, don’t fret about it. It’s a natural trait in children of this age group, which is why interactive books and interactive stories can be great in terms of keeping their attention for at least 30 minutes at a time before they move on to explore other attractive endeavors.
The bits and pieces of time that can be spent in exposing toddlers to language and reading material greatly improve the social and educational skills of the child. 1 By using interactive books or tools with interactive stories, the toddler improves his/her vocabulary and develops language comprehension long before he/she can even read a single word or sentence.
Reading words while pointing them out to the toddlers helps them to connect the sounds to words. Some interactive books actually have voice recordings that accompany them so that they can move step by step through the book along with the sounds they hear. Interactive stories can vary from voice taped whole stories, to simply pop-up pictures with large words along the bottom to help them with the visual connections.
The visual connection between sounds and words incorporates the identification of letters of the alphabet as well as number recognition. There are many interactive books that contain a complete set of interactive stories, building blocks with letters and numbers, or even push-button type devices that can keep many a toddler busy for long periods of time. Parents who wish to use these tools should take time to sit with the children and “play” with these devices to familiarize the toddler with association of words and numbers.
Another way to read to toddlers is to use the simpler interactive books that are packaged with little games. These games provide for more than 30 minutes of fun for both adult and toddler alike and can actually be an alternative to the more expensive computer programs that contain interactive stories.
The bonding time between parent and child is also an important aspect when a parent takes time to read to his/her child. 2 Toddlers are greedy for attention and need constant supervision. Reading to toddlers using interactive stories, no matter how short, is the most unforgettable experience because it was Dad or Mom who shared the moment. The story itself is long forgotten by the time they move on to the next toy, but the experience stays with them. As they progress, they will develop the habit of picking out interactive books on their own to bring forward to their parents to read to them.
Toddlers also like to have adventure in their lives, and when a parent reads from interactive books where the characters are interesting, they can actually pretend to be one of these characters. They can dress a toddler up like a pirate from one of the interactive stories they read together, and find hidden treasures in the kitchen cookie jar. This makes the whole experience all the more unforgettable, and the child’s creative nature is enhanced as well.
In an age where internet chat has become synonymous to the concept of “interactive” it is easy to overlook the simplicity of reading to toddlers the old fashioned way. With the availability of interactive books and tools that provide hundreds of interactive stories and games in one complete box, bonding time with the little ones can be forgotten. There is no replacement for the moments spent reading and learning with one’s child. The experience is more valuable than all the expensive gadgets money can buy.
Hi guys!
We’ve decided to honor and promote children’s books of all times, and so, we thought of starting a little quiz, a competition if you will…
Can you remember your favorite childhood books by heart? Really? Well, let’s put your amazing kids’ literature knowledge to the test, shall we?
Three times a month we will be posting “The Question of the Week” here on our blog, on our Facebook page and on Twitter. The question will involve one of the classics and hopefully, spark a lot of good childhood memories. If you get the answer right, you’ll have a chance to win a cool prize – just for the fun of it: a promo code for our wonderful interactive StoryBook App “1 Little Boy”.
Wait, there’s more! Once a month, one lucky person will win a $20 iTunes giftcard by completing a Crazy Kid’s Book Competition Task!
We’re kicking off both The Question of the Week and the Crazy Kid’s Book Competition Task around the same book. The question is:
How does Max conquer The Wild Things?
And now – the Task: act out the way Max conquers The Wild Things on video! Simply submit a video as a comment to this blog post. It’s very easy.
At the end of the month the video with the most “likes” will be announced the Crazy Winner! That great video will win the glorious $20 iTunes giftcard!
We are so excited to see what you guys will come up with!
Such a proud moment! Our new demo for our latest StoryBook App is running on YouTube.
Thumbelina will be released soon with a very special introduction price. So stay closely tuned or just click here to become a friend of Touchoo and you will be one of the first to know when Thumbelina appears on the App Store.
So, what do you think of it? I am excited to hear your response!
Building a company from the ground up is exciting, fun and hard work. But I have to say that now that we have launched our website and 1 Little Boy is on the App Store – slowly but surely spreading its magic ,it is double the fun!
The work becomes much more tangible when you’re getting feedback from the audience it was intended for in the first place, so please – keep it coming, as it helps us improve and keeps us going.
We’ve also been getting some great feedback from the reviewers: one of the reviews that really made me blush with excitement was the one we got from GiggleApps! It feels great to be appreciated. Another review that made my heart go ticky tick is one we just received today from USAToday. In their review they named us as one of the best storybook apps! You can read it here.
