UPDATE: Our Kickstarter Campaign is Complete and was Funded!
Thank you very much to all our backers who made it possible.
For press coverage, if you need images, you can access them below on this page or in the Dropbox folder here and feel free to contact us for more information.
Here is the summary of Learn to Read Adventures and why audiences have found it interesting:
Inspiring Children to Love Reading
Thank you so much for your interest in Learn to Read Adventures!
Be sure you enter your name and email in the box on the right side of this page to be kept up to date with the launch details & to be part of the adventure!
Why have people found Learn to Read Adventures interesting?
- Inspiring Story – A six-year-old came up with the 4 things he needed to enjoy reading & after they worked, he wanted to turn it into an app to share it with his peers.
- Improves Literacy & The Love of Reading – It fills a void in beginning reading materials with real images (not cartoons) and helps children to enjoy reading through the interactive experience by putting them in the story and allowing them to choose their path through the story.
- Importance of Parenting – Parents are a child’s first educators and have a responsibility to continue to educate their children. In this case, the parents created what their son needed to enjoy reading and now are on a mission to help inspire others to love reading.
- Positive Use of Technology – With the huge growth and popularity of smart phones and tablets, children are spending a great deal of time on these devices, so it is important to have educational apps that the children also enjoy using.
- Supports Good Causes – Not only does it help literacy, but it also protects nature in locations of the stories and supports artisans in those locations by having their products in the story and featured on the website.
- Promotes Cultural Understanding – In the stories, the young adventurers travel around the world to real places, see real pictures and eat real local foods.
- Promotes Good Health and Nutrition Habits – In the stories, the readers can choose a variety of options, including what they want to eat, and it turns out better for them when they make the healthy choice.
The below provides the summary of Learn to Read Adventures, similar to how it was displayed on our Kickstarter page.
Learn to Read Adventures: Inspiring Children to Love Reading
Learn to Read Adventures is an app and book series that puts the readers in the adventures so they enjoy learning to read!
Created from a 6-year-old’s idea, these interactive, ‘choose your own path’ stories, filled with beautiful real-life images, take the reader to real places around the world. While inspiring children to love reading, this project also gives back by supporting artisans and protecting nature in the locations of the stories.
Inspiring the Love of Reading
Last year, 6 year old, James O’Donnell, was frustrated by learning to read. His father, Patrick, asked James what it would take for him to enjoy reading. James named 4 things, so Patrick, a bestselling author, wrote a story with those four items. Other children, parents, teachers & focus groups validated those four items.
When the story was ready, James loved it & more importantly, he LOVED READING. Then, the entrepreneurial-minded 6 year old had the idea to turn the story into an app and book series so he could read it on his device & share it with his friends. Again, the need was validated by parents, teachers and focus groups, so Learn to Read Adventures was born.
James has always loved nature and we love being able to help out others, so then, we had the idea to help protect nature and support those in the locations of the stories.
See How the Interactive Stories Work
Click play on the video below to see how it works!
Making the Vision a Reality
Last year, when James was 6 years old, he had a vision to help children learn to read, help artisans earn a living & help protect nature. Now, a year later, you can help make that vision a reality by supporting this project on Kickstarter.
What is Kickstarter?
Kickstarter is a crowdfunding platform that helps bring creative projects to life. Kickstarter has received pledges from over 5 million donors to fund projects, which include new products, films, music, books, apps and other creative projects.
Those who back Kickstarter projects are offered tangible rewards and special experiences in exchange for their pledges, and the rewards for backing Learn to Read Adventures are quite exciting! See the details below and then choose the level that’s right for you on the right side of this page. It’s a great way to get some unique holiday gifts while supporting a project to help children love reading!
Rewards
There are full range of rewards from the Thank You Pack to the Ultimate Family Adventure, so scroll down and find the one that’s right for you. You’ll have the opportunity to add-on additional items at checkout. Thank you in advance for your support!
Personalized Book Options
Each Personalized Book Pack comes with all of the items in the Thank you & Digital Photo Packs + a personalized copy of Book 1, The Amazon Adventure, with the two names of your choice in the story as the stars of the adventure!
Adventure Gear Options
You’ll be ready for your next adventure with a t-shirt, thermal bottle & backpack. You can select one, two or all three of these items, or add them on to any other package at checkout.
The Adventures Gear Packs come with all the items in the Thank you & Digital Photo Packs, but they do not include a copy of the book. If you want the gear and book, see Book & Gear options further below.
Book and Gear Options
The Complete Adventures Gear + Book Packs come with all the items in the Thank you & Digital Photo Packs, plus the gear and a physical, personalized copy of Book 1, The Amazon Adventure with the two names of your choice in the story as the stars of the adventure!
Special Rewards
The following special rewards come with all the items in the Thank you & Digital Photo Packs, all three gear items, plus a physical, personalized copy of Book 1, The Amazon Adventure with the two names of your choice in the story as the stars of the adventure!
The Giving Back Options
You can make difference by providing books to classrooms, libraries or children in need. If you know teachers who would like these books, send them a link to this page and have them contact us. In addition to the books, the giving back packs come with all the items in the Thank you & Digital Photo Packs, all three gear items, plus a physical, personalized copy of Book 1, The Amazon Adventure with the two names of your choice in the story as the stars in the adventure!
Ultimate Rewards
These are the rewards for the true adventurers. You’ll either set foot on your own adventure or be immortalized in future stories. Plus, all of the Ultimate Reward packs come with all the items in the Thank you & Digital Photo Packs, all three gear items, plus a physical, personalized copy of Book 1, The Amazon Adventure with the two names of your choice in the story as the stars in the adventure + all three items: a LtR T-Shirt, Water bottle and back pack, plus a hammock that was handcrafted by artisans in Brazil (as featured in Book 1, The Amazon Adventure).
More on How it Works
See how the games really to do help children learn words (and keep them busy while you are preparing dinner or driving around town by clicking play on the video below:
Learn how the app and books help children learn healthy habits by clicking play on the video below:
Next Steps
It’s been truly amazing to watch this project grow. It started as something simple to help our son enjoy reading. Then, he had the idea to turn it into an app to share it with others. Now, with teachers and organizations interested in the app and book series, we’re getting close to making our son’s vision a reality so we truly can inspire children to love reading!
After successful funding in mid-November, we printed the first books and the gear, so it arrived to our backers in December.
The first version of the app with the first story went live in Apple’s app store and the the second version with the next two stories in the series will follow later in 2015.
We’ll continue to create and seek adventure as we work to inspire children to love reading!
