Roxie Munro's New Children's app - Roxie's Doors

A very dear friend of mine, children's book author and illustrator Roxie Munro has a new app for the iPad on the market. I asked her to tell us about the new app and to describe what it was like to make. Here is a sixty second trailer about the app

And this is what Roxie has to say about the new app:

Our previous app, “Roxie’s a-MAZE-ing Vacation Adventure,” was a new maze game created from all new original art, which was based upon my 5 published maze books (BTW, an iPhone version will be out by early November). “Roxie’s Doors,” however, was made from a previously published children’s book by Chronicle, the rights of which reverted to me a couple years ago.  When I formally requested the rights back, I had also asked for the scans. Always do that if you can, because it makes it much easier and less expensive to resell, reprint, or reuse the art.  OCG Studios carefully reviewed the book and came up with a creative game plan. It involved making it 3-D, which is quite labor-intensive, but adds greatly to the experience (tilt the iPad to fully appreciate it). So I had to do some more art, primarily working on the backgrounds, which I did directly on the original art, rather than redrawing everything (it did mess up the illustrations somewhat, but keep in mind that this was lift-the-flap paper-engineered book in the first place, so the art was in complicated separate pieces anyway). Here’s a link on how the 3-D part was done by the developers: http://www.ocgstudios.com/roxies-doors/making-of-roxies-doors/

They found all sorts of cool sounds to add - dog barking, phones, sirens, singing, crunching, flushing, tapping hammers, etc. In the refrigerator, for example, the four desserts in parfait glasses (upper left) each have a different note, like a piano - when you touch them, you can play a tune! There are three choices for voice-over: silent (you can read the text yourself); you can have a guy (Dirk) read it; or be read to by the author (me). OCG Studios is in the Netherlands, and we did all the work via e-mail. The VO recordings, however, were done here in the US not far from my studio, and the files sent over. Updates are important (and free to purchasers) so we are now working on a major addition to “Roxie’s Doors,” which will be out within a month or so.

We’ve had great reviews, from SLJ, Kirkus, PW, Moms With Apps, Digital Storytime, Common Sense Media (which gave it the max 5 stars and a valued “Hidden Gem” award), and many more. With children’s apps you must go beyond the usual children’s book review venues, and reach out to web reviewers, many of whom interact directly with moms and dads. The institutional market (schools and libraries) isn’t as important to the app market as printed books are. Web reviews are also available all over the world.  This app is written/spoken in English, which limits the world-wide audience somewhat. It has sold in 40 countries (the maze app, which is wordless, has sold in 63 countries). We are currently making an app from another out-of-print Chronicle book, to be called “Roxie’s Circus,” which we expect to have out early 2012.

Pat the Bunny is now available as an app for the iPad, iPhone, and iPod Touch

RANDOM HOUSE CHILDREN’S BOOKS RELEASES INTERACTIVE CHILDREN’S APP BASED ON CLASSIC BESTSELLER PAT THE BUNNY

 

One of the Most Beloved Children’s Books of All Time, Now Available as an App in the iTunes® Store

Random House Children’s Books (www.randomhouse.com/kids), announced today that the Pat the bunny (www.rhkidsapps.com/patthebunny) interactive app is now available in the iTunes® store. Developed in collaboration with leading digital media agency Smashing Ideas, the universal app for iPad, iPhone, and iPod touch is based on Dorothy Kunhardt’s touch-and-feel children’s book classic. When Pat the bunny was originally published in 1940, it was groundbreaking in its use of touch-and-feel elements (such as daddy’s scratchy face) and interactive features (“Now YOU play peek-a-boo with Paul.”) The app extends the legacy of Pat the bunny to the digital world, promoting children’s mastery of their world through simple, interactive play.

Designed for the youngest user, children can easily bring bunny to life and interact in new ways. They can pop bubbles with bunny, help bunny catch butterflies, tuck bunny into bed, and more. On devices with front-facing cameras, including the new iPad 2, children will be delighted by a “look in the mirror” feature that allows them to see their reflection. With 14 stunningly animated scenes in all, there are plenty of surprises to see and discover. There are three different ways to read through the app: users can watch illuminated text while hearing the words read aloud, turn off the narration and read at their own pace, or record their own voice to be played back.

