20th November

Entertainment

Literature

Knutsford

By Ptolemy Horner

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Christine Allen has published her first augmented reality book (Image: Supplied)

BRINGING stories to life for readers is something every author hopes to do.

And, after creating and publishing her first augmented reality children's book, Knutsford author Christine Allen has done just that.

Christine released her fourth children's book - 'Bendy Banana' - on Monday, November 7, and has already seen it hit the top spot in the Amazon children's poetry chart.

Written under her pen name Christina B Bianco, the ‘heartwarming’ book tells a tale of a banana who misses his home, but his ‘fruity friends’ come together with a sweet surprise to help him stay.

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The fruits are all different sizes, shapes and colours whilst all being from different countries, but they all come together in the ‘FruityBudz garden’.

With interactive AR animations throughout, the book teaches young readers about inclusivity, kindness, and the importance of healthy eating.

“It’s so exciting," said Christine said. "It is pretty clever and smart too. Every time I look at it, even after two years in the making, it gives me a buzz.

“I just live in a really weird children’s book head. It’s a bit crazy but the children are loving it."

The book is the first in the ‘FruityBudz’ series which will consist of 10 books and a lot of augmented reality.

Christine said: “I just thought - wouldn’t it be mad if Bendy Banana sung on the front cover?

“And my daughter said wouldn’t it be amazing if he read the entire story too? And that was a bit of a challenge.”

Christine has experimented with creating front covers that can be scanned and turned into an animation but she had never created a fully AR book until now.

The book is filled with spiders for the children to find and scan, which then animates the pages and brings the story to life.

At the end of the book, there is also an added smoothie recipe which too comes to life and further encourages healthy eating.

Christine has also been writing and illustrating more of the upcoming FruityBudz series with more books on the horizon, including ‘Silly Strawberry’.

Augmented reality has also been extended across Christine’s mug and birthday card products.

Bendy Banana is available on Amazon, Waterstones, and all good bookstores.