Review of The Tales of Beatrix an enhanced ebook app downloaded to an iPad Mini.
https://apps.apple.com/gb/app/love-to-read-tales-of-beatrix/id787148010 Created by one billion children ltd.
The advantage of this app is that you can “get” it, meaning no payment is required for access to the app initially. Once downloaded a reader has free access to one story by Beatrix Potter, The tale of Peter Rabbit, probably her most famous.
However, the app does use in-app purchases: with one payment of $4.49, five other Beatrix Potter stories can be “unlocked”. Beatrix Potter wrote 23 animal tales for children (Beatrix Potter, 2020), so this is a small selection from her entire body of work.
Even with access to only one story for free, the app is quite good. Tapping on the first story “tile” (Peter Rabbit), the reader is taken to the first page of the story, where a short audio automatically plays to instruct the reader on the features of the ebook. In a suitably British accent, a woman’s voice explains – and a cartoon-style finger and hand points – that you can either read the story on your own, or touch a sound icon at the bottom of the screen to hear the story read aloud. Arrow icons on the bottom left and right of the screen/page, when tapped, will turn the page backwards or forwards. In addition, the reader can touch a single word to hear that work spoken aloud.
The read-aloud narration included is very good: a real human voice (the same voice used in the audio instruction) reads the book naturally and expressively, unlike some older, so-called enhanced e-books, with a robotic narrator voice. And importantly the words on the screen are highlighted, word by word, as they are spoken by the narrator; which will help beginner readers identify individual words.
The app displays some of Potter’s illustrations, using modest zooming or panning.
The font is sans-serif and is set to about size 20, so it’s large and legible, although it cannot be customised. The page background is white with no visual clutter. The story is not abridged, and the text is generously spread out over 35 pages in total.
There are no distracting sounds, background music or hyperlinks to take the reader away from the narrative
There is no opportunity to engage socially, through or with, this ebook app. Given the age of readers of Beatrix Potter’s stories will typically be younger children, who typically will not own smartphones, email or social media accounts, the absence of this is probably of little consequence.
Keeping classic and beloved stories, such Beatrix Potter’s “Tales”, alive for the 21st century child is heartening. No doubt, there will be new and innovative stories written and created, as the 21st century proceeds which will take better advantage of digital functionality. Nevertheless giving classic stories a new reiteration, to keep them alive and relevant is nice to see, and it will perhaps allow cross-generational sharing of Potter’s stories, between children, parents and grandparents, and for years to come. Perhaps some will argue that Beatrix Potter is too old fashioned and that her illustrations and language will not appeal to the contemporary child; however, the anthropomorphising of animals seems to have timeless appeal to children and for many authors it is the medium by which issues are presented (Burke & Copenhaver, 2004, p. 209), certainly it was for Potter, who injected humour and human qualities into her characters.
However, in summary this particular ebook does not as Eaton states “fully utilize the technological capacities of [the] platform … and [does] not meet their reader’s expectations of interactivity” (2014, p. 7). It is closely aligned with the codex version. It does however offer features that a codex cannot; such as including the option for the story to be read aloud, and for individual words, to be pronounced. A child learning to read may be able to get through this book on their own with these helpful features.
One way to incorporate this book into a public library program is to project it onto a large screen and for a presenter to read aloud the text on the screen. The narrator voice could be muted and yet still play the option of highlighting the text, word by word as the live presenter reads it.
And if a subscription to the app could be purchased and incorporated in the lending collection of the library, adults could “borrow” it and use it in a more close and bonding way with their child at home.
References
Beatrix Potter. (2020). In Encyclopædia Britannica. Retrieved from https://academic-eb-com.ezproxy.csu.edu.au/levels/collegiate/article/Beatrix-Potter/61079
Burke, C.L. & Copenhaver, J.G. (2004). Animals as people in children’s literature. Language Arts 81(3), 205-213. Retrieved from https://cdn.ncte.org/nctefiles/store/samplefiles/journals/la/la0813animals.pdf
Eaton, A. (2014). The interactive picturebook: Mapping ‘literacy’ on a narrative/technology continuum. Fusion Journal, 5(2014), 1-14. Retrieved from https://search-informit-com-au.ezproxy.csu.edu.au/documentSummary;dn=225924795132127;res=IELHSS