Education Meets Entertainment: Innovative Animated eBooks Digitally Introduce NYC's Top Dog Charlie Girl

Manhattan, NY, November 4, 2014 (Newswire.com) - The new enhanced Charlie Girl e-Books are essentially a hybrid - animated eBooks taking a panoramic, film-like approach to story-telling while integrating innovative, exclusive digital animation techniques seen for the very first time. The series is produced by Odysys, the digital division of esteemed European Technology Provider Nord Compo (http://www.odysys.fr/?lang=en), in partnership with Manhattan-based creator and author Elizabeth Frogel (www.charliegirlnyc.com). Applying techniques one might expect to find in a feature film merged with digital innovation, the imaginatively animated stories are appealingly narrated by Ava (the now eleven-year-old daughter of creator Frogel).  Charlie Girl eBooks introduce contextual animation (a new digital animation technique seen here for the first time) as well as exclusive interactive Charlie Girl experiences including dual reading modes, an authentic soundtrack, memorable theme music, and more. These eBooks are full of unexpected surprises on both a visual and verbal level. The flow of imagery is uniquely connected to transitional moments in the story, again an idea that takes its cue from movie-making.

These eBooks create exceptional learning opportunities as they seamlessly connect words, sounds and pictures. 

"Timing the animation to the action in the narrative was an extraordinary creative challenge that the technology providers, Nord Campo and the digital division, Odysys, welcomed with Charlie Girl. This approach is not typical with eBooks so it was something of an untraveled road initially. But now we have leashed this technique and have dubbed it 'contextual animation.' From our perspective on the industry, it does appear that we are the first to bring this innovation to market," says Arnaud LeCompte, Head of Nord Compo's Odysys, who with Florian Hureau, Art Director, built and developed contextual animation as a new digital story-telling technique exclusively for the Charlie Girl eBook series.

Arnaud LeCompte , Head of Technology Provider Nord Compo's Digital Division, Odysys

LINKS FOR PREVIEW OR PURCHASE

The Charlie Girl eBooks involve parents and children in an authentic journey through the world of this anything but standard Poodle. The animation is precisely timed to coincide with key moments in each narrative. This technique represents the innovation that earns Nord Compo's Odysys digital work such acclaim.  The Charlie Girl eBook series premieres on iTunes, Kobo and Google Play this November. To purchase the first two books in the series on iTunes follow the links for

Book 1 - Charlie Girl: Her Very Happy Life in the Town https://itunes.apple.com/us/book/charlie-girl-her-very-happy/id923425118?mt=11

Book 2 - Charlie Girl: A Story of Love and Instinct  https://itunes.apple.com/us/book/charlie-girl-story-love-instinct/id931630636?mt=11

IN EVERY CHARLIE GIRL eBOOK DIGITAL ANIMATION INNOVATIONS APPEAR FOR THE FIRST TIME

A stellar premiere in the eBook category, the animation in the Charlie Girl series appears in context, driving the story along yet keyed to specific words. For the first time this unique concept, deemed contextual animation, is accessible to all as it is introduced with the Charlie Girl eBooks. Each eBook will have exclusive Charlie Girl experiences which young readers can look forward to interacting with time and again in every volume in the series.  

Parents and children love to watch the pink bubbles floating from Charlie's bath but they will look forward to the fun of popping them in every edition (spoiler alert: in Volume 3 coming Spring 2015, Charlie heads to Hollywood). In time with the action in the story in the first two books in the series, the elevators in Charlie's building go up and down and Charlie's dirty footprints magically appear on the furniture. "Timing the animation to the action in the narrative was an extraordinary creative challenge that the Nord Campo/Odysys team welcomed with Charlie Girl. This approach is not typical with eBooks so it was something of an untraveled road initially. But now we have leashed this technique and have dubbed it 'contextual animation.'  From our perspective on the industry, it does appear that we are the first to bring this innovation to market," says Arnaud LeCompte, Head of Nord Compo's Odysys, who with Florian Hureau, Art Director, built and developed contextual animation as a new digital story-telling technique exclusively for the Charlie Girl eBook series. 

Charlie Girl Creator/Author Elizabeth Frogel notes that "the animation appears just at that perfect moment - when parents and children are laughing together, seeing the humor in the stories, smiling at Charlie's adventures or just saying 'awww' isn't that special. The integration then of the animation with the story line is fluid even subtle; a change from the standard children's eBook fare. No manufactured cacophony barrages young ears in these eBooks, just authentic sounds as they'd be heard in real life. Because after all, Charlie is real; a true character in every sense of the word."

INNOVATIVE DESIGN - UNIQUE APPLICATIONS

Typically an eBook has sequential single pages not one synchronized two page spread where the animation is simultaneous. Considered a first in the eBook digital community, the effect of the double spreads in the Charlie Girl eBooks is nearly panoramic; the eye sweeps the pages as if watching a film vs. reading a book. Whether it is watching the luxury retailer Bergdorf Goodman come alive or seeing the sidewalk move beneath Charlie's paws, there is wit and humor as well as innovation. "For me and of course, I hope for all, Charlie Girl is a genuinely delightful source of entertainment," shares Frogel. "Before long we'll be on screens large and small."

DRAMATIC JOURNEY IN FILM-INSPIRED VIGNETTES

In feature films the camera zeroes in on a vignette and then travels. We see this technique applied in the Charlie Girl eBook series: Vignettes connected by Charlie Girl signature dots lead the viewer on a dramatic journey from one tightly focused scene to another.

CHARLIE GIRL'S THEME MUSIC - A TUNE THAT SPANS GENERATIONS

As always Charlie Girl has a nod to her own life with creator/author Elizabeth Frogel who playfully balances romantic sensibilities with modern living. Joyously this balance is evoked in the memorable theme music that plays at the beginning of every eBook, another experience that creates a Charlie Girl "moment of happy enjoyment," as Frogel says.

ABOUT NORD COMPO'S ODYSYS - A PREMIERE DIGITAL PARTNER FOR CHARLIE GIRL

Nord Compo is a 42-year-old European technology company, based just outside of Paris in Lille. Partnering with Elizabeth Frogel on the Charlie Girl eBooks animated and interactive endeavors, they produced through their digital division Odysys, the enhanced eBook versions of Charlie Girl. Nord Compo works with the major publishing houses throughout Europe, including Hachette Group, Elsevier, Wolters Kluwer, Michelin, Alain Ducasse Editions and Gallimard.  Charlie Girl is their first collaboration with an American book series and plans are in development to produce the innovative Charlie Girl eBooks in multiple languages to satisfy anticipated global demand.

WHERE TO BUY CHARLIE GIRL - iTUNES, AMAZON AND MORE

The innovative series of enhanced animated Charlie Girl eBooks is available for sale through Apple on their iBook store as well as Kobo and Google Play for $9.99. Non-enhanced versions will also be available on Amazon and other eBook retailers for $5.99. Both versions are available for purchase starting in November in time for Thanksgiving entertainment and Christmas Gift Giving.  The Charlie Girl books give back with $1.00 from each eBook or hardcover purchase going to the ASPCA.

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