Houghton Rolls Out Curious George App
By Rachel Deahl -- Publishers Weekly, 4/6/2009 3:13:00 PM
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A screenshot from the Curious George iPhone app. |
The Curious George dictionary app, which Langevin said has been in development for roughly four months, was created by one of the software companies the publisher regularly works with, ScrollMotion. The title will retail for $9.99—the hardcover edition was listed at $12.95—and will feature the full-color graphics from the book, audio functionality and swipe-page turning. Like all of Houghton's reference titles available in the App Store, Curious George's Dictionary does not require users to download a separate reader.
This app, which will be listed under the Education category, marks the beginning of a larger push by Houghton to sell its children's content as apps. Langevin, who thinks parents will predominantly download the Curious George app to use with their kids, believes the market for apps featuring children's books is promising. "We see this as a great opportunity to sell children's books in electronic form," Langevin explained, noting that the heavily illustrated nature of children's books works particularly well on the iPhone and iPod Touch because of the devices' high-end color displays.
Houghton will be adapting a number of forthcoming Curious George books into apps and, moving forward, Langevin sees brand names--Curious George is one of the biggest to hit the kids/education app market--as key in helping publishers distinguish their content in the online store. "As far as what parents are going to buy, I think the brand will be important."
