The King with Dirty Feet – app coming soon!

I am working with a Greek team of artists to make my story The King with Dirty Feet into an app.

The King with Dirty Feet was published in 1991. It was the first story I tried to write.  I was asked by Mary Medlicott to contribute a story to a collection that she was editing. I wrote the story in biro and sent off a very rough looking copy! I was amazed when the publisher wrote back immediately to say that they loved it!

Since then this story has had a life I could never have predicted. The story has been included in many collections, like ‘More stories for 5 year olds’ (1994) edited by Julia Eccleshare. It was made into a sweet animation by the BBC for Storytime (1995). It was part of an exhibition about shoes in New York (2000). And Tweenies based an episode on the story (2007), neglected to ask permission, and got found out!

Now the story is getting a new life as a dynamic and interactive app. The app will have my voice telling the story. Artist, Martha Tsiara has created the illustrations, making a luscious, detailed and vividly coloured world. Composer Panos Ghikas of The Chap and ToneSoprano, is creating an inventive and playful soundworld. And Multimedia wizard Fotios Begklis of Marmelada, is animating it all, bringing the whole thing to life.

The app will combine traditional storytelling with interactive features, so the young reader can play with the characters and their world. Our team is working to make these interactive elements deeply embedded inside the story and its structure, so they are not just tagged on.

This week in The Guardian, children’s author Julia Donaldson, discussed her concerns about converting children’s books into apps.  I believe the app can be a great format for storytelling if it’s done with care.  Children have always played with picture books in an imaginative way, inventing dialogue, making up sounds, acting out side stories with the characters. I think an app can work in a similar way, taking the child inside the story.  But in some apps, the story gets totally lost, overwhelmed by the interaction.  Our aim is to keep the story at the centre of everything. I feel very lucky to be part of such an amazing team. It’s a long project! But we hope it might be ready in time for  ipad 3!