Oxford University Press Gamifies Classic Books For Kids Via Web And Mobile

"50 Great Reads Before 15" Initiative Gamifies Oxford's Most Popular Classics in Partnership with SecretBuilders

NEW YORK, July 31, 2012 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- Oxford University Press, the world's largest university press, is announcing a partnership with mobile and social web game developer SecretBuilders to support its "50 Great Reads Before 15" initiative, which introduces characters and storylines from popular classics and transforms them into fun and engaging digital learning experiences for kids and teens under the age of 15. Alice in Wonderland, Macbeth, Pride & Prejudice, Don Quixote and Arabian Nights are among that classics that will be accessible online as well as via mobile applications.

"Oxford University Press has a long-standing history of providing a library of books that motivate learners to improve their English reading skills and most recently has placed significant emphasis on offering digital versions through a variety of platforms," said Laura Pearson, General Manager of Oxford's American English Language Teaching Group. "We look forward to innovating the learning process and making our timeless classics more accessible to the coming generations of digitally savvy kids."

With over 7 million users, the SecretBuilders.com gameworld delivers engaging digital experiences designed to help kids learn stories, themes and concepts from literary works. The platform enables kids to interact with famous fictional and historical figures online through virtual talk shows, parties, quests, items, avatars and contests.

Games and activities related to the "50 Great Reads Before 15" initiative can be accessed online at The Bookworms Club, a virtual land within SecretBuilders that will spotlight one new Oxford University Press classic title per week. On the mobile front, SecretBuilders will develop and release one mobile game every month with NOOK® by Barnes & Noble, iTunes, GooglePlay, Kindle, Blackberry AppWorld and other app stores. The first mobile game to be released on NOOK and Kindle is "The Alice in Wonderland Difference Game," which takes players through the beloved classic via a challenging spot-the-difference game.

"It is wonderful to have the opportunity to work with Oxford University Press to introduce the classic stories we all know to a new generation of kids," said Umair Khan, Chief Executive Officer of SecretBuilders. "Our book-themed games ensure that children associate reading with fun so that their literary journey begins even before they can read their first page and continues long thereafter."

About Oxford University Press
Oxford University Press is a department of the University of Oxford. It furthers the University's objective of excellence in research, scholarship, and education by publishing worldwide. OUP is the world's largest university press, with a wide global reach. It currently publishes more than 6,000 new publications a year, has a presence in around fifty countries, and employs more than 5,000 people worldwide. It has become familiar to millions through a diverse publishing program that includes scholarly works in all academic disciplines, bibles, music, school and college textbooks, children's books, materials for teaching English as a foreign language, business books, dictionaries and reference books, and academic journals. To find out about OUP's English Language Teaching publications please visit www.oup.com/elt. 

About SecretBuilders 
SecretBuilders makes mobile and social games that are both engaging and enriching for children on all screens. SecretBuilders has raised over $5 million to date from The Entrepreneurs' Fund, Launch Capital, and angel investors including Scott Hassan (co-founder eGroups, founding team member of Google), Carlos Cashman (CEO ConstellationCK, former CEO CourseAdvisor), Greg Titus (The Washington Post Company), Michael Tanne (former CEO of Adforce), John Welch (VP News Corp, former CEO, Playfirst), and several other angel investors. The company is headquartered in San Mateo, CA.

SOURCE Oxford University Press