London, United Kingdom – Multi-award-winning, independent publisher Nosy Crow is proud to announce its groundbreaking new fairytale app, Jack and the Beanstalk, is available today, exclusively on the App Store for iPhone, iPad and iPod touch. The app blurs the distinction between story and game more than ever before to create a completely new kind of reading experience for children: Jack and the Beanstalk is where on-screen gaming and reading meet.

Conceived and created with reading for pleasure at its heart, Jack and the Beanstalk rewards the reader’s success with more story, and encourages repeat play with endless variety. Readers play games in different rooms of the giant’s castle and collect keys to unlock more of the story, and every so often, Jack meets the sleeping giant, where the reader’s success – or failure – at collecting his treasure determines the outcome of the whole story: the more successful the reader, the more Jack carries back down the beanstalk to his waiting mother.

Jack and the Beanstalk features:

* An exciting, open environment to explore: find the right key to open nine different doors in the giant’s castle, each with unique games and characters behind them

* Real consequence within the story: wake up the giant at different points in the narrative to create new endings. For the first time, we’ve built in a scoring mechanism: the end of the story reflects the reader’s success – or failure – to accomplish tasks

* A totally non-linear narrative: work your way through the castle in a different order every time and experience different endings based on Jack’s progress through the castle

* An emphasis on reading for pleasure that will be particularly good at encouraging reluctant boy readers who love on-screen gaming to participate in a reading experience

* Innovative use of iOS device features: the app takes advantage of the fantastic potential of the front-facing camera, gyroscope, multi-touch screen, retina display and more

* Rich and detailed artwork from the creator of Nosy Crow’s award-winning Little Red Riding Hood, Cinderella and The Three Little Pigs apps

* Fully animated: characters are constantly on the move

* Hundreds of lines of dialogue for thirteen characters voiced by child actors

* Hundreds of interactive touch-points

* Original music by BAFTA award-winning composer, Robin Beanland

* Text-highlighting to support emerging and early readers

“This is the most ambitious and exciting app that we’ve ever made,” says Kate Wilson, Managing Director at Nosy Crow. “It redefines what a storybook can be, putting readers in charge of the outcome. We wanted to empower children to enjoy a completely different kind of reading experience, and to create a story for themselves, using a mix of classic and original building blocks. Children of different ages will be able to enjoy the story at different levels, whether they explore it independently or share the experience with an adult. We’re particularly convinced of its appeal to boys who love on-screen gaming.”

Nosy Crow’s previous fairytale apps, The Three Little Pigs, Cinderella, and Little Red Riding Hood, have received critical acclaim and numerous awards, from organizations including FutureBook (September 2011, FutureBook Awards, Best Children’s App, Cinderella), Digital Book World (January 2012, Publishing Innovation Awards, Best Juvenile App, Cinderella), KAPi (January 2012, KAPi Awards, Children’s App, Cinderella) and iLounge (November 2011, iLounge Awards, iPad Kid’s App of the Year, Cinderella). Apple named Little Red Riding Hood one of the Best Apps of 2013, and USA Today have described Nosy Crow as “the Steven Spielberg of apps.”

Device Requirements:
* iPhone, iPad, and iPod touch
* Requires iOS 4.3 or later
* 238 MB

Pricing and Availability:
Jack and the Beanstalk 1.0 is offered at the introductory price of $4.99 USD (or equivalent amount in other currencies) and available worldwide exclusively through the App Store in the Books category. Illustrated by Ed Bryan, this interactive storybook app is recommended for children ages 3-8.

Nosy Crow
Jack and the Beanstalk 1.0
Purchase and Download
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Nosy Crow is a London-based children’s book and app publisher founded in 2010 by veterans of the children’s publishing industry working who brought on board experienced electronic games developers. It was named Children’s Publisher of the Year for two consecutive years at the 2012 and 2013 Independent Publishing Awards. In the U.S. and Canada, the Nosy Crow imprint is published under the umbrella of Candlewick Press. In Australia and New Zealand, Nosy Crow partners with Allen and Unwin. Nosy Crow believes in encouraging children to read for pleasure, whatever reading material and whatever reading experience they choose. Copyright (C) 2010-2014 Nosy Crow. All Rights Reserved. Apple, the Apple logo, iPhone, iPod and iPad are registered trademarks of Apple Inc. in the U.S. and/or other countries.