The pat the bunny app promotes the development of fine motor skills with a paint mode that magically transforms each page into a colorable activity. This paint feature is made for the youngest users as children can simply swipe a black-and-white scene to make the colors appear. Children will delight in dragging their fingers across an image of bunny’s birthday party and watching the picture come to life in vibrant colors. Sparkles jump across the page as little fingers brush yellow and pink onto the flowers in bunny’s garden.

With a click of the “Buy App” arrow in the iTunes® App Store, the pat the bunny app makes the perfect gift for new parents. The app retails for $4.99, but will be available at the special introductory price of $2.99. It can be purchased once and used on iPad, iPhone, and iPod touch.

Pat the bunny by Dorothy Kunhardt has sold more than 9 million copies since its original publication in 1940. It was first created as a gift from Dorothy Kunhardt to her daughter, Edith. Since then, Edith Kunhardt has expanded the pat the bunny series to include many successful titles including Pat the Cat and Pat the Christmas Bunny. With the release of the app, the iconic characters and stories of pat the bunny are sure to entertain children for generations to come.

Also available from Random House Children’s Books is How Rocket Learned to Read for iPad created in partnership with Domani Studios, and Wild About Books for iPad, developed in partnership with Smashing Ideas.

Random House Children’s Books is the world’s largest English-language children’s trade book publisher. Creating books for toddlers through young adult readers, in all formats from board books to activity books to picture books, novels, ebooks, and apps, the imprints of Random House Children’s Books bring together award-winning authors and illustrators, world-famous franchise characters, and multimillion-copy series. The company’s website, Kids @ Random (www.randomhouse.com/kids) offers an array of activities, games, and resources for children, teens, parents, and educators. Random House Children’s Books is a division of Random House, Inc., whose parent company is Bertelsmann AG, a leading international media company.

Smashing Ideas, founded in 1996, has become one of the leading digital media agencies for the youth market by creating immersive, interactive content that transforms consumer-driven brand experiences in a digital world. Cartoon Network, Disney, GE, Hasbro, Nickelodeon, Nokia, Sony Ericsson, Verizon Wireless, and more have called upon the company to develop engaging, online, ITV, and mobile experiences for their audiences. Smashing Ideas is based in Seattle, with offices in Portland and in the U.K.

Blog Event: Day three - A letter describing how Roxie Munro helped to create Roxie's A-maze-ing Vacation Adventure

Today is the third day of the Blog Event that I am hosting that is about the creation of an iPad app called Roxie's A-maze-ing Vacation Adventure. So far I have posted a review of the app and a letter from the app's developer. Today I have a letter from Roxie Munro, the illustrator whose artwork inspired the whole idea for the app.

Dear TTLG Readers:

From the artist’s point-of-view, creating “Roxie’s a-MAZE-ing Vacation Adventure” was exactly that – an adventure, with all the challenges, problems, and thrills involved in a real life adventure.

When I got Omar Curiere’s email in mid October, 2010, I remembered him. Five or so years earlier I’d received a “fan” email from him. I remember noting the Netherlands location and responding (I forgot I sent a B&W maze to print out). I was very excited, because for the last few years people had been telling me what a great interactive game my maze books would make. I had even sent a couple emails to gamers, with no result. I now realize that making an interactive random maze game is not the same as an animated enhanced e-book. It is much harder to develop, and requires a lot of technical expertise and time-consuming computer work. 

I immediately answered back that it would be a cool thing to do (although I was under deadline to write and illustrate a picture book about bugs), and as Omar says, we emailed back and forth, and very soon decided to do original work, rather than adapting or licensing one of my five maze books. He sent some diagrams with choices of ways we could go…linear, or up and down, or randomly moving through 16 screens – the most complex and hardest, and, naturally, the way we both decided to go.

