I just finished working with Lisa DeSpain from ebookbookconverting.com to convert The monster above the bed, an illustrated children’s book, to the new Kindle format that allows children to read and listen to the book. It took a lot of work, but now parents can give a gift of joy that will last for months, maybe even years. Kids love it because it’s packed with features that they find exciting to use when reading on a phone or a tablet like a Kindle or iPad.
It was a challenge to create a fixed-layout book, but it ultimately turned into an eBook that is packed with special features like (1) text enlargement, making it easy to read even on a small device like a Droid or iPhone; (2) Text to speech that reads the story to the child if he is using one of the Kindle Fire devices; (3) Links to download the story read by the narrators in English, Spanish and Italian for free; (4) The ability for multiple children to read the story at the same time using different devices such as a Kindle, phone, iPad; or laptop, at no additional charge. (5) Topics for discussion; and more.
Apart from being a great story, The monster above the bed provides a mantra that children use to banish monsters at bedtime. (“You’re welcome to stay, until I say ‘No,’ then it’s time to go and you can’t say ‘No.'”
As Suzy (a little girl) and Karrit (a “monster” who lives under her bed) become best friends, the children in the story intuitively discover that the secret to creating a lasting friendship is living the values of The Rule. of gold.
This special eBook can be read on a Kindle; An iphone; most smartphones, including droids; an IPAD; Microsoft Surface and many other tablets as well as most laptops and desktops because you can download a free Kindle app.
Like the print version of the book, The monster above the bed features a delicious Italian ice cream parlor artwork by illustrator Manuela Pentangelo of Sardina, Italy.
Here are some of the challenges that needed to be addressed:
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The words did not scale correctly with the device that was used. Solution: Use layers. The wordless artwork is the background. Words overlap so they change size.
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Fonts didn’t look right on some devices. Solution: Code the book to always display a serif font style, Times New Roman.
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The name “Karrit” was pronounced “Car-it” and not carrot when text-to-speech read the book. Solution: Use phonetic spelling from a dictionary in some places.
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The book did not look good when read in portrait mode. Fix: Code the book to automatically display in landscape mode.
These were the four big problems. There were over a hundred little problems converting this book into a Kindle book or an Apple Store book. But it was worth it. It is now a work of art and I watch the smiles spread as the children read (and perhaps listen to) the story. I also see the parents glow when they see the children read the book and I see the children’s excitement turn to joy as they become more animated each time they read the story.