Thursday 30 August 2012

Love Story of iStoryTree


‘I’m perfect,’ said a guy. ‘I try to educate and entertain kids at the same time.’

It was an ice-breaking ceremony in an app store. We were fifteen members in all: eight boys and seven girls. I didn’t care about anyone, except for a girl who was drop dead crazy gorgeous! I was so engrossed in her beauty that I didn’t even listen to her when she introduced herself. But finding out about a pretty girl is no big deal. I later found out somehow. She was Sally’s Wardrobe – some crazy girly app for girls.

Anyway, the boastful guy was really getting on my nerves. I had to make an impression on Sally. ‘Ha,’ I said. ‘I’m iStoryTree from TechTree IT Systems Pvt. Ltd. I don’t try to educate and entertain kids. I do.’

My sweetheart raised her eyebrows. Well, she was a girl, after all; and as you must already know, girls speak, hear and react with exclamation marks.

The boastful guy said, breaking my stream of thoughts, ‘I’m a wonderful storyteller. Kids love to listen to my stories.’ Before I could interrupt, he continued, ‘Kids can touch me and make the characters and other things come alive.’

‘You are not the only one, buddy. I do that, too. And many others do that.’

Sally didn’t seem to be impressed. It’s a big world out there, I thought. She must have seen a lot of guys like me.

I continued. ‘Mainly, I’m here to develop children’s cognitive skills in an easy way. With loads of mind-blowing illustrations at the turn of each page, I’m an artist of the highest quality. My eloquent narration, coupled with delightful animations and marvelous sound effects, immerses a child into my stories.’

Sally continued to ignore me. ‘I am really trying hard here, girl,’ I wanted to scream. But then I remembered the advice given to me by my makers at TechTree IT: “Easy does it.”

So I continued: ‘I teach finger-painting and pronunciation skills, too. And I have a superb vocabulary. All a child has to do is tap on the word, and voila! The meaning of the word and an example sentence come up.’

I looked around. Everyone’s eyes were on me – except for Sally’s. To my disgust, the boastful boy opened his mouth again. ‘You know what else I can do?’

‘Oh, please!’ I said. ‘I don’t care what you can or can’t do. I’m not in competition with ordinary folk like you.’

Having displayed my honest arrogance, I turned round to look at Sally. She was talking to some other girl, ignoring me completely. Girls, you see, have the capacity to turn all your plans upside down. Such unpredictable species, I say. Only one thing works with them: speaking the obvious.

‘Hi,’ I said, finally.

‘Hey,’ she said, looking surprised.

‘Beating about the bush is not really in my nature. So I’ll come to the point directly,’ I said.

She raised her eyebrows. Know what I mean?

I continued, taking a deep breath. ‘I’m in love with you. And I want to spend the rest of my life with you,’ I blurted out.

‘What?’ she almost screamed.

‘I said I was in love with you. And that I wanted to spend the –,’

‘I heard you, I heard you. But why would I care?’

‘Because I am good-looking, efficient, and I can really look after a child well. I am also the number one paid app on iTunes Store.’

She looked me up and down, and said, ‘Really?’

‘Yes. I can play interactive games with them and teach a lot of other important things, too. I am a good storyteller –,’

‘I know, I know. I heard your resume.’

Now it was my turn to raise my eyebrows. ‘You did?’ I asked.

A few girly apps giggled in their typical irritating fashion.

‘Yes, I heard it all, all right,’ said Sally. It was clear to me that she was hiding her smile. ‘What else?’ she asked.

‘Well, kids become lazy sometimes, you know. Real couch potatoes. Then I’ll make them dance with me. Guess what happens then. Magic colors magically start filling up the outlined artworks from the story. Guess what happens then. The child starts laughing. Know what happens then? Heaven!’

Sally laughed for the first time in my company. Boy, was I enthralled!

‘That sounds colorful,’ she said. ‘What else?’

‘Is there anyone in this world who can satisfy a girl’s demands? Yes, there is. Me. I said, accepting the challenge: ‘Hmmm. You have an awesome voice.’