After roughs and sketches, and a short trip I took to the Netherlands, we settled on a plan, a huge “world” - I would create the maze, which they would make a game of, animate, enliven, and add music to.

The first challenge I had was to find a sheet of paper big enough to create the whole art piece on …we didn’t want to have to “marry” or match up 16 screens on top/bottom and both sides. I usually use Strathmore Bristol board…I called the paper company and they were less than helpful and unable to supply a large board. Eventually I found a 44”x60” sheet by Coventry that was acceptable. It had more of a “tooth” (rough surface), and was a little more absorbent than my familiar paper, but would work.

I refined the sketches, scanning and emailing to the Netherlands for comments/changes.  When we had all the changes incorporated, I began the inking.  Each screen was sketched in pencil. I transferred them with pencil on to the giant paper one by one, using a small 8”x10” portable light table underneath each screen area. Then began inking. The paper was so huge I couldn’t reach the top half bending over my main drawing table, so I taped it to a big strong piece of cardboard, and did the top half climbing up on the table, covering finished areas with tissue, lying down on the table, and supporting my arm with a pillow. At first I though I’d have to do it on the cement floor of my studio, which Omar said didn’t sound ergonomically healthy. He was right – even lying on the high table and drawing was a strain. I wound up with back pains from the tension of doing hours and hours of detail (am perfectly fine now).                 

You can see a 12-part illustrated “blog” on OCG Studios website, showing my studio work, their studio work, testing etc, as well as a trailer for the app: http://www.ocgstudios.com/roxies-a-maze-ing-vacation-adventure/portfolio-1/

When all the inking was done, I had it scanned by an industrial scanner and emailed the black and white files to the Netherlands, where they started doing the layers. Or levels. Or whatever magical stuff they do to create the interactivity. The team bought extra computers and worked days and into the night – very intense, complex, time-consuming work.

Next for me was the fun part – painting. Which went well and took about 6 weeks (at one point after returning from my mid-Nov visit to the Netherlands, I went to the studio 24 days in a row …Monday through Sunday). I’d lay awake at night, thinking about the next day’s work on the app – totally obsessed by the process.

Omar and I have a great relaxed creative working relationship…at first I think he was hesitant to ask for changes - maybe I wouldn’t agree, or thought there were too many spots to illustrate, etc, but we were always in sync about what needed to be done to fulfill our vision of this app. We also had the same sense of “impatience,” energy, and optimism.

                          

In late January, I took the huge painting and almost 350 spot illustrations to a fine art scanner in Manhattan, where they spent a couple days making the files, which were sent to Europe. Then Omar and his creative team really got to work …(they needed about 40-50 more small spots; I did hi-rez scans of those in my studio and transferred the files to them).

I didn’t have my iPad yet, so Omar did videos of their progress every few days and emailed to me.  They hired a marketing person. Omar did extensive testing. At the end of March, they submitted it to the App Store, and now, as of two weeks after launch, it has already sold in 51 countries – it works in all languages; you don’t have to “read.” I managed to get an iPad2, and now, every time I play I find something different – besides the maze and the finding/counting games, at the touch of a finger a helicopter rises, flowers bloom in fields, soccer balls rise up out of stadiums, penguins appear in a different place on the screens each time you play…. it’s new to me all over again.

Thank you so much Roxie. I can't wait to see what you will come up with next! 

Blog Event: Day two - A letter describing how Roxie's A-maze-ing Vacation Adventure was created

For day two of my blog event, I have a letter from Omar Curiere, the man who helped develop and create Roxie's A-Maze-ing Vacation Adventure, an interactive iPad app. I had no idea how an app is created so I asked Omar to tell me (and you) about the process.

