I am over-the-moon delighted to tell you that Snuggle Mountain (Clarion, 2003) written by me and illustrated by Melissa Iwai is now available as an Iphone and Ipad App. You can order it here.

It is a terribly, terribly sad event when a book you have written goes out of print. It feels like a dear one has stepped into an alternate reality. It exists. But copies are increasingly hard to find.

It used to be that authors and illustrators had no recourse. But now, because of digital publishing and apps, we can get the rights to our books reverted to us and give them another life in this new reality.

That’s exactly what Melissa and I did. Around the first of this year, we started reading e is for book, a blog by authors and illustrators exploring this new world. One of the posts mentioned PicPocket Books. Melissa and I talked with them and really liked their focus of keeping the integrity of the book and the story even as an app. While there is certainly a place to add games and a lot of animation, Melissa and I felt that our book, because it is for 3-5 year olds, really needed to stay story-centered. We love PicPocket’s production. Here are some of the features:

• audio narration beautifully read by a child actor (which can be turned on and off)
• words which can be highlighted as read to encourage reading
• fun sound effects and animations throughout the story
• a yummy pancake recipe
• some  discussion topic suggestions related to the story
• turn pages with a finger  swipe

One of the aspects of the app version of the book that Melissa and I adore is that the concept of the sleeping giant’s two heads hiding in the bed covers is made very clear with animation.  In the original picture book, it was quite subtle, and a lot of readers didn’t pick up on it.

I hope  you will check out and download the Snuggle Mountain app at the ITunes Store, currently on sale for $2.99.  It is great story for young children and gives them a personal interactive experience as Emma climbs Snuggle Mountain to wake the two-headed giant who’s caught in the sleeping spell, which causes all living creatures, but especially two-headed giants, to forget about making pancakes for breakfast.

Like I said, I’m a bit excited. Why? Because when you write a book, you want it in the hands of the wee readers. Once again, Snuggle Mountain can be.