Perky Pranksters: Have Fun in the Country

Tell a little bit about you and your company?

My name is Selma Hronn Mariudottir and I live in Iceland. I am an electronics technician by profession and have also studied computer programming and systems theory. I now work as web developer in my own company which I run with my husband, Smari V. Saebjornsson. In my leisure time I write songs and poetry and children’s books – the Perky Pranksters series, where the characters are based on our three family pets. I am a member of The Writers´ Union of Iceland and STEF (The Performing Right Society of Iceland).

What is the app about?

Genie, Dapper and Rex Have Fun in the Country is the first book in the Perky Pranksters series. The Perky Pranksters books are many things rolled into one, being entertaining and educational as well as encouraging the child to develop many important skills. The two cats, Genie and Dapper along with their friend Rex the dog, are not only fictional characters. They are Icelandic through and through, and their storybook tricks and pranks are founded in antics carried out by their real-life counterparts in Iceland.

The stories are both funny and educational and the style used is simple and entertaining. Each illustration is full-page and beautifully executed. There are two verses embedded in each picture with a running text at the bottom.

Educational features of this title include sentence highlighting, and images that are named when tapped, pop-up descriptions of actions performed e.g. “shove” when Dapper pushes the bale of hay, or sounds relevant to the story e.g. laughter. Every page contains these Learn and Explore hidden features, animations and quality sounds. In the Fun and Games section there are 6 games: Meet the Pranksters, Colouring Book, Dress up Games, Musical Games, Rhyming Games and Record your Voice. In the rhyming game the child is asked to finds words that rhyme; can you, for example, find the word which rhymes with “milk”? Three options are given.

Perky Pranksters: Have Fun in the Country App Trailer

How did Kwik help you to build it?

Kwik made things so much easier and saved me a great deal of time. I run my own company and I also have a large family, so finding the considerable time necessary to become accustomed to a new programming language is not always easy. It was, therefore, a real treasure trove to discover Kwik and thereby cut down my work time by many weeks.

Any favorite features?

I love the path and linear animations and the ability to add code manually. My favourite feature is the Sprite Sheet Exporter.

Any trick/tip you would like to share?

MOST Important – take regular backups and avoid long layer names.

What is your overall experience with us (product and services)?

The product is excellent, fast and easy to use. The customer service is exemplary; Alex is extremely responsive and answers every question quickly.

What is next for you and your company?

At present, there are 5 books in the Perky Pranksters series and the plan is to publish the others as apps also. Other new ideas have come up too, so it looks like the company will be expanding into the field of interactive apps, in conjunction with website design and production.