Encourage kids to color, with Auryn’s latest Don Freeman story app The Chalk Box Story.
December 14, 2012 § Leave a Comment
The Chalk Box Story by Don Freeman is being recognised as the app that encourages creativity in kids.
Read the reviews for The Chalk Box Story
“The Chalk Box story is the perfect app to get kids yearning to draw and use their imaginations to create something colorful” – Teachers With Apps in their app review.
“In addition to learning about colours, children will also be entranced by the part which they play in creating the book as the story emerges.” – Gill Robins for The Chalk Box Story in the app review.
“The drawings on each page is simply breathtakingly beautiful and cute!” - I’m a Full-time Mummy in the app review for The Chalk Box Story.
Auryn’s Newest iPad App: The Emperor’s Race
April 18, 2012 § Leave a Comment
Brings Together a Brilliant Story of Teamwork and Cooperation Giving the Reader a Thoughtful and Engaging Message
Auryn, Inc., the premiere and most award-winning digital publisher focused on interactive children’s stories for the iPad and other tablet devices, announced today the availability of The Emperor’s Race.
The Emperor’s Race is a part of the Auracle line from Auryn Inc. and is based on Kate Dargaw’s book by the same name, illustrated by Igor Oleynikov. It is a digital story in which thirteen animals have come to the river for the Emperor’s race. The first twelve to reach the other side of the river will be the signs of the new calendar. The animals try their best to come across the river; some choose to work on their own while others choose to cooperate. Who will be the first one? Who will be left out and why?
Children and adults of all ages will enjoy this new iPad app with a bit of history and a wonderful message of teamwork, now available on the iTunes app store for $3.99 at http://bit.ly/temrac on iPad and http://bit.ly/iphter on iPhone
Key features of the story include:
Personalization of picture, voice and text. Kids can become their own narrator or listen to their parents narrate the book. Interactivity allows kids to personalize the sentence, create new action words and sharpen their vocabulary skills.
Image and word association vocabulary builder – when an image is touched the associated word is spoken and the written word displayed. Karaoke effect – when a word is spoken during narration then the word is highlighted and touch the word to hear it being spoken.
The Emperor’s Race is offered three ways for kids and families to enjoy:
- “Read to me” – Listen to the narrated story while the text is displayed Karaoke style. After the narration finishes on a page the child can interact with objects till they are ready to move to the next page.
- “Read myself” – There is no narration but the child can touch a word to hear it being spoken aloud.
- “Auto Play” – same as “Read to Me” except the page advances automatically once the narration is finished. Useful for those long car rides when you want the child to have a complete book experience.
Quote:
Umesh Shukla, CCO of Auryn:
“The Emperor’s Race combines a thoughtful message of teamwork and cooperation to a majestic history lesson about the Chinese New Year all while keeping children entertained and amused with the animals and story as it is being told. We love seeing author’s like Kate Dargaw succeed in delivering such wonderful messages in an engaging manner, and we feel children and parents will feel the same way when they experience the story.”
Auryn’s apps are based on their patented technology and two technology platforms – Auryn and Auracle. Auryn’s previous titles are also available in the iTunes app store.
About Auryn, Inc.
Founded by Academy award-winning visual effects experts from Hollywood’s top movie studios, Auryn Inc. is the most award-winning digital publisher of storybook and creative apps for the iPad, iPhone, Android and other tablet devices. Uniting leading technologists and creative artists, Auryn’s patented technology enables the company to produce ground-breaking interactive content for the new emerging tablet medium. Recognized by the Producers Guild of America and Variety magazine as the Digital 25 top innovator in Emerging Media and winner of more app awards than any other digital publisher, Auryn is paving the way in digital publishing and fast-becoming the leader in children’s storybook apps. For more on Auryn, visit www.auryn.com and follow on Facebook, Twitter and Pinterest at: www.facebook.com/appsbyauryn, www.twitter.com/AurynApps and http://pinterest.com/appsbyauryn/.
Auryn celebrates National Reading Month
February 29, 2012 § 3 Comments
Media Alert: Auryn, Inc. Supports National Reading Month by Offering a Different Free iPad Storybook App to Children around the World Every Day During the Month of March
Los Angeles, Calif. − February 29, 2012 – Auryn, Inc., the most award-winning digital publisher and creator of unprecedented children storybook apps for iPad and tablet devices, announced today that several of the notable and award-winning apps from the company’s popular collection will be offered free, throughout the month of March.
