Introducing Nubian Storybooks — African Storybooks for the Digital Age
Storytelling and Storybooks are a part and parcel of childhood. Almost everyone has a favorite childhood tale or storybook; these stories have helped us learn about the world around us, as well as enabled us to acquire the relevant life skills requisite to go about our daily lives with ease. The digital revolution has facilitated the transition of oral and print stories into interactive apps and games.
Unfortunately, the explosion of digital devices on the African continent has not resulted in a commensurate explosion of early childhood digital story content; The consequence being the screentime of African children dominated by content that is distant from their reality. As African children are limited to stories devoid of African characterization, so are non-African children limited to stories that exclude the African perspective — leaving both parties with a truly limited global worldview.
Many who came of age in the 90s & 2000s are familiar with Encarta Encyclopedia an educational application that used interactivity to drive learning. I could spend hours at a time learning about history, science & culture through Encarta’s catalog of rich multimedia content comprising illustrations, images, videos, animations & sound; all intertwined in a way that blurred the line between learning and fun.
Inspired by Encarta & leveraging on the explosion of mobile devices, Nubian Storybook seeks to build a library of early childhood story content that will engage & inspire children between the ages of 2 and 8. African children will have access to an unlimited collection of interactive stories with African Characters and familiar realities; Just like African children have come to enjoy foreign stories, children across the world will have access to stories told from an African perspective.
In Ghana, the population of kids between 2–8 that have access to internet-enabled devices stands at approximately 1,590,921. On the African continent that number balloons to 43,323,815; this population only grows as internet-enabled smartphones and tablets become more accessible. This demographic with its huge thirst for early childhood constitutes Nubian Storybook's primary target. Additionally, as has been made apparent with African series like Super Sema’s, beyond the continent lies a global market for African early childhood content.
The Nubian Storybook is a mobile & web app with a collection of storybooks designed for kids between the ages of 2 & 8. Its interactive storybook format comprises graphics, sound, and animations to stimulate reading and learning. It is our goal to build an encyclopedic collection of storybooks that will cover topics that will educate children about, any & everything — ranging from science, technology, arts, life skills, financial literacy, and more.
You can read the first story — “I Love Kelewele” written by Delight Quaye | Art Directed by Emmanuel Dankyi— on the Nubian Storybook here. “I Love Kelewele” is a part of a collection of storybooks dubbed the Kekeli Series. It features stories that teach early readers about family, relationships, wonder, animals, culture, money & savings. It is scheduled to be published in the upcoming months alongside a cultural series catalog that will feature stories from various cultures around the world.
“I Love Kelewele” by Delight Quaye — Kekeli loves a yummy Ghanaian snack named kelewele and so may you! Come along with Kekeli as he tries kelewele for the first time and learns fascinating facts about this yummy snack- including how to make it.
NubianVR is an interactive development company with operations in Ghana & the United States. It was officially founded in 2015; our team consists of multidisciplinary creators, learning experts & developers with experience in building interactive products, virtual reality simulation & games primarily for learning, training & fun. Some of our learning products include The Life Skills App & Nubian Storybook.
