Earlier this week Carisa Kluver from Digital Storytime (one of our favorite app review sites) stopped by our office to say hello and talk book apps. Carisa has been reviewing book apps since 2010 so it was fun to chat with her about the many changes in the industry.
We recommend Digital Storytime to any teacher, librarian, or parent who wants to locate good quality book apps in an extremely crowded appstore. Carisa has reviewed over 700 book apps in the last few years and rates titles on interactivity, re-readability, educational quality, originality and more.
She also offers 29 curated book lists for topics including dinosaurs, dogs, seasons, moral stories, feelings, bathtime, sleep and much more. Plus, you can search for book apps based on the device you own (iPad, Android, Kindle Fire and NOOK Tablet.)
Thanks again for stopping by, Carisa. It was nice to finally meet you!
Carisa previewing an upcoming book app with Development Director, Greg Uhler
“Write me a story that first-graders can’t put down!” This was the challenge that Dr. Seuss accepted that became the classic The Cat in the Hat. The book includes 236 different words that a first-grader can read.
The Cat in the Hat is this year’s featured book for Dr. Seuss’s 109th birthday and our “Hats Off to Reading” celebration. We at Oceanhouse Media in partnership with Dr. Seuss Enterprises are celebrating by putting the digital version on sale for 99 cents and offering The Cat in the Hat camera app as a free download through March 7! In addition, more than 40 Dr. Seuss book, camera and game apps are on sale.
Our award-winning digital version of The Cat in the Hat brings the antics of the infamous mischievous cat to life and has been a top-charting digital book app since its release three years ago. We’ve stayed true to the original words and illustrations of Dr. Seuss (check out the photos from both the original manuscript and the digital version below) when adapting the book into an interactive digital book app, enhancing the story with professional narration by voice talent extraordinaire Joseph Narducci. Now, you can record and share your own narration with the iOS version of the app!
The Cat in the Hat book was published in 1957, the same year as How the Grinch Stole Christmas! (the first Dr. Seuss digital book app developed by Oceanhouse Media to hit the app market). It’s amazing to think that both of these timeless classics were published in the same year!
Did you know that The Cat in the Hat wasn’t the first Seussian feline to don a hat? Dr. Seuss first put a hat on a cat in 1949’s Bartholomew and the Oobleck (an upcoming Oceanhouse Media digital book app).
As Oceanhouse Media celebrates Dr. Seuss’s birthday, our team is reminded each day the indelible mark that he’s left on children’s literature. We feel honored to bring his books to life in digital form. And, like the Cat in the Hat, what great fun we’re having along the way!
What’s your favorite part of The Cat in the Hat story and why? Feel free to share your comments below. You can even send us your recording of you reading your favorite part of The Cat in the Hat at info@oceanhousemedia.com. We’d love to hear it!
An early manuscript of The Cat in the Hat.
The digital version of The Cat in the Hat stays true to the original words and illustrations of Dr. Seuss.
The Oceanhouse Media staff recently took a field trip to the UC San Diego Geisel Library to see The Dr. Seuss Collection. We had the rare opportunity to get an up-close look at the works of Ted Geisel (Dr. Seuss) including original drawings, sketches, proofs, notebooks, manuscript drafts, books and other memorabilia from the extensive collection.
As the digital publisher of the Dr. Seuss omBooks, it was thrilling to see Dr. Seuss’s early drafts of several classic books, such as Green Eggs and Ham, The Cat in the Hat and How the Grinch Stole Christmas! as well as “bone pile” fragments of preliminary drawings, false starts and experimental sketches.
Our sincere thanks goes out to Lynda Claassen, head of UCSD’s Mandeville Special Collections Library, for graciously hosting us and sharing her knowledge about Dr. Seuss and the collection.
Check out the photos below!
Michel Kripalani, President of Oceanhouse Media, holding one of the first sketches for Green Eggs and Ham.
The evolution of Green Eggs and Ham.
OM Staff with UCSD’s Lynda Claassen viewing an early version of The Cat in the Hat.