In recognition of National Reading Month, Auryn is giving away one free storybook app each day of the month to promote reading among children on digital devices. Among the titles available for free download during March will include:
- Van Gogh and the Sunflowers (USA Today Top 5 amazing kids book app and current Appy Award finalist) http://bit.ly/tJcR0D
- Teddy’s Day http://bit.ly/fL36eY (Winner of multiple awards including the first ever Appy Award)
- The Little Mermaid http://bit.ly/fmFHcj (Parent’s Choice Award winner)
- Bunny Fun: Head, Shoulders, Knees and Toes http://bit.ly/esZwBP (Parent’s Choice Award winner)
- Teddy’s Night http://bit.ly/fHmVc3 (Parent’s Choice Award winner)
March is recognized throughout the U.S. as National Reading Month; designated as such by the National Education Association. The organization will celebrate its 15th Annual Read Across America Day this year, a nationwide program that helps children discover the joy of reading and is expected to draw more than 45 million participants on Friday, March 2.
“Supporting National Reading Month with free storybook apps to inspire kids to read in a decade of all things video is a natural extension of our overall mission to encourage reading in the new age of technology,” said Umesh Shukla, Founder and CEO of Auryn. “We are thrilled to bring a renewed enthusiasm for reading to our youth by bringing illustrations to life through animation and interactivity.”
Recently published on DigitalBookWorld.com, an exploratory survey by the Joan Ganz Cooney Center at Sesame Workshop revealed that most of the children in the study preferred reading an e-book to a print book and the comprehension between the two formats was the same.
About Auryn, Inc.
Founded by Academy award-winning visual effects experts from Hollywood’s top movie studios, Auryn Inc. is the most award-winning digital publisher of storybook and creative apps for the iPad, iPhone, Android and other tablet devices. Uniting leading technologists and creative artists, Auryn’s patented technology enables the company to produce ground-breaking interactive content for the new emerging tablet medium. Recognized by the Producers Guild of America and Variety magazine as the Digital 25 top innovator in Emerging Media and winner of more app awards than any other digital publisher, Auryn is paving the way in digital publishing and fast-becoming the leader in children’s storybook apps. For more on Auryn, visit www.auryn.com and follow on Facebook, Twitter and Pinterest at: www.facebook.com/appsbyauryn and www.twitter.com/AurynApps and http://pinterest.com/appsbyauryn/
Miko Goes on Vacation
February 29, 2012 § Leave a Comment
Miko Goes on Vacation available on iPad and iPhone
A story strip made specifically for Pinterest. Do you like it? If you do, don’t forget to pin it!
Inspiring kids to read by Lisa Dunn Dern
February 14, 2012 § Leave a Comment
When my daughter was in elementary school, I volunteered at the school book fair. About two minutes into my shift, an irate father marched up and demanded to know why we were selling the book “Captain Underpants“? He said his son purchased it the day before and would not put the potty humor book down. This father felt the story featuring the underwear sporting hero, was teaching students bathroom humor and to disrespect their principal. When I told him the principal in the book actually hated children and our principal didn’t, he was not amused. As I looked around the gym I saw a cluster of 4th grade boys in an impromptu book club hysterically laughing and the pages. I thought, how could this be a bad thing. Kids finding a topic that thrills them, having a pleasant experience with a book in their hand oppose to feeling like reading was a job. Kids reading a book written for kids! Would Scholastic Book Club approve something that would damage young minds? No they would not!
Was it the fact the hero wore tidy whitties with his cape? I bet many men make life changing decision’s or even acts of heroism in their under ware. What I know for sure is any way you can inspire a child to love books is worth it. Some kids fall in love with books because they see their parents’ passion for reading, others by the guidance of an intuitive school librarian, some because they see the movie first. Who cares why they love to read, as long as they read, because nothing matches the feeling you have as a parent when you see your child curled up reading for pure enjoyment.
5 tips to inspire kids to read
- Model for your children that reading is enjoyable and is something you do often and with gusto.
- Read aloud to your children every day.
- Label everything in your child’s room on a flashcards like bed, bookcase, closet. This makes the connection that learning to read simple words leads to learning to read books.
- Show children how useful reading is in their everyday life. For example, when children discover that reading is necessary to understanding directions for putting a toy together, playing games, or following a recipe, they will be more excited about it.
- Figure out what they are interested in a find books that support it
About the author: Children’s Lifestyle Expert and Author Lisa Dunn-Dern is a multi-faceted talent whose skill and expertise shines over many different areas of arts and education. Her second children’s book, “Dr. Duncan Dog On Duty!” published in 2007, features a family and their therapy dog that visits children in the hospital every week. This book received accolades from Yolanda King, daughter of Dr. Martin Luther King and Coretta Scott King.
That Thing Called Inspiration by Sue Shanahan
February 7, 2012 § Leave a Comment