Dear TTLG readers:

My name is Omar Curiëre, born in Amsterdam in1968. I have two children - Julian is 10 and Robin is 5; both were born in July, so they are almost 11 and 6. I started my own company 14 years ago called OC Graphics specializing in 3D visualization, mainly architectural and technical visualizations.  We make still images, animation and interactive websites. http://www.ocgraphics.com

When my son was 3 or 4 we bought him his first Roxie Munro book called “Mazeways,” and then another, and another, and another. He loves to read… well, he couldn't read back then but he loves to look and search and discover. Over the years something strange happened. Most of his books, after 3 or 4 times he read them, stayed in the bookcase, but some books, and especially Roxie's books, were being read over and over. When he was older, he was drawing mazes of his own. My daughter found the Roxie books when she was around three and together with her older brother was reading them again and again, searching letters and following the maze.

Since my original company is an interactive presentation company, the iPad had a huge impact on how we could give presentations, read our email, and above all, make fun. Then the idea started to appear that we can make really fun apps, especially for children - we had the technical programming knowledge, we had the creativity. But what to do, what to make, what to develop?

One night in October 2011, my daughter was on the floor reading - all our Roxie books were scattered around, with my son Julian next to them, drawing his own maze. This is it, I thought. We must make something like that - I am pretty creative but not a great artist. I have to contact Roxie.

Six or 7 years ago I had emailed Roxie with a request for a BW version of one of her mazes for my son to color. She sent a very nice email with a B&W image attached. But now, 7 years later, I was going to ask her to work with us or ask her if we could make one of her books into an app. I was kind of nervous sending the email, expecting a sort of laugh on the other end:  “Why is this small company in the Netherlands bothering a world famous artist about an iPad app.” But Roxie was extremely kind and extremely interested, and, more important, none of her publishers was working on an app. The main reason, I guess, that she wanted to work with us was a simple one - we wanted to make the best product possible, no quick book-to-app conversion … the most beautiful drawings in a very nice app that would be fun for children all over the world.

The first ideas were about how to transform an existing book into an app, but this caused all sorts of problems, business-wise and technical. If you take a normal digital image and you cut something out this image, it leaves a hole. We wanted to animate a lot of things in Roxie's drawings; this means filling up a lot of holes digitally. It is like restoring a painting, a tedious time-consuming job, which hardly makes it better. So the decision was made to start from scratch. We had tons of ideas, dozens of emails going back and forth. Roxie made 16 B&W screens, very basic, no detail - when put together it created one immense maze. It was going to be a Vacation Adventure.

In November Roxie came to our office in Holland. We had 3 or 4 days ahead of brainstorming. We had to discuss every piece of the maze - the search items, all the things to animate, and most important, we had to get to know each other because we never met. We talked once over the phone and emailed a couple of hundred times.

At that point we decided we had to start a new company - a company that had more of a creative sound to it. OCG Studios was born.

Roxie creating the big drawing

When Roxie left she had a busy time ahead; she was going to make a huge drawing (5 feet by 3.5 feet). This drawing when finished was going to be cut digitally in 16 pieces. Each piece a page on the iPad. On each page letters and numbers are hidden and a lot of other things are random. Roxie made the huge drawing and almost 400 spots to animate. Every item that was going to move has to be drawn separately. The strange thing for an artist like Roxie it that she has to make a very detailed drawing but leave a lot of stuff blank, so actually not finishing the drawing. Because we fill all the blank spots digitally.

First Roxie made the B&W outline drawing, so at that point, around the middle of December, we really could start developing. We already started a month before but that was purely testing things out. We started with the B&W drawings and build the almost complete functional maze version.

The middle of January Roxie finished the painting - almost 3 months work. Now we could replace the B&W maze in our app with a beautiful colored version. We also received all the different spot drawings for us to animate and hide in the drawing.

The next 3 months was full time programming - our team did a remarkable job. During the day we developed, animated, looked for the right sounds, worked on the music. In the evening we tested with our children or their friends. What a great feedback these kids give… they tell what they think and tell you how you could improve. Every day the same, developing and testing. Our children quickly started to know the maze blindly and were asking each day, “So what is new and what is changed? Why did you change it? That isn't any good… or that is great.” And the strange thing is after three months, my 5 year old daughter still loves to play it every day. I knew at that point that we had a remarkable product. Every couple of days we would send Roxie a video with the progress for her to comment.

