A few weeks ago I shared two children's books from my Tech-Themed Children's Books List on my Instagram account that were both written by Australian author, Kim Maslin. The Tweeting Galah and its sequel, The Surfing Penguin, are short stories that focus on cyber safety and growing up in the digital age. I love books like this for reinforcing digital citizenship topics. Check out my post:
5 Reasons to Use Picture Books to Help Teach Digital Citizenship. What makes Kim Maslin's stories stand out are how she includes augmented reality elements that make reading an interactive experience. She has placed AR triggers throughout both books that can be scanned using the Zappar app. I also like how she includes reflection questions at the end of each short story!
The Tweeting Galah
The Tweeting Galah is made up of 4 different short stories that cover the following topics:
- responsible use
- online profiles
- posting selfies & videos online
- cyberbullying
- online identities
- digital communication
- stranger danger
- screen time
- unplugging
Below is an example of cyber safety scenarios that pop up when one of the AR triggers is scanned. Love these! Just shuffle through as you discuss each scenario.
Kim Maslin sent me some of her character selfie augmented reality cards she created to go along with the short stories in The Tweeting Galah. You can see the different "masks" that appear for each character card below. I was able to snap selfies and short video clips using the Zappar app. This would be great to use when studying characterization or a creative way to get students to retell one of the stories.
The Surfing Penguin
The Surfing Penguin is the sequel to The Tweeting Galah. It is also comprised of 4 short stories that cover the following topics:
- safe search
- responding to scary digital encounters
- cyberbullying
- upstander/bystander
- trolling
- location services
This book also contains AR triggers on each reflection page!
You can find both of Kim Maslin's children's books on Amazon! Click my affiliate links below to take you to each listing:
For more augmented reality children's books click HERE to access a list I created on Amazon.
