Part 2: Behind the Scenes With 'Bobo'

This is the second part of dotMomming's interview with Juraj Hlavac, the man behind the ground-breaking app Bobo Explores Light. Look for more enriching, educational apps from him and his development studio GameCollage.



dotMomming: You've also produced two other app picture books - The Little Mermaid and The Three Little Pigs - along with some game apps. But currently in the App Store, there are dozens of Little Mermaids and Little Pigs. What about more original stories? Do you see GameCollage adapting existing stories or producing completely original stories?

Juraj Hlavac: I can see GameCollage going both ways. Both The Little Mermaid and The Three Little Pigs were stepping stones in understanding the technology and developing a framework as a basis for future apps. In that same vein, Bobo is a stepping stone to the next thing, whatever that may be.

My personal passion lies in education because I believe that so much more can be accomplished in that space. The problem, up until now, was that technology and education were always somehow incompatible. Either technology was too expensive or too cumbersome to be integrated effectively in the classroom setting. However, that's quickly changing. A teacher can invest into an iPad for only $300 and kids walk around with their parents' old iPhones in their pockets. The proliferation and the portability of these devices means that the classrooms are more ready now than they ever were to experience software that actually makes a difference in not only how kids learn, but how they approach learning.

So, to answer your question, I'm less concerned about whether the next set of stories will be adaptions of existing content or something entirely new, as long as they keep exciting and inspiring kids to read and to learn.

DM: Bobo was a great example of high-minded book creation for kids - packed with information about big science concepts like how light works, how the eye sees, and so much more, it was full of quality learning. But the way kids could interact with the information and mess around with the app tools was what made it remarkable. It represents some of the best of what digital learning can be. So there's a high mark. But on the other side, you're also making games like Pop Fizz Gold that offers "hours of relaxing fun." So what are you guys? High or low digital entertainment?

JH: Indeed, Bobo comes in a wake of other apps of smaller scope, such as the casual game Pop Fizz you mention. However, I see that as less of a conflict and more as evolution. I began GameCollage in the spirit of exploring new technology and understanding what apps are and what they can be. To borrow the analogy I mentioned earlier, they were all stepping stones to the next thing. As I progressed through this journey, I gained some valuable skills on how to write code for the iOS devices as well as inside knowledge on how to harness the power of the app store.

To that effect, all the other apps I've published earlier are not so much incongruent with the current goals of GameCollage as they are a nostalgic testament to the journey I took to get here. Plus they are still fun games that people enjoy, so I keep them current in the store.

DM: What's next?

JH: At this very moment we are finishing up a fairly substantial Bobo update that will make the app harness the new iPad retina display. After that, stay tuned for the next big thing. When the time comes, I'll announce it on Twitter (@GameCollage) as well as on the GameCollage website.  Consider yourself warned.

In all seriousness, this has been a great and extremely rewarding journey for me and I'm excited to keep evolving. With a bit of luck, the hope is to keep bringing more richness and value to the apps available to all kids world-wide that, in their small way, make a difference.

Grover Takes Home Cybils for Best Book App

The Cybils were announced today, and I am delighted to see The Monster at the End of this Book as the winner in the brand-new Best Book App category. Sesame Workshop and Callaway DigitalArts get it right with this effort, engaging young readers in the truest sense through highlighted text, hilarious narration, and a fun storyline. While often we see kids zone out with digital devices, Monster leaves no room for passive observing: Grover spends all his time trying to keep the reader from turning the page and getting to the end of the book. It is an app they'll go back to again and again.

Judging for the Cybils was an honor and a thrill because this new medium is still so wide open. And our expectations for what picture book apps can and should be are so varied. Looking at the finalists, you can see the range of styles: Hildegard Sings stays true to its picture book roots with traditional presentation of text and adorable interactivity. For young readers, it feels like a natural extension of a book, with a great deal of fun added in. Click on thought bubbles to see what characters have in mind, tap on a plate of food to feed our hungry hippo, throw tomatoes at the stage after a performance. Hildegard is a great example of an "enhanced" book, taking something that worked great in the paper world and making it interactive and fun for the digital one.

At the other end of the spectrum is Bobo Explores Light, which is a completely original book that takes the game to a whole new level. Top-notch illustration, animation, and -- get this -- education. I felt like this was the definition of digital learning, and I see it as the future of books. If you buy anything off this list, go right this second to the iTunes Store and purchase this app. I was blown away by how much information is right there at, well, your fingertips.

Bobo is a nonfiction effort to introduce kids to scientific concepts, and it covers a lot of turf: lasers, telescopes, lightning, reflection, bio-luminescence, and sunlight. Readers are accompanied on their journey by an adorable robot named Bobo. While Bobo communicates and helps the reader navigate the page, Bobo does not narrate. So kids have to do the work of reading, and there is a lot of material. But they are rewarded throughout by pulldown screens that show videos, games using lasers and mirrors, and so much more.

Bobo is for an older audience, so it was a challenge to compare an app like this against the adorable ones for the pre-reading set. Perhaps next year we'll see a variety of Cybils app categories to even the playing field. It felt odd comparing Harold and the Purple Crayon against Middle-School Confidential, a book about self-image for tweens.

And the visually dazzling Fantastic Flying Books of Mr. Morris Lessmore prompted some great discussion. Part book and part movie, this William Joyce effort is a stunning ode to books and storytelling -- and as if proving their point, you can also get Morris Lessmore as a paper book and see the short film, which has been nominated for an Oscar. While I loved this beautiful app, it felt more like a movie-watching experience than a reading one. Again, a passive experience vs. an active one. Great app to buy right this second to see for yourself and test-drive with the kids in your life.

And that brings us to the seventh and final nominee, which was Pat the Bunny. I loved how this app brings us full circle. It is based on Dorothy Kunhardt's cutting-edge "touch and feel" children's book published in 1940, which introduced generations of babies to books by letting them pat the bunny's soft fur and sniff the sweet-smelling flowers. Revolutionary! With this app, pre-readers are once again engaged in creative ways through playing peek-a-boo, finding where the bunny is hiding, catching butterflies, and much more.

If you're curious about the potential picture book apps have for early literacy, these books are great examples of the best that you can find. They are definitely worth checking out. Congratulations to all the finalists.

And if you want to get involved in some of the conversations, visit the blogs of my fellow panel of Cybils judges, such as Mary Ann Scheuer's terrific Great Kid Books, as well as Alyson Beecher's KidLitFrenzy, Elizabeth LeBris' LeBrisary, and Dan Santat's website.