Interactive Storytelling: How Picture Book Conventions Inform Multimedia Book App Narratives

Book applications (apps) have become an active element in children’s publishing. Yet there are a lack of standards and design models within this arena. In this paper I analyse the ways in which book apps can draw on the conventions used in print picture books. I propose that through building closer ties between print and digital book formats, the evolutionary trajectory of digital literature may be strengthened. This inquiry involves investigating the use of multimedia, interactivity and playful design in print and digital children’s books. I also highlight two key issues relating to digital interactive narratives: the relationship between interactivity and narrative flow, and the relationship between text and audio narration. This is with the view to assessing how picture book conventions can be used to extend the design of digital interactive stories, particularly book apps.