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When I was a kid, everyone told me what to do. My parents told me how far I could ride my bike and the distance I needed to sit from the television. My teachers told me that I had to learn how to multiply fractions (apologies, Mr. Slack, I never did master mathematics despite the hard work on your end) and use 5-part essay format. Even the older kids on the playground set the rules over which equipment we could use. It sucks to be little.
And an adult -- Edward Packard -- recognized the importance of letting kids make choices and a series was born. They were called the Choose Your Own Adventure books, where the reader -- aptly named "You" -- was given a choice at the bottom of the page: If you want to open the door and see what is rattling around in the closet, turn to page 6. If you want to follow the old woman up the stairs, turn to page 8.
I devoured these books as a kid, though my original copies are long gone. I've been purchasing them at used bookstores and putting them away for the twins, who are finally old enough to begin reading them with me. My love of the series is well-known, resulting in a Bloggy Choose Your Own Adventure that I created years ago using the wonderful world of links. (If you haven't yet read Sharon Barren's adventures with the missing trigger shot, you're missing a world of fun.)
Which sort of begs the question ... why isn't the Choose Your Own Adventure doing more with the online world? And it turns out that I'm the one that simply didn't dig deep enough into the fine world of apps because there actually is an app for that ... and it's called U-Ventures.
I interviewed the creator and author of the original series, Edward Packard, and we talked about the new iPhone/iPod/iPad app that not only brings back the empowerment and adventure from the original tales, but utilizes technology to enhance the story.
Me: How did the idea for the Choose Your Own Adventures series come about since it was such a divergence from the usual straightforward books for kids?
Packard: I thought of the idea while making up bedtime stories for my kids. In one story, the main character, named Pete, got shipwrecked on a deserted island (a la Robinson Crusoe). If I had been more imaginative, I would have thought of how the story continued, but I was stumped. So I said to them, "What would you do, if you were Pete?" We thought of alternatives. The next day or soon afterward, riding the train to work, I thought: Why not make the story about the reader and give him or her alternative choices. And I started working it out as a book, called The Adventures of You on Sugarcane Island, what became the exact prototype for books in the Choose Your Own Adventure series.
Me: Many books during the first CYOA heyday told kids "how it was" such as Judy Blume and Beverly Cleary. Your books allowed the reader to tell the book "how it was." I see it akin to the role of social media today -- with kids having the power to tell the world how they view it. Did you realize while creating the series how empowering it would be for the reader?
Packard: I didn't think of that. I just thought it would be fun and might encourage kids to read more.
Me: What are the added benefits outside the book world to giving kids the ability to make constant choices?
Packard: It's certainly good to think about the likely and possible consequences of decisions you might make, and not just act mindlessly. I hope that to some extent my books do that.
Me: You've recently started rereleasing the CYOA books as an iPhone/iPad app. Can you speak to the way this new medium adds to the reading of the books?
Packard: Yes, but first I should say that the apps also work for iPod Touch. I think the new medium enriches the reading experience, for example, providing color
