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.

The TTLG 2011 Picture Book Celebration: Book One hundred and one

Last year I reviewed a fantastic wordless book called The Chicken Thief., which was illustrated by Beatrice Rodriguez. Not surprisingly the book has been lauded by pundits in the children's book world, and it is much loved by countless children and their families. Today I have reviewed a new book featuring the fox and the hen that we met in The Chicken Thief, and I am delighted to say that it is a book that readers of all ages will enjoy.

Fox and Hen Together

Beatrice Rodriguez

Wordless Picture Book

For ages 4 and up

Enchanted Lion, 2011, 978-1-59270-109-4

   Crab, Fox, and Hen are living together very happily until one day when Fox discovers that the refrigerator is empty. Someone is going to have to get some food. Leaving Fox to tend her precious egg, Hen goes fishing, and Crab goes along to help. It isn’t long before Hen catches a very large fish indeed, but she does not get to enjoy her success for long because a huge bird swoops down and snatches up her catch, which is still attached to Hen’s fishing line.

   Hen may be a lot smaller than the enormous bird that stole her fish, but she is also very determined. Her family needs food and she is not going to let the big bird steal her fish. Grimly Hen hangs on to her fishing pole as she is dragged across the sea and then into the sky. Little does she know that her adventure is only just beginning.

   This is the second wordless book that Beatrice Rodriguez has created featuring Fox and Hen. Young readers will quickly fall in love with brave and stubborn Hen who never gives up. The ending to the story adds another twist to the tale, because when Hen gets home she discovers that something has happened to her egg in her absence.

   Readers of all ages are sure to love this clever, expressive, and thoroughly enjoyable story. 

The TTLG 2011 Picture Book Celebration - Book One hundred!

This is the one hundredth picture book review for the TTLG 2011 Picture Book Celebration! Just as I expected, this journey has been, for the most part, a very interesting and enjoyable one. I have reviewed some fabulous books and have met some wonderful authors and illustrators. Of course there are those times when writing a picture book review every single day can be a bit of a trial - on occasion. You could say that doing this projects has its ups and its downs, though the downs are of very little consequence.
   Todays picture book is full of ups and downs as fortunate and unfortunate situations fill the pages. The story offers readers a singular and often amusing reading experience.

Fortunately, unfortunately

Michael Foreman

Picture Book

For ages 5 to 8

Andersen Press USA, 2011, 978-0-7613-7460-2

   One day Milo’s mother asks him to go to Granny’s house to return her umbrella. It is a lovely day outside and Milo’s Granny always has cake to eat, so Milo is more than happy to return the umbrella. Unfortunately, it starts to rain, but since Milo has Granny’s umbrella with him, he does not get wet.

   Milo is so busy holding the umbrella over his head so that he doesn’t get wet, that he does not pay attention to where he is going, and he falls off a cliff. Luckily, the umbrella serves as an excellent parachute, but unluckily Milo lands in the open mouth of a whale and he is swallowed.

   Fortunately, Granny’s umbrella floats very well and Milo can use it as a boat. Unfortunately, Milo is not the only thing the whale has swallowed. There is a pirate ship full of pirates in there as well!

    In this clever picture book, Michael Foreman takes his readers on a singular adventure that is full of fortunate and unfortunate events. Though Milo does face some situations that are not altogether welcome, on the whole his adventure is a wonderfully positive experience. Children will love the ending, which leaves one wondering what might happen next.

The TTLG 2011 Picture Book Celebration: Book Ninety-Nine

Not long ago one of my dogs stopped eating his food and he moped around looking miserable. I took him to the vet, but we could not figure out what was wrong. He was listless, had a fever, and clearly felt poorly, but none of the tests gave us the information we needed. As I looked into Pinot's sad eyes, I wished he could tell me what he was feeling. If only he could communicate with me to tell me what his symptoms were.

Today's book is about a little boy who also wishes he could talk to his dog. I am sure young pet owners and their families will enjoy this title.

Talk, Oscar, Please!

