Atlanta, Georgia – New Storybook App Strives for Share of Mind, with a Big Heart, Donating Sale Proceeds to The VH1 Save the Music Foundation
When parents and teachers think of apps for kids, games and digital toys rather than book apps tend to be top of mind. Stories you can touch are still a whole new world and the way in which digital books are organized doesn’t help their cause. Wasabi Productions are intent on not letting this get in the way of people downloading Gorilla Band, their fifth and most interactive storybook app yet – publicly available on Thursday 15th August.
In iTunes, ‘Books’ sits next to ‘Apps’ in the primary navigation, and book apps are a sub-category within in the ‘Apps’ menu – suffice it to say there’s a lot of confusion about what a book app is, how it differs from a eBook or iBook, and where to find one.
It remains to be seen whether the new ‘kids’ category in iOS7 will improve the status quo, making categorization by age rather than content type a new way for discovery.
Gorilla Band represents a new breed of interactive book that is built in Unity3D and takes place in a completely three-dimensional jungle-world. It’s an exemplar of where digital publishing for children is heading, into immersive and sensory reading experiences that unfold through interaction and are steeped in age-appropriate educational benefits (many of which are Common Core Standards aligned).
Wasabi is proud to support American not-for-profit VH1 Save the Music Foundation around this app release with ten percent of proceeds from app sales going to benefit the charity’s work in restoring instrumental music education programs in America’s public schools, and raising awareness about the importance of music as part of each child’s complete education .
“We are grateful to Wasabi Productions for their generous support of our cause,” said Paul Cothran, Vice President and Executive Director of the VH1 Save The Music Foundation. “It is exciting to see how technology can further complement education and help students develop their appreciation for music.”
“We’re doing everything we can to get Gorilla Band into the hands of children who will enjoy the story and benefit from its lessons, and are confident the app will speak for itself once downloaded,” said Amy Friedlander, VP Marketing & Strategy for Wasabi Productions.
Gorilla Band is publicly available from Thursday 15 August as a universal app for iPad, iPhone and iPod touch for $3.99 (Educational institutions discount applies through iTunes). Launching soon on Google Play and Kindle stores. Special launch pricing of $0.99 applies.
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Wasabi Productions believes children can deepen their love of stories and language through more intimate engagement with characters and imaginary worlds afforded by interactive digital technology. They’re an independent publisher of original, high-quality storybook apps designed for pre-schoolers and touch screen devices. The company was born in Australia, and one of the first publishers of interactive children’s books for the iPad. Wasabi focuses on reimagining storybooks for the digital age, and entertaining young kids with tales of memorable characters where their interaction is central. The books contain moral and social outtakes, and together with text highlighting and educational elements, contribute positively to early readers’ development. Wasabi apps have received critical acclaim and the developer is one of the founding members of the Moms With Apps ‘Know What’s Inside’ initiative to protect children’s privacy in apps. All Material and Software (C) Copyright 2013 Wasabi Productions. All Rights Reserved. Apple, the Apple logo, iPhone, iPod and iPad are registered trademarks of Apple Inc. in the U.S. and/or other countries.
