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.

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.

What it is like to start a new book - A letter from Roxie Munro

Last week I asked children's book author and illustrator, Roxie Munro, to tell me what it is like for her to start a new project. I know from personal experience that facing a blank page can be rather off-putting, to say the least. If the first sentence for a picture book is in my head already then I am alright, but if there is nothing there, then I stumble around trying to find a way to get that blank page to become less blank. I suddenly find a million and one little jobs that need to be done, and I start tidying things that really don't need tidying!

This is what Roxie had to say about her 'getting started' process:

Dear Through the Looking Glass:

I’ve been asked to write about how it feels to start a new project, in my case, a new nonfiction picture book about bugs, kind of a follow-up to “Hatch!” (out from Marshall Cavendish in Feb 2011). The new book is due in April 2011, and will be out spring 2012.

Well, as Hemingway once said, when asked how to write a novel, “First you clean the refrigerator.” In other words, even the most disciplined writer procrastinates. Maybe that’s why one is given deadlines and financial incentives.

But in my case, I kind of do first clean …that is, my studio. I really do a thorough job, because as my project - be it a series of oil paintings for a show or a book - progresses, my studio gets messier and messier, with uncleaned brushes and dirty palettes, stacks of notes and books and drawings, boxes from supplies shipped, etc.

I have already spent a couple of months this summer working on the proposal, sketches and dummy, so have done quite a bit of research, and bought books or checked them out (renewed several times) from the NYPL Science Library. But until I get the okay, and then the contract, it isn’t officially a project. So, got and signed contract, and spent a week wrapping up a couple other small jobs. Gave myself a starting date.  On that day, I actually did start - cleaning the studio that is.

Sports, or even military, metaphors occur to me - I’m “in the trenches”; “getting to first base”; even, “shifting into first gear.” Because it is a slow warming up. You feel guilty that you’re not plowing ahead full steam. But, knowing oneself, that accelerates toward the end of the book. And not necessarily because of deadline pressure, but because of momentum - you’re then in 3rd and 4th gear, warmed up, in the “flow.” I start dreaming about the subjects in the book - colors, images, patterns - about the dinosaurs, the birds, the bugs.

For me, images come first, the writing second.  So, although I do make notes about the text all along, only after the sketches are okayed, and the art well on its way, do I write, shape and refine the text.

The hardest part is now, beginning - creating the approach, solving visual problems, research.  I do rough, and then increasingly detailed, sketches. Each page may have 3 or four stages. Midway through I show them to the editor and art director, and make whatever changes we decide upon. Usually there are few, because I spend a lot of time on the final detailed pencil sketches.  The EASIEST (and most fun) part is actually executing the paintings in ink and colored inks. Although I often have to go through another round of more detailed research to find out everything about the subject (angle of hind toe on a particular bird, exactly where color may shift in the tail feathers), the major conceptual and artistic decisions have been made in the earlier sketches.  There’s still plenty of unknown left though - each painting must “sing” - be elegant, beautiful, informative, fun, and one hopes, a little surprising.

Then, I get serious about writing. Research mostly done, everything gets rewritten/edited by me, and my writer husband Bo, many times before I send the first draft to my editor.  She does her thing - queries, grammar, more explanation, info we can cut - and then I get it back. We usually go back and forth at least half a dozen times. Then the copy editor gets it and that too takes several passes between me, the editor and the copyeditor. Same with design - the art director sends a preliminary concept, which I weigh in on, and that continues for a month or two.  BTW, the cover comes last, although sometimes they need it halfway through for the catalog.

Then, as with most nonfiction, we send art and text to an expert, well known in the field, to vet it. I rarely have to make changes, but do them now, with the editor’s input.

So - all of this is ahead of you, when you sit down on designated day one, to start a book. No wonder we sometimes find many other things to do - answering e-mail, checking Facebook, paying bills, dash to the gym, writing this piece - before we actually sit down and attack it!

Thank you so much Roxie. It is always a pleasure to have you as a guest on Through the Looking Glass. To find out more about Roxie and her splendiferous books take a look at her website. 

A Book Announcement from Roxie Munro

I just got an email from Roxie Munro, a wonderful artist, writer, and a lovely lady. This is what she told me. 

Dear Marya:

I'm thrilled to announce that "EcoMazes: 12 Earth Adventures" has received a Starred review in School Library Journal (June  2010), which says  "... This is truly a complete package: it’s engrossing and interactive, featuring finely and accurately detailed art and covering the basics of an organizational concept that is central to our understanding of the natural world."

What wonderful news! Getting a Starred review in SLJ is a big accomplishment in the book world. Here is my review of Ecomazes.

EcoMazes: 12 Earth Adventures

Roxie Munro

Picture Book

Ages 8 to 10

Sterling, 2010, 978-1-4027-6393-9

    All over our wonderful planet, there are ecosystems. They can be large, like a tropical rainforest, or very small, like the mini pond the lies at the bottom of your yard inside a forgotten bucket. All of these ecosystems are full of creatures of all kinds, fascinating creatures that interact in all kinds of ways. This unique book looks at twelve ecosystems that are found on Earth. For each ecosystem, Roxie Munro has created a beautiful maze that readers have to negotiate. As they ‘travel’ through each ecosystem, they are encouraged to find animals that are hidden in the illustrations.

    The book begins with a tropical rainforest. Readers are told that they are “a biologist checking on the monkeys” and that they have to find their way from the pier to the beach. As they trek through the forest, readers are invited to find an interesting selection of animals that are found in rainforests around the world.

   In addition to the rainforest, Roxie Munro has created maze pictures of a desert, a coral reef, a high mountain, the arctic, a wetland, the tundra, a grassland, the Antarctic, the savanna, a conifer forest, and a temperate forest. At the back of the book, there are pages that show readers where all the hidden animals are in the mazes. In addition, the author has also provide young naturalists with more information about each of the ecosystems that are featured in the book.

    With extraordinary pictures and a wonderfully informative and interesting text, this is a book that should be on every library and classroom shelf.

Congratulations Roxie!