I think it's great when kids have a knowledge of how things work and when they are confident in the use of gadgets.
That being said, I think it's even greater when kids love books, and when they learn how to read the old fashioned way (you know, by listening to books from birth, pretending to read memorized favorite books, and then that lightbulb goes off and all of a sudden letters make sense ). I always try to tell the parents in my class is that these are the best ways to encourage reading, that they don't need to spend money on expensive Leapfrog products or anything other than books, really. Most people don't even realize or consider that they can get books for free at the library!
It also makes me so sad to see young, young children using smart phones and ipads, especially in crowded places that provide many opportunities for stimulation. I also believe in the research that says that it is a fallacy to believe that plopping a baby in front of a video will teach them. I can see why parents are tempted to do this, because the kid will be quiet, and it seems like they are learning. Even this makes me sad, though, because is this the new generation of "kids should be seen and not heard," but updated to "kids should be seen with a handheld and not heard?" I try to tell parents as often as possible that talking to kids will do as much as anything else to educate them. I am by no means saying that I will be adamant about no screens, for his whole life, because I think this is swinging too far in the other direction. I am so thankful for my memories of playing Tetris on my mom's Gameboy and watching Sesame Street by myself early in the morning. I am also not saying that I will never succumb to the temptation to hand the kid something to keep him quiet, but I hope it won't ever feel like a good thing to do. I know that I have ventured into the idealistic first time mom zone, but these things are important enough to me to work on, at least.
Part of me thinks if it's in our minds, we can do it as best we can. I have thought more about what books I want to have in his collection than what I have thought about what I want him to wear, or how the nursery will be decorated. I am even planning on resisting the temptation to raise him on Mo Willems, just to be able to capture that moment when he is 4 and the Pigeon will be new and hilarious to him. I can't wait for my mom to read Hank the Cowdog and Duck on a Bike to him. I hope that John will bond with him over books, and I would love to be able to substitute tv time at night with reading time. I want John to read manuals and catalogs with him, and Louis L'amour and True Grit when he is old enough. Of course, Bible study will also be included in this goal of love for reading, and that's really the most important facet of all.
Ok, though, back to the point of this blog. Everyone knows that I love Mo Willems. It can do SO much with such simple pictures and few words on a page. He understands kids and what they think is funny, but he also understands adults. I also love him because he is anti-ebooks. He finally broke down and created an app for iphones and ipads, and at first I was disappointed. Then I read this article and I loved how he explained his reasons for creating the app. I feels exactly as I do about children and electronics and books, and is so able to explain why kids love books and how they learn to read. I thought it was interesting, and somehow it turned into a whole entry.
Also, I look forward to reading this one year from now, when I have a wiggly baby on the outside of my body and want SO badly for him to entertain himself with my ipad. We will see if I still feel this strongly, or if I will be eating my words. :)
Children’s Book Author Mo Willems Launches First-Ever App
 Courtesy Marty Umans |
The program allows users to write, illustrate and narrate their own tales, with Willems also providing guidance along the way as the voice of The Pigeon.
To discuss the app’s development and the importance of interactivity in the digital era, the author chatted with PEOPLE Moms & Babies.
Check out our interview below:
Why did you want to create an app?
It’s a direct product of me being a misanthrope. I was afraid of ebooks and didn’t want to do them because I think they’re narrative killers. I said a cool version of that would be something where kids made up half the story and they recorded their voices and you learn how to draw the characters and you can make your own stories. I realized that might be fun, as did the guys at Hyperion [Willems' publisher].
We didn’t want some sort of cookie-cutter thing. When you take a book and you turn it into a movie, you have to change it and you just really keep the characters and make it movie-like. Here, it’s the same thing. You take the characters but you want to make sure it’s essentially an app or essentially a game in this other way.
What was the creative process behind the app like?
I started out doing television and I’ve been making films, short animated films, since 1988, and so I approached this much like I would that. We wrote a script and multiple scripts and storyboarded and worked with an animator who’s a buddy of mine and produced it as a film. It was fun. It’s collaborative, but it’s also something, because it’s on the scale that it is, you can be in control of.
Of all your characters, why did you want the app to center around The Pigeon?
The Pigeon books – Don’t Let the Pigeon Drive the Bus!, Don’t Let the Pigeon Stay Up Late! – there’s a certain format to them and they’re really the first books that kids make up their own versions of. The Pigeon is easy to draw. The format is easy to tweak and come up with your own ideas, so it just seemed like the right thing to do. Also if my first app was not The Pigeon, he’d never forgive me. I’d never hear the end of it.
What kind of response has the app received?
Some friends of mine’s kids have done some beta testing and it’s been fun to see what aspects of the game they gravitate to. There’s different levels: one, the story you see randomly; the other you make selections physically; and then another, you record your voice. It’s sort of interesting how it goes by age. Certain ages really want to record their voice, others are happy to make selections. They all like the section where you get to shake the pigeon and make him feel miserable.
Do you think apps will eventually take the place of books?
Here’s what makes books great: books need you to turn the pages. Books need you to open them up, and now you’re communicating because it’s something that needs you. I wanted to make sure that this app needed the kids as well. They had to make decisions to make it run. When I don’t like electronics is when you press go and you can leave the room and the device doesn’t know if you’re there or not, it doesn’t care. That’s the key.
Do you have any plans to create another app?
I don’t know what the future holds, which is what makes it fun. I loved making it because it was something different and something unique and it challenged me. The great joy of my life is that I don’t know what I’m going to do. I just know that it’s going to be something that scares me.
 Courtesy Hyperion |
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