Book publisher Random House Children?s Books is rolling out a line of applications based off the classic children?s Little Golden Book stories.

The book The Poky Little Puppy is the first of the apps to debut and is available in Apple?s App Store. The children?s book is one of the twelve original Little Golden Book stories.

?As a platform, mobile, like books, can display something that is visual and enriching to consumers, but mobile brings interaction to the table,? said Ryan Peterson, director of marketing at Ubermind, Seattle.

Mr. Peterson is not affiliated with Random House. He commented based on his expertise on the subject.

Random House Children?s Book is a publisher focused on content for toddlers to young adults. The company did not respond to press inquiries.

Interactive reads
Consumers are given three different ways to read the book.

Children can choose to listen to the story while following along as each word is highlighted.

Users can also read the text on their own and tap on words to hear narration.

Finally, consumers can record their own voice to read the story.

At the end of each page, children can play a reading comprehension game that lets them unlock and collect stickers.

Users can play with the stickers at the end of the book to create a picture and save it to the device?s photo album.

Consumers have the option to sign the inside cover with their name and their photograph creation.

?Similar to a pop-up book, the interaction of mobile makes it a hit with children,? Mr. Peterson said. ?If you have something kids want to use, why not leverage it and make it educational, too??

Hand-held nostalgia
The app builds on the classic nostalgia of the Little Golden Book series, which were published in 1942.

For example, the app features a gold spine, which is a signature detail of the Little Golden Book series.

The new app is also part of Random House?s larger initiative to make children?s books a part of their mobile strategy (see story).

?Mobile makes a book publisher become more about being a story teller and less about being a brand focused on books,? Mr. Peterson said. ?And in order to be a story teller, you have to be great in multiple areas.?

?Because of the way that platforms are being used today, tablets are something that kids are already familiar with,? he said.

?Classics already have certain nostalgia with them, but by being on mobile, they are able to share it in a way that speaks more to the generation of today.?

Final Take
Lauren Johnson is editorial assistant on Mobile Marketer, New York