Each storybook package includes both a digital and print component––the digital being a highly illustrated App for iOS devices to coincide with each theme, and the print component being a playwright for children/students to interact and play with (Munro, 2014). The design and aesthetic in itself is simple, original, and easy to use; however, more importantly, is the initiative K.I.W.I has created either with intention or unbeknownst to their product, in how the combination of both digital and analogue in this way exhibits how developing media literacies are the future of publishing. Vicki Cobb (2014) from Publishing Perspectives labels the storybooks ‘the versatile hybrid of art, sound, technology, and language’ of which ‘is the portal to a children’s own imaginative play and learning.’ The K.I.W.I. Storybooks iOS App correlating with each theme feature scavenger hunts, interactive sounds, language learning, jigsaw puzzles, and even the ability to record a short film. These are initiated through barcodes on the storyboards themselves, of which are then scanned electronically through the App (Munro, 2014). The playwright on the other hand, features a 4-person skit and 2-act play for 17 characters. Munro (2014) explains this as the ‘explore & learn’ component––transforming illustrations into content and content into education. These interactive worlds have the potential to reshape curriculum in schools, story hour in children’s bookshops, and even the children’s corner in libraries. Nonetheless, these life-size storybooks furthermore encourage media education as it is the culture enveloping the younger generations (Buckingham, 2007). Publishing of this sort can be interpreted as ‘Transmedia storytelling’, meaning an integration of many different platforms to create a experience around the narrative (Jenkins, et al., 2007). This could therefore be, the beginnings of a framework redefining literacy as ‘not based on alphabetical text, but on a mixture of texts, images, and sounds’ (Kress, 2003; 2010). With new technologies taking further precedence over the publishing industry each year, the goal amongst publishers it seems, is to find this perfect coalescence between digital and print––using augmented reality and media experiences to enhance, yet not dominate a narrative work. The creative team at K.I.W.I. Storybooks is proving this ability to develop and better the amalgamation of the two, whilst maintaining the same relationship between the narrative and the reader. Bibliography 1. Buckingham, D. (2007). Selling childhood? Children and consumer culture. Journal of Children and Media, [online] 1(1), pp.15--24. Available at: http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/17482790601005017 [Accessed 18 Oct. 2014]. 2. Cobb, V. (2014). Entering a Children's Picture Book, Literally and Digitally - Publishing Perspectives. [online] Publishing Perspectives. Available at: http://publishingperspectives.com/2014/09/entering-a-childrens-picture-book-literally-and-digitally/ [Accessed 17 Oct. 2014]. 3. Jenkins, H., Purushotma, R., Weigel, M., et al. (2006), Confronting the Challenges of Participatory Culture: Media Education for the 21st Century, Cambridge, MA: MIT Press, The John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation Reports on Digital Media and Learning. 4. Kiwistorybooks.com, (2014). Walk in Storybooks sized for Kids - gigantic storybooks illustrated by Roxie Munro | Kiwi Storybooks. [online] Available at: http://www.kiwistorybooks.com/index.html [Accessed 17 Oct. 2014]. 5. Kress, G. (2003). Literacy in the new media age. London: Routledge. 6. Kress, G. (2010). Multimodality. London: Routledge. 7. Micheli, M. (2013). New media literacies in after-school settings: Three curricula from the program 'Explore Locally, Excel Digitally' at Robert F. Kennedy Community Schools in Los Angeles. Journal of Media Practice, [online] 14(4), pp.331-350. Available at: http://search.ebscohost.com.oxfordbrookes.idm.oclc.org/login.aspx?direct=true&db=ufh&AN=92005085&site=ehost-live [Accessed 18 Oct. 2014]. 8. Munro, R. (2014). KidLit TV's Sneak Peak | Roxie Munro Interview with Rocco Staino. 9. Rosen, L. (2014). Augmented Reality and the Future of Publishing - Publishing Perspectives. [online] Publishing Perspectives. Available at: http://publishingperspectives.com/2014/08/augmented-reality-and-the-future-of-publishing/ [Accessed 17 Oct. 2014]. |