I’ve been waiting weeks for Millie and Bombassa Dizzy DIY to be approved on the iTunes iBook Store and today it has gone live. And then, after just a few days, the second Millie and Bombassa book, Air Scare, has gone live to. My cup runneth over and I feel joy abounding!! Click the pictures to go to the iBooks store.
Bombassa is a lazy but loveable rhino. Millie is a sensible but sweet bird. Together they make a great pair!
These stories have consistently been at the top of my Library borrowing statistics as they are read again and again. I know they are much loved. I love Bombassa – He’s kind of my grumpy, don’t want to get out of bed side of me, while Millie is the side of me that sees me still working at quarter to 11 on a Friday night!
You Can see me reading the Dizzy DIY here.
Each story contains a drawing video and a quiz, and Dizzy DIY has a video showing you how to make an origami box.
If you like these books, please leave a comment on iTunes. It really does help.
I’ve finally had to really, truly and honestly admit to myself that the publishing model that we know and love is broken and there ain’t no way to fix it other than to switch off the internet. The Kindle and iPad have arrived like Caxton’s press before and we can’t go back.
Is this a terrible thing? It is if you love paper bound books and wan’t that old world to continue – do you still listen to shellac 78 records?
The “BOOK” has been seen as a holy object for so long because it was the best information storage system we had. The book’s new role will be that of souvenir, gift item or collector’s edition.
The threshold to publishing has been brought so low, there is no way an author can survive by giving away 90% or more of potential earnings to publishers – more if they employ an agent too. Publishing is something anyone can do now and many are leaping in, muddying the market and reducing quality to the very lowest common denominator. But some new media published works will rise the the surface and make a healthy profit while the rest turn into digital compost. Fear not – there will be millions trying – “There is a book in all of us” – the quote goes. Soon they will be available.
So what to do? Stop thinking about books. That’s where the vanity lies. People want to see a book – their book with their name on it – as a physical object on their bookshelf and in a bookshop window. The screen is the new delivery vehicle. Words, pictures, video, whatever are the medium. Anything is possible and those that break free of the shackles of print will probably be the winners. The book and the printed word have no God given right to be the delivery vehicle of future thought.
I’m throwing off the shackles of an old system and embracing the new – today – now – this moment :)
“Let your child read along as words come alive on the screen!” The advertising shrieks . Translated from marketing speak it means, “Leave your child’s education in our hands. You go and enjoy yourself while we keep them quiet for a minute or two.”
But will your child learn to read? Of course not. I think we have forgotten just how much hard work goes into learning to read. So much of learning to read is dictated by the culture around the child. If the parents aren’t reading, why should a child bother? If the parents leave children alone with ebooks to entertain them, do you really think the children are going to bother following along with the text?
No, of course not. Books with follow along audio are entertainment. There is nothing wrong with that, but don’t expect your child to learn to read with them. Children love listening to stories but they don’t have the self-discipline to follow along and learn to read for themselves. It’s so easy to imagine children as being small versions of ourselves. They should be able to apply themselves to learning new skills just as we adults do.
But learning itself is a skill that needs to be taught. If you think that you can just give a child an e-book, with a famous actor’s voice reading the story, and then come back 20 years later and expect your child to be doing well in University, think again.
To children, there is no difference between real books and e-books. They have no loyalty to the old regime of paper and ink. But what they really respond to is the closeness of sharing, being together, the passing on of difficult skills and constant encouragement. You can snuggle up together with an ebook reader just as well as a book. If you can’t, that’s your problem. You an old fuddy-duddy and you need to move on,
Where e-book’s may well be at an advantage is with reluctant readers, for whom most of my books are aimed. “Reluctant reader” is a euphemism for boys. More precisely dyslexic boys and those with attention issues! If there is one thing that grabs their attention, it’s gadgets.
Some boys will embrace e-book’s and get reading without any problem at all, whilst turning down paper books because they are not cool and come with cultural baggage attached.
I thought long and hard about whether I should put an audio track in with the Ginger Ninja iBook. So many parents have told me that the Ginger Ninja was the book that got their child reading. I decided it would be wrong to turn a book into an entertainment and deprive a new generation the chance of having this be the first book they read all on their own.
I’ve added a quiz, a video of myself talking about where I got my inspiration and another video showing how to draw Ginger. I will continue adding extra features to the rest of the series to give added value to the iBooks.
It’s crossed my mind to film a YouTube video of a “Jackanory” style reading of the Ginger Ninja and see what happens. I’d like to know what people think about this idea.
In the meantime you can get the Ginger Ninja at the iBook store for your iPad at the following addresses.
UK Store US Store Australian Store Canadadian Store Irish Store
Let me know if it’s your child’s first book they read, and :-)
