Parents and teachers fret over the summer months about the potential for the “summer slide,” a documented drop in reading comprehension and word recognition scores in students who spend their summer vacations without the daily reading time they are accustomed to in school. At the same time, summer break is supposed to be a vacation from the drudgery of assigned readings and required texts.
A number of children’s ebook publishers ramp up their content for the summer month releases to incorporate high-interest, graphics-intensive, interactive titles. The point of the material is to make emerging readers want to read, not have to read.
Auryn, the most award-winning children’s ebook publisher and the brain child of Academy award-winning visual effects designers, ahs launched four new titles, just in time to grab students’ attention and engage them in self-selected reading over the summer months.
“We, at Auryn, don’t take anything for granted and are constantly working to improve the reading experience irrespective of the seasonal changes. We are very aware that at any given time children have the opportunity to spend their time away from our apps and with all kinds of distractions that life brings us. We try our best to provide them with a wholesome, rich and engaging experience through our apps that makes them want to return to time and time again,” States Umesh Shukla, CCO, Auryn, to GoodEReader.
One key component to a strong literacy foundation is the reading of self-selected texts, a standard that is actually being required in the educational setting. By providing engaging content for young readers, the downtime from school can still be spent engaging with the all-important personal reading.
Abby’s Aquarium Adventures, Part 2: Predators, Some Day, Some Night, Come Again, Pelican, and Miko Goes on Vacation all incorporate Auryn’s award-winning graphics while still meeting various genre needs, such as science exploration or non-fiction, for younger readers. All four titles are priced at $1.99 and are available for iOS in the app store.
A former book editor and newspaper reporter, Brigid Alverson started MangaBlog to keep track of her daughters¹ reading habits and now covers comics and graphic novels for Comic Book Resources , School Library Journal, Publishers Weekly Comics World, Robot 6, and MTV Geek. She also edits the Good Comics for Kids blog at School Library Journal. Brigid was a judge for the 2012 Eisner Awards. Send her an email to wordballoons@gmail.com
