Simon & Schuster Children's Publishing Releases U-Ventures™ iPhone App Inspired by the Original Book Series, Choose Your Own Adventure®

NEW YORK, July 26 /PRNewswire/ -- Simon & Schuster Children's Publishing, today announced the first U-Ventures™: Return to the Cave of Time application available on the iPhone, iPod Touch, and iPad as a multimedia, interactive reading experience. Simon & Schuster worked closely with software developer Expanded Books™/Expanded Apps and Edward Packard, a creator and principal author of the classic Choose Your Own Adventure® book series.  The application, which is the first of three in the U-Ventures™ series, can be purchased on iTunes for $3.99.  The second story, U-Ventures™: Through the Black Hole will be released later this summer with a third, U-Ventures™: The Forbidden Castle, releasing in the fall.

"When Edward Packard's books were first published they changed the way kids perceived books and reading," said Justin Chanda, Publisher of Simon & Schuster Books for Young Readers.  "The interactive book was groundbreaking back then, so it is only fitting that Edward is the one breaking new ground today in the digital arena."

"Readers of the original Choose Your Own Adventure® books had to turn to a particular page to make a choice," said Edward Packard, a creator and principal author.  "In U-Ventures™ apps, they tap the screen. Plot progression is seamless. Our developer, Expanded Apps, added sound, light, and other special effects, even music and alien voices, and I introduced a lot more variations and endings and special situations: for example, where what happens depends on whether the reader remembers a secret word. In the original books, the reader was illustrated as a boy - sometimes a girl. U-Ventures™ are illustrated from the point of view of the reader: What you see is what you're looking at.  It's neat."

"Edward's books from this classic series inspire fond memories from adults who grew up reading them, and we are thrilled to bring the books back to life for them and also introduce the idea of an interactive text to younger generations. Our goal with this application and all the Expanded Book™ applications we create is not to merely port over the text to a mobile reading device but, instead, focus on creating new, immersive experiences for readers. We add functionality that takes readers far beyond the words on the page," said Skye Van Raalte-Herzog, CEO of Expanded Books™/Expanded Apps.  

"Especially when developing reading applications for children, we recognize the importance of reaching them on the mobile devices they are comfortable using that will encourage and inspire them to keep reading," said Todd Stevens, President Expanded Books™/ Expanded Apps.

ABOUT SIMON & SCHUSTER CHILDREN'S PUBLISHING

Simon & Schuster Children's Publishing, one of the leading children's book publishers in the world, is comprised of the following imprints: Aladdin Paperbacks, Atheneum Books for Young Readers, Libros para ninos, Little Simon®, Little Simon Inspirations™, Margaret K. McElderry Books, Simon & Schuster Books for Young Readers, Simon Pulse, Simon Scribbles, and Simon Spotlight®. While maintaining an extensive award-winning backlist, the division continues to publish acclaimed and bestselling books for children of all ages. In addition to numerous Caldecott, Newbery, and National Book Award winners, Simon & Schuster publishes such high-profile properties and series as Eloise, Olivia, Raggedy Ann & Andy™, Henry & Mudge®, The Hardy Boys®, Nancy Drew®, The Spiderwick Chronicles, Charles M. Schulz's Peanuts®, Nickelodeon's® Dora the Explorer®, Blue's Clues® and SpongeBob SquarePants®, and Mirage studios' Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles™. For more information about Simon & Schuster Children's Publishing, visit our website at http://kids.simonandschuster.com.

Simon & Schuster, a part of the CBS Corporation, is a global leader in the field of general interest publishing, dedicated to providing the best in fiction and nonfiction for consumers of all ages, across all printed, electronic, and audio formats. Its divisions include Simon & Schuster Adult Publishing, Simon & Schuster Children's Publishing, Simon & Schuster Audio, Simon & Schuster Digital, and international companies in Australia, Canada, and the United Kingdom. For more information, visit our website at www.simonandschuster.com

ABOUT EXPANDED BOOKS, INC. and EXPANDED APPS, INC.

Expanded Books™ is a media production and distribution company founded in 2004. The company creates media of all types including trailers; interviews; long format DVDs; audiobooks with music and sound effects; TV, cinema, and radio spots; live author chats and entertainment events; and now mobile applications. Expanded Apps, Inc., founded in 2008, specializes in developing Expanded Books™, immersive applications based on book content, as well as multimedia, interactive applications that are not book-based, for the Apple, Google Android, and Blackberry platforms. The company works with major publishing houses in the U.S. and abroad, as well as individual content creators. Expanded Apps brings together its decades of experience in the publishing and entertainment industries to develop and distribute

Expanded Book™ and multimedia applications that include entertaining, practical, and informative content, presented in a very user-friendly format.

SOURCE Simon & Schuster Children's Publishing