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Recommended! An impressive children’s storybook app that inspires kids to dream big and go for it, with beautiful hand-drawn illustrations and cool soundtracks.

App Name: Danny Dimple Dares to Dream – Soccer by BTC Enterprises
Category: Story/Book App for Kids
Price: $2.99 (actual price may vary)
Download Now: iPad | iPhone

Our Review of Danny Dimple Dares to Dream – Soccer

Danny Dimple Dares to Dream – Soccer is an original children’s storybook full of inspiration and encouragement. Written and illustrated by a father, Ben Taylor, this book tells the story of a little boy named Danny Dimple, who dares to dream big: to become an elite soccer star! Kids can read the story themselves or let Jeremy Fowler read to them, with the word highlighting featyre. Jeremy Fowler is an Australian recording artist who also wonderfully produced the soundtracks for this book app, and I think his narration sounds great! Kids will get a dozen of interactive fun while dreaming big along with Danny Dimple in the backyard or in the stadium. A  preschooler boy also “tested” the app with me. He’s the son of my friend, and this little cutie who doesn’t like sports loved to keep tapping the goalkeeper to see the corresponding animation and thought the Teddy Bear had funny sound effects. What’s more, I want to say that I was charmed by the beautiful hand-crafted illustrations! The only drawback (or maybe not to some kids/parents) is that when a character or object is touched, the narration pauses too. Encouraging your kids to dream big is a must-do for all parents definitely. Your little ones may fall sometimes, but they also have the ability to stand up on their own and keep on moving…just like Danny Dimple! This storybook is suitable for both boys and girls alike, by the way.

In Case You Want to see all screenshots and full description

Since the kids and I really enjoyed this Danny Dimple storybook app, I invited Ben Taylor, the developer, writer and illustrator of this storybook app, to share some exclusive behind-the-scene stories with you. Check it out below:

– We noticed this is your very first app. So how long did it take you to develop this app?
Ever since I was a kid, I have loved to draw and colour. Even now, I still love it! A few years ago I found myself telling my son made up stories at bedtime because so many of his books were really far fetched and not that realistic or achievable for him, so these stories I made up would be about things my son liked, and he would star in them – he loved these stories and it got me thinking about a character called Danny DImple who Dared to Dream. So after a lot of thought and planning I decided to bite the bullet and give it a shot!
From start to finish it was about a 9 month process, each day had it’s challenges that’s for sure, but it has been a very rewarding process!
Danny Dimple does resemble my son, he also loves his soccer and has a great right foot! 🙂

– Why did you want to transform your story into a book app?
Having kids myself, I have seen the evolution of the digital world come to life and how my kids interact with things like the iPhone and iPad, so in order to get this story out there and be the most accessible, a digital Book App was definitely the most effective way to do this. The cost of printed books along with distribution is a huge commitment, and you can update a book app over time to keep it fresh.

– The hand-drawn illustrations are beautiful. Who did it?
The drawings were my handy work 🙂 I love to illustrate and always have, and it was a big part in me but it just rarely got used, however with everything being so computer generated these days, I wanted this story to have that organic personal look / feel.

– Jeremy Fowler from the pop/rock band New Empire played an important role in making this app, right?
He is a friend of mine and was very helpful in getting the narration so good – he was amazing on the recording day, he just got into character and nailed it! He also helped in producing the sound track music – his skill set to be a part of this story has really helped it come to life that’s for sure! He writes great music too, check them out (New Empire).

– What is the coolest feature this storybook app has?
To be honest, this book doesn’t have all the extra bells and whistle’s like so many other book apps – there’s no games or special features, however this being said,  I actually made a purposed decision to keep this book to a storybook alone with no additional features.
There’s plenty of games on the digital market that can offer that side of entertainment, for me personally, it was important to release this book as a book, that the storyline and illustrations were the hero and held their own and are hopefully the coolest features. 🙂 I’m not against adding features, but there also needs to be a place / space for a kid to ponder, whether by themselves, or with a parent, to reflect on the story and how it has affected them without getting distracted immediately by special additional features.

– What do the kids around you think about this storybook app?
I’ve had some really great stories about how Danny Dimple has inspired a whole stack of the kids in my life network.
One in particular, a young guy named Jesse (7 years old) had his first game of soccer coming up just after I released Danny for the year, and just before he ran onto the field to play, he told his dad that he was thinking of how Danny Dimple dreamt big and wasn’t scared and that was helping him to not be so nervous! Jesse kicked a goal and the team won the game!

– Is there going to e a Danny Dimple series of apps? Or maybe you’re developing some new titles for kids?
To be honest, I have actually written a second story for Danny and have a lot of future ideas for him! I would love to dive into getting this second one illustrated and on the way, however, this first Danny book really needs to gain bigger traction. It’s an expensive, time consuming thing, and even though I have loved the process of it all, wisdom is given to us to also make smart decisions. 🙂 My hope is to definitely do a second third, fourth … hopefully, watch this space!

– Anything else you’d like to add?
Reading stories to kids is so important! It stimulates the imagination, spurs kids on to learn, grow and dream, and is a great investment into their future no matter how many times they read a book – so as a book writer, please continue to support the kids book writers by purchasing their apps / books so that we can keep writing and creating for the future of our kiddies!
Thanks for the opportunity RealKidsApps!