Connect the dots

The popular children’s book Hairy Maclary from Donaldson’s Dairy by Lynley Dodd (2005) has been digitally reproduced into an interactive iPad app, with digital elements included that support early readers to read the story independently.

 

The digital version of Hairy Maclary from Donaldson’s Dairy mimics the layout of the print books, with pictures on the left-hand side of the screen and matching text on the right. This makes the format familiar to children who have experienced reading the print version of the story. The digital reproduction of this book effectively uses digital features to scaffold the story so early readers can read the story independently. As the narrator is reading the story aloud, the words change from red to black and bounce off the page, assisting the reader to visually track text and promote left-to-right directionality. Words can be tapped individually and read aloud by the narrator. Children can also swipe their fingers over the text, and the narrator will read the section that the child’s finger has passed over.

The illustrations within the app are identical to those within the original book, but small movements have been added, such as the blinking of eyes, or the nodding of a head. There are hotspots located within the illustrations, but these are limited to the bark of the dog or the meow of a cat. The subtlety of these additions minimises distractions from the storyline.

 

It is through the playful use of language, like the rhyme and alliteration found in the Hairy Maclary series of stories, that children develop their language abilities. Children’s stories that contain these fundamental elements usually need to be read aloud by an adult for pre- and early readers to access the language contained within the story. Research has shown that digital texts have an advantage over their printed counterparts when it comes to comprehension and vocabulary development when children are reading independently (Takacs, Swart & Bus, 2014, p. 10). The inclusion of a narrator means children are not reliant on an adult to access the story and enables them to independently access the rich language contained within (Hoel & Jernes, 2023, p. 10). In this context, the digital reproduction of Hairy Maclary from Donaldson’s Dairy gives greater opportunities for a child to independently enhance their language abilities when compared to reading the same text in printed form. In a school context, the Hairy Maclary from Donaldson’s Dairy app is a suitable choice for implementing within literacy rotations or as independent reading, as a teacher does not need to be working one-on-one with the child for them to read the story.

 

Readers who are deaf are supported through the inclusion of a signing narrator, telling the story using Australian Sign Language (AUSLAN), New Zealand sign language or American sign language. Multimodal texts that tie together the text, oral narration and sign are advantageous for children who are deaf, as they can pause, replay, and revisit elements of the text which in turn improves their comprehension of the text (Walker-Gleaves & Waugh, 2018, p. 113).

The app also has a colouring-in function, where the illustrations change to greyscale and the child can colour them by running their fingers over the illustrations. This function is hidden behind the Puffin logo and is not distracting while you are reading the story. However, this digital enhancement does not “deepen conceptual knowledge” of the story or its characters (McGeehan et. al., 2018, p. 63), making this feature superfluous to the story itself.

While the suite of digital features discussed so far are advantageous to early readers, it could be argued that the creators have not taken full advantage of the digital features available to them. Junko Yokota and William H. Teale state that digital books that employ a similar suite of features, such as the “Living Books” adaptation of Just Me and My Mum, employ “minimal digital affordances that could enhance the reading experience” (2014, p. 581). The Hairy Maclary from Donaldson’s Dairy app could have added digital enhancements that align with the text, such hotspots within the illustrations where the reader opens the gate on each page to let the dog out. Such interactive elements would align with the story and support comprehension (Hoel & Jernes, 2023, p. 12).

 

While the addition of more interactive features would enhance this app even further, the Hairy Maclary from Donaldson’s Dairy app in its current form provides more opportunities for children to access literature independently than they could with the book alone. The scaffolded reading cues, narration, subtle digital enhancements of the illustrations, and sign language in this digital reproduction gives the reader an experience that cannot be replicated in the print version of the text.

 

References

Dodd, L. (2005). Hairy Maclary From Donaldson’s Dairy. Puffin Books.

Hoel, T., & Jernes, M. (2023). Quality in children’s digital picture books: seven key strands for educational reflections for shared dialogue-based reading in early childhood settings. Early Years. https://doi.org/10.1080/09575146.2023.2172552

Kiwa Digital. (n.d.). Hairy Maclary from Donaldson Dairy. https://www.kiwadigital.com/showcase/hairy-maclary-from-donaldsons-dairy/

McGeehan, C., Chambers, S., & Nowakowski, J. (2018). Just Because It’s Digital, Doesn’t Mean It’s Good: Evaluating Digital Picture Books. Journal of Digital Learning in Teacher Education, 34(2), 58–70. https://doi.org/10.1080/21532974.2017.1399488

Takacs, Z. K., Swart, E. K., & Bus, A. G. (2014). Can the computer replace the adult for storybook reading? A meta-analysis on the effects of multimedia stories as compared to sharing print stories with an adult. Frontiers in Psychology, 5, Article 1366. https://doi.org/10. 3389/fpsyg.2014.01366

Walker-Gleaves, C. & Waugh, D. (2018). Looking After Literacy: A Whole Child Approach to Effective Literacy Interventions. SAGE Publications.

Yokota, J., & Teale, W. H. (2014). Picture Books and The Digital World: Educators Making Informed Choices. The Reading Teacher, 67(8), 577–585. https://doi.org/10.1002/trtr.1262