‘Are you trying to flirt with me, Mr iStoryTree?’ she asked.

‘I’ve already told you. I never try. I always do,’ I said, winking.

The girls giggled again. Sally kept mum.

‘Jokes apart, what I meant was, you can record the story in your awesome voice and let the child listen to it. And if that is not sufficient, a child can listen to Jennie, my friend.’

‘Jennie? Who is she?’ she asked, furrowing her brows.

‘Oh, no. Please don’t misunderstand. She is just a friend. Nothing else.’ I paused for a few seconds and continued, ‘Imagine a kid who is finding it hard to pronounce English words. Jennie comes to help then. She is so good at using her expressions and hand-gestures, a child can easily learn elocution skills and learn to pronounce the words properly.’

She stood silently, contemplating on my proposal.

‘So what do you think? Would you like to go out with me sometime?’ I asked.

‘Maybe.’

‘Maybe is great. Why don’t you give me your number?’

‘No, you give me yours. I’ll call you.’

‘Fine by me,’ said I.

It’s 2012, after all. It’s only fair for a girl to ask a guy’s number. I gave her my contact ids:

Facebook: iStoryTree
Twitter ID: iStoryTree
Promotional video: iStoryTree

I am not going to tell you what happened next: for some things should remain hidden (for some time) in order to make them appear more delightful than they already are – like the stories that are about to come soon…!

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Wednesday 29 August 2012

Welcome to iStoryTree!


What is iStoryTree? 

Well, to put it in a simple way, iStoryTree is an educational picture book app for children (2-8), developed by TechTree IT Systems Pvt. Ltd. It is specifically designed for iPad. But that’s just the tip of the iceberg.

Read on to know more…

Why iStoryTree? Or perhaps why stories in the first place?

Long time ago when there were no books, let alone computers, people depended on their narrative skills to tell stories to their children. While some of those stories remained stories, others became myths. But whatever the genre, whatever the content, the prime audience remained the same: Children.

Children love stories and for a reason. For stories have the capacity to bring cute and cuddly characters to life, children imagine they are taking off on a magic carpet to an imaginary land filled with limitless fun. There you go. The first thing: their imagination soars. Imagination is more important than knowledge – and that is irrefutable.

The four most important words you say to your child will change his/her life. No, no, it’s not I wanna buy iStoryTree (but we’ll come back to this later). The four most beautiful words, Once upon a time, have the capacity to transport your child to an incredible world, where nothing is impossible and everything is marvelous. Your child will start believing in the impossible; and that makes everything possible. The power of stories!

Most of the times, it’s how you tell a story that is more important than what the story is all about. And when the narration is good, your child will not only enjoy the story, but will also learn while he/she listens. Apart from developing language and sequencing skills, stories encourage children to listen, think, and imagine. All in all, they develop the art of expression in children. And art of expression is nothing but a way of life!

The music of words, the rhythm of sentences, and the emotions involved will help bring a story to life; and this in turn will help children visualize the characters and setting more clearly. When they listen to a story intently, their attention span increases and their listening and processing skills are enhanced.

All these – concentration, imagination, creativity, language, sequencing and listening skills, art of expression – are nothing but cognitive skills.

Cognitive skills are the mental tools needed to process and learn what is taught in an academic environment. They are the learning skills used to attend to and retain information; process, analyze, and store facts; visualize and understand concepts.

Now imagine an environment where children can:
·         Actually see the characters come to life
·         Listen to the characters speak and listen to their trademark sounds
·      Listen to a pleasing narrative, along with soulful music, marvelous sound effects, and delightful animations
·         See the words getting highlighted as the narrative moves forward
·         Learn the meanings of difficult words
·         Play games based on the story

 Well, as you might have already guessed, children now laugh more often than before, listen more intently and process more clearly than before. Their imagination soars higher. Their concentration level increases. They learn to express more clearly. And language becomes easy and fun. Bottom line: their cognitive skills are developed like never before.

Welcome to iStoryTree!

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iStoryTree is up and running on iTunes Store. Click here to buy.