Karen Kaufman Orloff

Illustrated by Tim Bowers

Picture Book

For ages 5 to 7

Sterling, 2011, 978-1-4027-6563-6

   Oscar is dog who can yip, howl, bark, growl, whimper, and wheeze. The one thing that he cannot do is talk. More than anything Oscar’s little boy wishes his pet could communicate using human speech. If Oscar could talk, he could go to school, coach the little boy’s soccer team, or go to a restaurant. If Oscar could talk the two of them could chat while they played together, and the little boy knows that Oscar, unlike his big brother, wouldn’t “tease.”

   Imagine all the things Oscar could do if he could really talk. Why, he could tell the vet what is wrong with him when he is ill, he could be in a quiz show, he could talk on the phone, and he could even sing the little boy dog lullabies at night.

   Most young pet owners have wished at some point that they could communicate with their cat, dog, hamster, or goldfish. This picture book explores one little boy’s dream, but it also shows that perhaps one doesn’t need one’s pet to talk to be able to understand what they are saying. After all, a close connection between the best of friends does not need really need the use of words. Does it?

   With a clever rhyming text and warm ‘feel good’ illustrations, this is a picture book story that is sure to resonate with young pet owners.

Poetry Friday - A review of Because I Could Not Stop My Bike And Other Poems

There are many people out there who are intimidated by poetry. "It is hard to understand" they say. "Why can't poets say what they mean," they cry. Today's poetry title is a treat because in it readers will find poems that are very easy to grasp. They are amusing and creative takes on a number of classic poems. I imagine that young readers who enjoy the poems in this book might be tempted to take a look at the original poems they are based on.

Because I Could Not Stop My Bike And Other Poems

Karen Jo Shapiro
Illustrator:  Matt Faulkner
Poetry Picture Book
For ages 7 to 10
Charlesbridge Publishing, 2005, 978-1580891059
Have you ever heard the poem "How do I love thee" by Elizabeth Barrett Browning? In this famous poem Browning writes: "How do I love thee? Let me count the ways / I love thee to the depth and breadth and height/ My soul can reach, when feeling out of sight/ For the ends of Being and ideal Grace." It is a beautiful poem of course, but do you really understand it, and does it say anything to you? If not then you might enjoy Karen Jo Shapiro's version in which she writes "How do I love ketchup? Let me count the ways... / I tried it first on burger and fries / that's all I did for many days."

   Using similar rhythms and meters to the ones used in the original poems, Shapiro has taken twenty-six classic poems and turned them into twenty-six kid-friendly poems that are funny, clever, and highly entertaining. She has taken passages from Shakespeare's plays, along with poems by such poets as Sir Walter Raleigh, Christopher Marlowe, William Blake, Robert Burns, Emily Dickinson and others. She turns "O My Luve's like a red, red rose/ That's newly sprung in June" into "Oh! My nose is like a red, red rose/ That's newly burnt in June."  It is hard to read this and not to laugh, for most of us have got a sunburned nose in summer at one time or another.

   Children will love these poems, and the funny illustrations that go with them. Adults who are fond of classic poetry will be hard pressed not to laugh at and appreciate these "apologies" which Karen Jo Shapiro has so skillfully created.

                                                                                                           

The TTLG 2011 Picture Book Celebration: Book Ninety-eight

It seems to me that there is a very little good news in the news these days. Everywhere you look, people are arguing or fighting, using words or weapons. To say the least, this is extremely depressing. Feeling that we could all do with a little boost in the peace and harmony department, I decided to review Peace Week for Miss Fox's Class. In this book at least, children find creative ways to avoid conflict and strife, and the tone of the book is a hopeful one. 

Peace Week in Miss Fox’s Class

Eileen Spinelli

Illustrated by Anne Kennedy

Picture Book

For ages 5 to 7

Albert Whitman, 2009, 978-0-8075-6379-3

   For days, the children in Miss Fox’s class have been squabbling and bickering. Finally, Miss Fox announces that they are going to have “Peace Week” in the class. For one whole week there will be “no more squabbling.” Miss Fox invites the children to decide what else they will do during Peace Week, and in response, they come up with some wonderful ideas. Miss Fox is hopeful that there will be a better atmosphere in her classroom for at least a little while.