The music is an important part of our app; there are several screens or world in our app that could use a different ambiance in music. We wanted one main tune but with variations in style, instruments and speed. We have a skiing area that has different music; then the Theme park area and the raft area has a more speedy sound.

The middle of March was an important date, I had arranged for a full day of testing in the elementary school of my children. Seven classes, more than 150 children, 15 ipads. We had 6 people from the studio - 4 in the class and 2 programmers on standby. Luckily, we found some small things we could fix right away during the day. We got a lot of great feedback from the children. We noticed so much difference between the 5-year-olds and the 12-year-olds… how they played the game, and there is even a big difference between boys and girls. Most girls sit down with the app and take their time searching for all the hidden things, while the boys love to drive the car through the maze. The biggest confirmation we got that day is that each and every child loved to play “Roxie's a-MAZE-ing Vacation Adventure.”            

The next week we spend fine-tuning the app and adding or changing the recommendations the children gave us. We worked late every day. Then at the end of March we were finished and ready to submit to the App Store. After a 7-day wait we got the green light from Apple. It is in the App Store.

Now our marketing starts a very exciting time ahead.

We have 16 screens, hundreds of animated spots, hundreds of sounds, 8 different music styles, 85 items to search for, and 6 months of work. It all started with a little girl and boy reading a book on the floor.

Thank you for this letter Omar. It was wonderful to read the story of how this app came to be. I hope to have the opportunity to review more apps produced by OCG Studios in the future.

Blog Event: Day one - A review of Roxie's A-maze-ing Vacation Adventure, an iPad app

Every so often a friend of mine who works in the children's book industry tells me about something interesting he or she is doing, and I get to write about it. For the next three days I am going host a blog event that is about an iPad app that my friend Roxie Munro helped to create. Roxie is well know for her deliciously detailed picture books, several of which have mazes and seek-and find elements in them. On April 1st, an iPad app called Roxie's a-maze-ing vacation adventure was launched. It brings some of Roxie's illustrations to life, and it provides people of all ages with a very intriguing interactive experience.

I am going to begin this three day event by giving you a review of the app, which both my daughter and I had a blast playing with. When you open up the app, the first thing you need to do is to choose a little car, which is what you will use most of the time to get around the interconnected scenes (there are many of these) in the app. Then you are presented with the first scene, which is a gorgeous layout showing a town from above. There is a zoo, houses, a river, streets and so much more. In this scene you have to collect parts of a star, and you also have to find a bunch of balloons, an ice cream truck, the number one, and a penguin. You collect the parts of the star by driving to them, or walking to them (you have to park your car first).The rest of the things you have to search for in the artwork. Once you find them, you tap them with your finger and the app registers that you have complete the task.  You need to collect star pieces and find items in each of the scenes that you encounter in the adventure. In later screens you will collect star pieces by, among other things, flying a plane, rafting on a river, skiing, and flying in a hot air balloon.

The pieces of the star are pretty easy to find, but they are not always easy to get to. There are one way roads and roundabouts to negotiate, and it is not always easy to find parking places, just like in real life.Sometimes you have drive into the screen above, below, to the left or to the right to find the right road that will allow you to come back and get the piece of the star.

Once you have completed all the tasks for one screen, you simply drive into another. The next one I went to had a residential area and a sports stadium. Above the sports stadium was a blimp that had my name written on it. When I tapped the stadium, a soccer ball came flying up towards me. I soon found that you could make all kinds of things happen by tapping on them. In a rural scene that I discovered, flowers bloom when you tap the fields.



Each scene is very different, and players will enjoy exploring the coast scene, the amusement park, the city, the wild river, the snowy ski mountain, and more. You can purchase the app through iTunes, and I guarantee that you will enjoy it.

Tomorrow Omar Curiere who works at OCG Studios - the company the created the app - will be telling me a little about what it was like to create this app, and on Wednesday I will have something for you from Roxie Munro.