A Little Goat Builds the World – An Interactive Children Story for Tablets

Abstract

E-books, e-book readers, touchscreens and other types of displays do not belong to the realm of fantasy any more, but are an indelible part of our reality. How will young readers find themselves in this new environment? Is the notion of "interactivity" just a marketing trick to sell more software and mobile apps or is it a tool that will really support a child's development? It is important that a child interacts with a book, not just by passively following a story but by participating in its creation upon every encounter. Graphic design should aim at facilitating linguistic and social development of a child, at the same time stimulating his or her creativity and abstract thinking, as well as supporting the development of fine motor skills, which are all necessary to selfsufficiency. The following article presents the principles and process of designing and building an interactive children story application for tablets.