Tony Dyson, well-known as the creator of R2-D2, the much loved robot from Star Wars, has long been working in Second Life (and real life) with Chantal Harvey, one of the most talented machinimatographers in virtual worlds. Together they are launching a series of kid’s e-Books with advanced animation, “BobbekinWorld”.
The e-Books combine video, music and still images of cute little characters called Bobbekins, more interactive than ever before, taking full advantage of new media – including Second Life – to create some engaging stories that children really love. Chantal and Tony believe that digital books at this moment fail to take advantage of the full potential of the new digital readers. Even young children find digital readers easy to use and enjoy apps that are designed for them (I have a very young friend who loves to do jigsaws with me on my iPad, for example!).
Tony and Chantal believe that children expect to engage all their senses, when they are being presented with a storyline or teaching exercise. In addition, educators have found an enormous success ratio in the principle of not only engaging all the senses of a child, but also in motivating their imagination in a passionate way, that can only lead to the child developing a sense of wonder and encouraging their questioning mind. “We are looking for a reaction, in the magic words: but why? What does that mean? Our publications are designed to provoke,” they say.
To develop this project, they have turned to Indiegogo.
“Over the last 2 years, we have invested a considerable amount of money and time in this project. It has been very difficult to stay independent. We know that if we sell to the large publishers too early, we will most definitely lose control over matters we find very important and are close to our heart. We now need to market and develop the full range of e-Books and printed material. At Indiegogo we have the perfect opportunity not only to pre-sell our publications, but to also offer exciting bonuses to families and teachers who share and appreciate our concept.”
You can find out more at:
Indiegogo project: http://netdreamer.com
Website: http://netdreamerpublications.com
Fanpage: http://www.facebook.com/pages/Bobbekinworld/137238533106251
Twitter: https://twitter.com/Bobbekinworld
Prim Perfect 
Thank you for spreading the word, we sure need all the help we can get!