Interactive Book: Nurot
Nurot is an interactive story app, developed in Spain by chiquimedia. It is a tale of communication that follows a mute boy, Nurot, who had been happy to go unseen… until now. Nurot constructs a devious plan to gain revenge on those who can speak but along the way discovers that communication is essential, with words and without.
Aimed at primary aged children, the app is available for both iOS and Android operating systems and compatible with all sizes of smartphones and tablets. The demo mode is free to download but to access the entire story, an in app purchase must be made. It is very reasonable, under $3, and protected by ‘parental controls’. On closer inspection, these parental controls are a double digit addition problem that many primary aged students would be able to complete, so care should be taken. This is, thankfully, the only in app purchase available so once the full version is downloaded, it is safe to hand over to the little ones (Kurcirkova, 2018). The need to download an app, as opposed to a web based product, can be difficult in the school setting where multiple purchases need to be made and individual devices managed (O’Connell et al., 2015).
Essentially this is a 24 page picture book, with a strong emphasis on the visual. Much of the tale is told through the charming illustrations. Text is optional in the app, able to be turned on or off, making this an ideal resource for teaching visual literacy. The illustrations are enhanced with animations and hotspot activities where readers are invited to join the story by collecting odds and ends for Nurot and loading them into his wagon, or helping him build his evil contraption, for example. Interacting with the story in this way builds further empathy for the central character than the illustrations would alone. Through hotspot technology, the reader is made to feel like an accomplice in Nurot’s exploits and thus feels more deeply his horror when things don’t go to plan and joy when they do. Each page has optional visual help so no hotspots are missed. Having this turned on helps reading stay focused. Once turned off, the ‘hunting’ for the hotspots can become too distracting from the story.
The sound effects and original soundtrack of Nurot also contribute greatly to the overall experience, further building mood and encouraging the reader’s empathy. Like the text, sound is optional, easily turned on or off. While this caters for personal preference, it also provides a valuable teaching point about creating mood and how music can contribute.
If turned on, the text that accompanies the illustrations is minimal and engaging. It is available in nine languages, English, Spanish, French, Italian, German, Portuguese, Chinese, Japanese and Catalan. However, the text knows only one font and an opportunity may have been missed to include a ‘read to me’ function, with words highlighted as they are read. Conversely, given the strong visual focus and the mood evoked by the soundtrack, this may actually have been the most complementary option.
The app makes further use of the digital platform by including games to continue the experience. Memory (card with characters faces to turn over), a sequencing puzzle (pictures from the story to be put in order), emotions matching (faces showing emotions to be matched with the correct word) and guess the scene (close up of section of illustration to match to correct illustration). Each of these games, while fun, also add extra teaching points to the book. Given the strong emotions and mood created in Nurot, the emotions game is particularly worth pursuing.
This app is incredibly intuitive and user friendly. Each ‘page’ takes up the entire screen and navigation through the pages is with a simple arrow touch for each direction. A menu at the bottom of the screen can be activated, giving options for home, index, games and settings from any page.
Nurot is an evocative tale with a strong and important message for children of this age bracket (and beyond). It has been tenderly packaged into an enchanting app that uses a strong visual, music, sound effects, animations, hotspot technology and games to get that message across.
References
Chiquimedia. (2017). Nurot (Version 1.1.1) [mobile app]. Google Play Store. https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=org.chiquimedia.apps.nurot&hl=en_AU
Kucirkova, N. (2018). How and why to read and create children’s digital books: A guide for primary practitioners. UCL Press. https://doi.org/10.14324/111.9781787353473
O’Connell, J., Bales, J. & Mitchel, P. (2015). [R]Evolution in reading cultures: 2020 vision for school libraries. The Australian Library Journal. http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/00049670.2015.1048043
