I love to read with my daughter, when I’m allowed to. Of course Mummy is her fave. When I heard about My Kingdom Books, I was very, very intrigued and just had to try it out. My Kingdom Books, create children’s story books with a difference. They have incorporated augmented reality into their books and in essence, have created the next level of pop-up book. Looking at the images and reading a little more about it, I got one ordered and took it home to read with my daughter.
I don’t want to give too much away with the story but think traditional fairy tale based around your child’s name. When you order, you have to input your child’s name and then certain parts of the book, relate to the letters of said name. The book I got was A4 in size, with a textured purple front and back cover and included my daughter’s name at the beginning of the story. I love the fact you can personalise the book/story, it makes it so much more special to read. The book is really good quality, with thick glossy paper used throughout, and colorful, detailed illustrations, with bold text, which is easy to read.
So what makes the book augmented reality? Well, firstly, you need to download the free My Kingdom Books app, which is available on iOS and Android. Once installed, follow the simple instructions on screen and the story will begin. The app will act as a camera and when you hover your mobile device over each right hand page of the book, things start to appear on your device, they move, there’s speech and the story truly does begin to come to life.
Using the app with the book is very easy, you simply load the app, your device will then ask to access your camera, you hover over the right page of the book, as if you were going to take a photo and the story comes to life. Turn the volume up and you will hear the story being spoken to you, along with the animation doing its thing. You then need to turn the page and hover your phone over the next right hand page, to continue the story. The larger the screen on your device, the better!
The story was good, it was interesting, fun and the use of the letters in your child’s name was clever. The story was well spoken and the animations were very fun. This is definitely a good way to get your child into books and/or winding down just before bedtime. I would however, have liked there to be more emphasis on trying to get the child to read the story first, before having it spoken to you. For example, they read the page on the left, then the right hand page comes to life and continues the story and so on.
The books are currently available for just £19.99 and at that price, I feel its a must buy, knowing how often my daughter likes to read the same book over and over again. She really did enjoy the book by the way and I enjoyed it with her. For further info and to purchase, visit the official My Kingdom Books website.