   For the rest of the week the children face the usual challenges that come along. They experience big sisters yelling, mean children teasing, little children fighting, old turtles scolding, arguments about chores, and other trials. They could respond to each annoyance by getting angry, but instead they remember that it is Peace Week, and they try to find a peaceful solution to every problem that comes along. How long will they be able to keep this up?

   The world is so full of conflicts, big and small, many of which make people unhappy. In this picture book, Eileen Spinelli shows young readers that they can make their own little world a happier place by finding peaceful ways to resolve conflicts that they encounter. They don’t have to respond to meanness with more meanness. They actually have a choice to take a different path.

   With sensitivity and humor, Eileen Spinelli gives young readers a story that has an important message to convey. 

A letter from Nancy Elizabeth Wallace, author and illustrator

A few weeks ago I reviewed a board book called Planting Seeds by Nancy Elizabeth Wallace. The pictures in the book were created using cut paper and other materials, and I thought they were charming. Being a curious sort of person (always!) I decided to write to Nancy to ask her about how she got interested in creating children's books, how she creates her art, and what inspires her. This is what she wrote.

Dear Friends, I’ve never met,

Hello! So, how did I become children’s book author and illustrator?  I gave up my day job and found out, too late, the CW about writing children’s books is – Don’t give up your day job! My day job had been working, for many years, with hospitalized children.

So, I signed up for 2 adult education courses that fall.  One was a 3 session traditional scherrenschnitte (you have to say that carefully) and the other was a 10 week children’s book writing and illustration course, that turned out to be 3 writing sessions and 7 illustrating.  Everyone in the class had art backgrounds, except me! The artist teaching the scherrenschnitte class brought in origami paper and said, “have fun!”  I did.  And then I thought, OK!   I’ll cut paper illustrations for the other class.  The instructor said, “You’ve found your medium!”

I use origami paper for my collage illustrations. The colors are so beautiful and vibrant. I use art papers and recycled paper - envelopes, bits of wrapping paper and doll house wall paper, brown paper bags and cardboard coffee cup holders, onion bags and even … dryer lint!  I use a glue stick, tiny scherrenschnitte scissors and very pointy tweezers to pick up the tiny pieces, rub them on a glue stick and place them.  The hardest things to cut are eyeglasses and snowflakes!   I also use photography in some of my books - real shells and seeds and real works of art in the LOOK books, NASA photographs in the STAR book and real objects for the sets in Ready! SET! 100^th Day.

Where do I get my ideas?  I’m inspired by SNOW, walking on the beach and finding SHELLS, taking LEAF WALKS in all seasons,  going APPLES APPLES APPLES picking,  gazing up at the night time sky at the STARS  STARS  STARS.  Out in nature, looking …listening… touching… I am filled with WONDER and questions. I love doing research and learning and having those  WOW!  I didn’t know that, moments!

The idea for POND WALK came not from a pond WALK but from a pond KAYAK… One summer day, my husband Peter and I carried our kayaks to the beach at Grout Pond. There were two boys scooping up salamanders, so we did too. We looked and touched and took photographs of them, then let them go. I tracked down a croaking frog sitting in a forest of cattails along the shore and he posed for his photo.  Floating on the pond were ducks and geese, quacking and honking.  There were dragonflies and damselflies flitting in the air. The damselflies, with their bright turquoise bodies, landed on our arms and hats. During our circumnavigation, we paddled by water lily pads with lovely white blossoms. Four turtles sunned themselves on a partially submerged log. As we approached they plopped into the pond and I knew this would make a great Buddy book!

 My Mom’s life-long role modeling of caring for others and our environment inspired me to write The Kindness Quilt, The Valentine Express, Recycle Every Day! and Count Down to Clean Up!  I guess I have BIG hopes for my books - that children will make mindful choices to be kind to others and the environment;  and that they will spend time outdoors in Nature and be filled with WONDER!