Oceanhouse Media President Michel Kripalani was honored to attend the San Diego Business Journal‘s inaugural Innovation Awards after being selected as a finalist in the mobile devices category. The Innovation Awards acknowledge local organizations who stretch the boundaries and demonstrate how innovative spirit drives economic value.
We’re grateful to have been a finalist and were excited to hear all about the activities of other San Diego companies. A big thanks to the San Diego Business Journal for putting on a great event. We certainly saw that innovation is thriving in San Diego!
This year we had the incredible opportunity to try out our apps with the students of Our Lady’s School, a San Diego K-8 school with a mission to educate the mind, heart and spirit.
Some of their comments about “There’s No Place Like Space!”:
“My favorite part was when I looked through the telescope. I also liked it when it gave me a warning not to look at the sun.” (7-year-old boy)
“It was cool! I liked that it reads to you and explains all the stuff.” (10-year-old girl – English Language Learner)
“I like that it told you about the planets and how far they are from the sun. I learned that some planets are very far away and get very cold!” (7-year-old girl)
To thank them for their valuable feedback (and just being really awesome), we stopped by last week with a new iPad2 (and LOTS of apps, of course!).
Oceanhouse Media co-founder, Karen Kripalani and her two daughters, delivering a new iPad2
Karen’s daughter giving the new iPad2 to the students at Our Lady’s School
Thanks, Our Lady’s School, for welcoming us into your classrooms this year!
Your favorite Dr. Seuss apps are on sale March 2 – 8 in celebration of Dr. Seuss’s birthday and NEA’s Read Across America program. Classic titles like The Lorax, The Cat in the Hat, Green Eggs and Ham and many, many more are available for Apple and Android devices, the NOOK Tablet, the Kindle Fire and the HP TouchPad.
Read Across America is going GREEN this year with reading events across the country based on Dr. Seuss’s children’s story, The Lorax. Explore The Lorax Project for information about being friendly to the environment. Plus, read the story for yourself in The Lorax omBook (0.99 USD) and help regrow the world’s Truffula Tree forests with the Lorax Garden game for Apple devices (FREE until March 8!)
App Friday with Moms With Apps:
We’re kicking off the birthday sale by hosting the Moms With Apps weekly app party on our Facebook page Friday, March 2nd at 10am PST. Please join us for special news, discounts and freebies from this fantastic group of family friendly app developers . . . you’ll be glad you did! And stay tuned all week for more Dr. Seuss celebrations on Facebook!
For the folks down under, our friends at Treasure Kai will be hosting the App Friday kickoff party on their Facebook page from 8am – 9am Sydney time.
“Today you are you, that is truer than true. There is no one alive who is youer than YOU!” – Dr. Seuss
On behalf of all of us at Oceanhouse Media, I wanted to send a brief update and a huge “Thank You” to our customers, partners, and supporters!
Karen and I started this business in January of 2009 at a time of uncertainly for our family. We had a vision of building a digital publishing company, but we did not hold rights to any content. We choose to embark anyway. Along the way, we found tremendous support from customers, reviewers, fellow developers, teachers, parents and incredible license partners. Recognizing all of the support that we have received from the community, we are humbled and grateful.
2011 has been an amazing year. Back in January, we announced the sale of our 1 millionth paid app. We’ve subsequently added close to a dozen license partners, grown the team substantially, and moved out of our house and into a beautiful office space.
We are learning just how much our apps are impacting people and their lives. For instance, some of the email messages we received from the parents of children with special needs have brought us to tears. Each story that we receive reinforces the knowledge that we are fulfilling the work that is expected of us at this moment. It is incredibly rewarding to know that our efforts are impacting the world in such a positive manner.
We are honored to have the opportunity to work with great license partners. We are thankful that they have entrusted us with incredible content. We are committed to delivering ever higher quality interactive experiences as the technology evolves. And, wow, do we ever see the technology evolving quickly!
On a purely personal note, Karen and I love how we are able to share our journey with our 3 year old and 18 month old daughters. They are some of our best app testers! Also, spending quality family time with the girls is the single best way to re-invigorate me and remind me why we work as hard as we do.