On another note, did you hear about the big Children’s book fair in Bologna? It’s the most important international event dedicated to the children’s publishing and multimedia industry. It starts on Tuesday the 23rd and I would love to hear from anyone who is going how it was.
In this sweet interactive picture-book for the young ones, your child will join Benny the Cat in his daily activities, explore Benny’s world and find out how to take care of him.
Benny is a ginger cat with a fluffy tail and pointy ears. Your little one can play with him, choose his favorite food and make his bed so he can sleep as snug as a bug. Your child will love the colorful illustration but the feeling of communicating with Benny will take their enjoyment to a whole new level.
Features include:
Hand-drawn, high definition illustrations
Various narration options including the most fun: record yourself
Control over sound effects
Dynamic page turning
Age-appropriate interactivity
Personal and social abilities nurtured by this book:
Improving vocabulary
Recognition of body parts
Strengthening the perception of self
Nurturing love for animals and encouraging taking care of another being
Help the kind-hearted flower child reach her ‘happily ever after’ through a series of adventures.
Thumbelina is a modern Touch-screen adaptation to the Andersen classic.
This book-app is available in English, Spanish, Japanese, French and German!
A very fresh fairy tale, based on the captivating and all-time favorite H.C. Andersen classic! Young readers can now take an active part in helping Thumbelina reach her ‘happily ever after’.
Join Thumbelina, a girl the size of a child’s finger, as she steals the hearts of everyone she meets. She experiences an incredible series of adventures and meets a white butterfly, a hospitable mouse, a romantic mole and a gentle swallow. Your child will be an active part of the story, helping Thumbelina diplomatically handle of some sticky situations and make her way to her Happy End!
Originally written by Hans Christian Andersen, this classic fairy tale was especially adapted for touchscreens by Touchoo’s co-founder Keren Essigman and approved by Touchoo’s child development expert as fitting to the intended age group.
We at Touchoo believe that children’s books can bring the world together. To facilitate this, Thumbelina has been carefully translated into Spanish, French, Japanese and German. Each version offers a beautiful, rhyming text and a fully-localized user interface.
Features include:
Various narration options including the most fun: record yourself
Control over sound effects
Dynamic page turning
Original text and illustration
Age-appropriate interactivity
The amazing illustrations for Thumbelina were created by Hagit Hashimshoni. Hagit is a renowned illustrator and designer, who lives and creates in Tel Aviv. She specializes in commercial illustration for advertising, animation and internet. Hagit runs a studio, together with her diligent assistant Pye (a ginger tomcat with a great taste in design).
Social benefits of Thumbelina:
Nurtures the capacity for empathy and for reference to the other
Develops the ability to tell oneself from the other
Encourages the child to identify his own desires, as opposed to the desires of the other
Personality benefits of this book-app:
Increasing the capacity for difficulties and failures
Teaching your child reciting and counting numbers has never been more fun!
Come and join 1 Little Boy on his exciting imaginary journey and experience the numbers in a playful way.
Age: 2-4
1 Little Boy is a picture storybook about a child’s fantasy before his bed time. Animal characters you know and love from children stories and rhymes come to life and join the little adventurer on his imaginary trip. As the story unfolds, your child will actively explore the numbers one to ten and learn to recite and count them.
1 Little Boy was created especially for touchscreens. It’s written by Touchoo’s co-founder Keren Ben Or and illustrated by the incredible Ido Hirshberg, who is an Israeli illustrator and comics artist ( You can see what he does on his flickr). All Touchoo books go through careful inspection by a child development expert, so you will receive the best and most suitable product for your child.
Features include:
Various narration options including the most fun: record yourself
Real animal sound
Control over sound effects
Dynamic page turning
Original text and illustration
Interactivity
Psychological research has shown that the best way for our children to learn how to recite and count numbers is through active and playful methods.
At this age group, children develop the ability to process a series of stimuli, as well as an understanding of quantity and the idea of numbers.
Abilities nurtured by this book:
Becoming familiar with the names of the numbers;
Being able to count (unlike reciting, counting carries an immediate link to the recited objects)
Being able to process a series of input while maintaining concentration
Overcoming diversions, such as a variety of shapes and of possibilities, challenging and improving the child’s abilities to discern. The variety in this story is adequately challenging while not too distracting, as all the characters belong to the same category (all being animals).
