THE WRONG BOOK iPAD LAUNCH
Visit: wearewheelbarrow.com
Preview: Stephen A Russell
CHILDREN’S author and illustrator Nick Bland’s beloved The Wrong Book has been brought spectacularly to life by some South Melbourne-based animation whizz kids.
Bland, who grew up watching cartoons such as Bugs Bunny, wanted his characters to move, but with few publishers showing interest, he teamed up with Tim Kentley’s animation house XYZ Studios, publishing giant Matt Tanner and film producer Adrian Shapiro.
The result? Wheelbarrow, a company that adapts children’s picture books into interactive experiences for the iPad. Based in Darwin, Bland sees huge possibilities in this publishing format. “There are hundreds of indigenous languages in this country, and this will lead to a lot more access to books,” he says.
In addition to an energetic narration by comedian Frank Woodley, children can record themselves reading the book and play it back, as can parents, which is ideal if you’re leaving them with the babysitter or you’re away for extended periods.
“I heard a kid read it again and again,
re-recording themselves, and by the end of it they were actually speaking better,” Bland says. “Teachers will love that.”
With the original book as her storyboard, Wheelbarrow animator Megan Nairn (pictured) plotted how children could interact with the story then used swish animation tools to cut out all the bits and pieces and put them back together as a fully-functioning app.
“You have to look at every page and have a good think about what everything should do, what’s going to move, what level of animation gets the right balance between story and interactivity,” she says.
“Nick was really supportive. The story was fun to work on as an animator, because it gets more and more chaotic.’’
Nairn has no concerns the app will kill off print. “They go hand in hand. There’s something special about a real book. It’s likely that families already have The Wrong Book and want to buy the app to get this extra animation.”
Bland agrees. “I have no doubt it will be a fantastic relationship, and it will actually bring the book world back to life.”