So, as we celebrate Thanksgiving I simply wanted to take a moment to extend a warm “Thank You” from all of us at Oceanhouse Media. Without you as customers, partners and supporters, we would not be able to do all that we do.
Please accept our best wishes! May the coming holidays be filled with good health, peace, love and laughter!
On Friday, we attended the 18th annual TechAmerica Awards luncheon, which celebrates San Diego’s most innovative technology companies. We were honored to received the High Tech Award in the Software Category for our work on children’s book apps for mobile devices. We’d like to thank TechAmerica for putting together this wonderful event, we had an excellent time and were pleased to connect with many local businesses. We also want to thank all the families who bring our apps into their household. Your feedback and support keep us motivated to continue innovating the reading and learning experience as technology evolves.
“We’re extremely honored to receive TechAmerica’s High Tech Award for our work in developing interactive children’s book apps that help teach kids to read. “We’re committed to bringing more beloved children’s classics to the app market with educational features that promote literacy in the youngest of readers at the touch of a screen.” — Michel Kripalani, President of Oceanhouse Media.
The rest of the crew, back at the office celebrating the good news!
“The “Developer of Distinction” is awarded to the Best of the Best. Developers who make Apps that serve our community of Special Needs and Education. Apps that work flawlessly and developers who listen to what we have to say about how to improve or add to their Apps. These Developers have extensive and open Social Networks and are always willing to listen, answer questions and give advice if asked. They communicate with our community and often show their support by providing promotions throughout the year. They work tirelessly to make better Apps and are always looking to provide the next App that will be beneficial to our Children. The Winners of this award are chosen by the Facebook community of a4cwsn, consisting of Parents, Teachers and Therapists. The community is almost 5000 strong.”
Thank You!
We are so thankful just to be part of this community and for all of you who share your stories with us. We love to hear that your families enjoy our apps and are learning from them. The incredible support and positive feedback we receive from you inspires us and keeps us motivated. We love to create fun, innovative and educational apps, and we thank you for joining us on this adventure. Right now we are working on some exciting new features that we hope you’ll love. We’ve really enjoyed getting to know so many of you on Facebook and we look forward to many more good times! Thanks Gary for bringing all of us together. Your energy and enthusiasm is contagious. ♥
I was lucky enough to attend BlogHer ’11 last Friday which was hosted here in San Diego, California. I had such an amazing time and met so many incredible people from all over the world. Here are the highlights!
I started the day at the Newbie Breakfast and Welcome where I met awesome mom bloggers from Life Well Blended, Motherscribe and Twofer Mom. Then, I just had to check out “Minding Your Own Business | Bad Blogger Pitches,” which was moderated by our friend Liz Gumbinner from Cool Mom Picks. The session was very informative and also light-hearted and full of funny stories. . . I learned a lot of good tips on what not to do! I was also very happy to meet up with Lori, a local tech blogger from WellConnectedMom.
Lunch was an especially fun part of the day and not just because of the great food and great company. There we were enjoying our meal in the beautiful upstairs pavilion, when suddenly music started playing and a flash mob broke out right next to us. Here’s some video I caught of the action!
After lunch, I visited with our good friends Shannon Rosa and Jenny Alice who helped host the Special Needs Mini-Conference. There, I enjoyed chatting with some fellow app developers who share our enthusiasm for creating fun, positive apps for children. It was also great to meet up with Leticia from TechSavvyMama who was sharing all of her techie knowledge at the Geek Bar.
The Voices of the Year reception was my favorite part of the conference. There were many fun and interesting people there and I probably met almost all of them! I really enjoyed hanging out with Katrina and Katie from FabFitFun, Thara from RebelMom, and of course all the HTC girls from Seattle. Everyone at the reception had a chance to write about what inspires them on a big canvas HTC phone. You can’t see it, but I drew a big heart and wrote love inside
Thanks to all the coordinators of the event, the sponsors, and the event staff. Everything about the day was truly wonderful. And of course, thanks to the awesome people I met. I’ll see you online!
And to the flash mob ladies, if you’re reading this, I’d like to get in on that next year!
