Connect the dots

Space Frog! (npckc, n.d.) is a piece of hypertext fiction that embodies a Choose Your Own Adventure style of reading. The story is about a frog called Space Frog, who is on a quest to find a star. The simplicity of the story line and the use of anthropomorphic animals makes it a suitable option to use as an introduction to hypertext fiction for a younger audience.

 

The first Choose Your Own Adventure book was published in 1979, with the concept becoming popular in the eighties, and to this day, is the fourth best-selling book series of all time (Jamison, 2022). In the books, readers would be presented with choices to make at crucial points within the story. The reader would then be guided to a different page within the book to continue the story. The hyper-connectedness of the internet streamlines this literary style by removing the need for flicking through pages. This is suitably demonstrated in Space Frog!, where the reader is in control of how the story evolves through the use of hyperlinks. At points throughout the story, the reader is prompted to make decisions about which direction the story should go by clicking on the hyperlink that corresponds with how they would like the story to progress.

The story contains simple, computerised graphics that align with the content of the text on each screen. With many other children’s digital narratives, the story remains fixed while the illustrations contain interactive digital elements. For Space Frog!, the opposite is happening; the graphics are static and contain no interactive elements, while it is the story itself that readers can manipulate and change. The use of static graphics takes away the element of distractibility that illustrations containing hotspots can possess (Hoel & Jernes, 2023, p. 12). On the other hand, it is a missed opportunity to utilise the full abilities of digital media to create graphics that enhance a young readers comprehension of the story.

 

While the content is appropriate for a younger audience, it does not contain any digital supports that would allow an early reader to read the text independently. Accessibility features, such as narration or text-to-speech, would assist an early reader to access this piece of digital literature independently. Instead, early readers may require an adult to read with them in order for them to access the text.

 

On pages where there is no decision that needs to be made, the reader progresses the story by clicking on forward arrows to move the text forward, or backward arrows to go back to the last page. In linear digital story books, research has shown that students in upper primary don’t often adhere to the “codex convention of reading” and will move forwards and backwards, subsequently affecting their comprehension and recall of the text (Trushell et al., 2001, p. 399). Given that hypertext narratives possess the added complexity of not being as linear as a traditional text, if these behaviours are exhibited when reading Space Frog!, it could greatly impact a child’s comprehension of the story. This is another reason why the text would need to be read in the company of an adult.

Space Frog! exists within a niche in the hypertext fiction world as there doesn’t appear to be many hypertext fiction pieces suitable for younger children. When searching for hypertext fiction on websites such as the Interactive Fiction Database and itch.io, the majority of their titles appear to be aimed at a much older demographic as they contain mature themes. Also, much of the hypertext fiction that exists on the internet is self-published, therefore teachers would need to be critical of their quality. Grammar, spelling, punctuation, and appropriate themes would need to be evaluated before sharing a selected piece with the students (Dobler, 2013, p. 21). From reading Space Frog! multiple times and using alternate scenarios and endings, there does not appear to be any grammatical, spelling or punctuation errors, therefore would be suitable to use within the classroom.

 

In a classroom context, Space Frog! could be used to model hypertext fiction or the concept of Choose Your Own Adventure to the class. It could be used in independent reading by proficient readers, but due to the lack of accessibility features, it would require scaffolding and support for early readers.

 

Space Frog!’s simplicity is its strength as well as its weakness. Its content is suitable for a younger audience and its simple design and graphics make it not as distracting as other digital literature aimed at children. However, it’s lack of accessibility features, such as narration and text highlighting, means it would require adult support for a child to read it.

 

References

Dobler, E. (2013). Looking beyond the screen: evaluating the quality of digital books. Reading Today, 30(5), 20-21.

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

Jamison, L. (2022, September 12). The Enduring Allure Of Choose Your Own Adventure Books. The New Yorker. https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2022/09/19/the-enduring-allure-of-choose-your-own-adventure-books

npckc. (n.d.). Space Frog!. https://npckc.itch.io/space-frog

Trushell, J., Burrell, C., & Maitland, A. (2001). Year 5 pupils reading an Interactive Storybook on CD-ROM: losing the plot?. British Journal of Educational Technology, 32(4), 389–401. https://doi.org/10.1111/1467-8535.00209