Happy spring!

Sending my warmest and best,

Nancy Elizabeth Wallace

The TTLG 2011 Picture Book Celebration: Book Ninety-Seven

I grew up reading the Tintin books, The Adventures of Asterix the Gaul, and the Lucky Luke books, and I have never lost my affection for comics and graphic novels. For this reason, I am delighted to see how many splendid graphic novels are making their way into the world of children's literature. Today's book is a wonderful title that is presented by Peter H. Reynolds (of Ish fame) and his company Fablevision. 

Zebrafish

Sharon Emerson

Illustrated by Renee Kurilla

Graphic Novel

For ages

9 to 12

Simon and Schuster, 2010, 978-1-4169-9525-8

   Vita has a used guitar and the name for a band, Zebrafish, but if she is going to be a part of a real band, she is going to need more people. Eager to make her dream a reality, Vita holds auditions and Tanya, Walt, Jay, and Plinko turn up. The problem is that none of them really know how to play a musical instrument. Then Jay suggests that they create a virtual band and make a video. Walt can create the art, Plinko and Jay can animate it, Tanya can write the words to the songs, and Vita can play the songs to accompany the video.

   Somehow, as the months pass, the five teenagers make progress on their video and they also find out things about each other. Vita finds out that Tanya is battling leukemia, and she also learns that her own big brother, who is studying ways to fight cancer, needs an expensive machine to make faster progress with his experiments. Since Vita’s mother died of cancer, she feels a special connection to Tanya, and she decides that they should use the band and their songs to do something meaningful, something that will help young people like Tanya.

   In this unique graphic novel, the author and illustrator have created a story that explores the way in which one girl’s dream builds and evolves, and the way in which she and her friends end up doing something that is bigger than all of them. The story shows that anyone can do something to make the world a better place.

   With wonderfully colorful and expressive illustrations and a great story, this is a book that graphic novel fans will want to add to their collections.

   Readers who enjoy this book should visit the Zebrafish website where they can watch movies of the story, listen to Vita’s song, play a game, and more.

The TTLG 2011 Picture Book Celebration: Book Ninety-Six

For spring break, just a few weeks ago, my family and I went away for tens days and I had a blissful time not working and not doing dozens of chores every day. I slept and dozed, and I realized that I was completely exhausted. I also realized that I am a bit of a workaholic. I take on so many writing and editing projects that I find myself scrambling to get everything done. I spend my life trying to keep up. Today's picture book is about a woman who discovers that too much work and no play really is not a good thing, which is something I need to keep in mind too.

Hammer Soup

Ingrid and Dieter Schubert

Picture Book

Ages 4 to 7

Lemniscaat, 2003, 978-1932425024

   Kate is a highly organized, very tidy, and extremely efficient sort of person, but she isn’t in the slightest bit friendly. In fact, one could even go so far as to say that Kate is downright grumpy. She likes things done her way, and all things messy, untidy, and disorganized irritate her. The sad thing about Kate is that she misses out on some of the fun things in life. When a huge, scatterbrained, messy, but extremely charming and friendly giant moves in next door, Kate is not pleased. She wants nothing to do with him, his animals, and his fun-loving and rather lazy ways.

   So, all summer Kate works and works, and the giant plays, sleeps, and loafs. Then the winter starts to approach and in no time at all a ranging storm has blown away the giant’s flimsy hut.  Now Kate may be an unfriendly sort, but she isn’t cold-hearted, and she soon has the giant in her house, out of the cold and the wet. What follows is a most extraordinary encounter between two very different kinds of people. The giant suggests that he should make a bit of soup, but of course Kate doesn’t want to use any of “her food” to make it. The giant has to become very resourceful and sensitive to overcome their differences. Can these two very opposite people find a middle ground?

   With wonderfully busy, detailed illustrations that are the delight of small children, and with a touching and simple story, the creators of this book amuse and entertain us. They also give us pause to think about the nature of people, and how too much of anything is not always a good thing, be it hard work, or hard play.