Monday, July 20, 2015

Apps for education : Children's fairytales in English







Roger Moore | James Bond 007


Do you remember the agent 007 Roger Moore? No? Ya, you're right. Roger Moore was one of the first special agent 007 in the James Bond series, in the 50's. Very charismatic. Since then, other special agents are taking his place in the James Bond series by the English writer Ian Fleming.

Roger Moore is Goodwill Ambassador of Unesco since 1991. He was knighted in 2003 for his work for children’s charity UNICEF.

Now he is in a new project. A project supporting once again Unicef.





Giving Tales | Hans Christian stories

Veteran actor Roger Moore (007), Ewan McGregor, Stephen Fry and Joan Collins have joined forces in a new children’s educational project called GivingTales collection of Hans Christian Andersen stories.

"We’ve done our best to cut them down to modern-day children’s attention time: they last anywhere between six and 10 minutes, so we’re trying to get all the classic parts of the fairytales across in little, compact modern versions that are easy to digest and entertaining."

Roger Moore

Aims : 

It aims to produce engaging and entertaining versions of popular children’s fairy tales while helping to teach and educate children worldwide. 


As part of the company’s mission to educate and support children, GivingTales kft is committing 30% of its revenue to Unicef to help children around the world.



screenshot: app Giving Tales
Hans Christian Andersen’s timeless fairy tales have now been modernised, condensed and paired with vivid illustrations that capture the universal and timeless life lessons synonymous with Andersen’s stories.

“The Ugly Duckling is the primal story about bullying and self-belief - it is a marvelous tale,” 
Stephen Fry, actor, screenwriter and author




screenshot : app Giving Tales

The Ugly Duckling is an amazing story about issues with bullying and self-belief, and while it might have been phrased differently 150 years ago, it’s something we’re still struggling with today.”

Values :
Many of the themes in Hans Christian Andersen stories have relevance for children today, such as bravery, selflessness, and compassion. Solidarity as well.



screenshot : app Giving Tales
Roger Moore, the wellknown 007 agent in the 50's, has history with these stories. In 2005, he was appointed as an ambassador for Andersen’s work as part of the bicentenary of the Danish writer’s birth.
“I’ve been a long time admirer of Hans Christian Andersen’s work, and I think it’s a wonderful collection of fairy stories for children and adults alike," 
Sir Roger Moore


screenshot : app Giving Tales
It’s a collection of illustrated Hans Christian Andersen fairy tales, narrated by Moore, Stephen Fry, Dame Joan Collins and Ewan McGregor, and

The free app includes Moore’s rendition of The Princess and the Pea, with other stories available as in-app purchases.





“I had the gall to read The Princess and the Pea to the Danish crown princess at the launch event, and that’s stayed with me. And then my son and his partner in this GivingTales project suggested that they could get Hans Christian Andersen out there in an app, and that there could be profits to Unicef.” 

Roger Moore

“I had the gall to read The Princess and the Pea to the Danish crown princess at the launch event, and that’s stayed with me. And then my son and his partner in this GivingTales project suggested that they could get Hans Christian Andersen out there in an app, and that there could be profits to Unicef,” says Moore.

Supporting Unicef :

As part of the company’s mission to educate and support children, GivingTales kft is committing 30% of its revenue will be donated to Unicef help children around the world. Roger Moore is a goodwill ambassador of Unicef.



screenshot : app Giving Tales

Enjoy engaging and entertaining versions of Hans Christian Andersen's fairy tales for children, read out loud by world-class celebrities!
  • The Princess and the Pea by Sir Roger Moore, KBE
  • The Ugly Duckling by Stephen Fry
  • The Little Match Girl by Ewan McGregor, OBE
  • The Emperor’s New Clothes by Dame Joan Collins, DBE

Education: 


"Oh, what a tragedy that 120 million children are denied access to a primary school education. They can and never will know the wonder of this great author, playwright and poet."
Roger Moore
He hopes that modern children will respond to the stories in their latest, digital incarnation. 
Today’s children are increasingly accustomed to consuming content in one short sitting. While paper books may be giving way to digital versions, classic fairy tales never grow old. There’s a big need to adapt traditional stories into shorter, animated versions, so they can captivate and inspire another generation of young readers.



Portrait of Hans Christian Andersen | Karl Hartmann
credits: Archivo Iconografico/ Corbis
“If children are not familiar with Hans Christian Andersen, it’s a wonderful way for these stories to become part of their education. It’s good English, it’s well read – even by me – and the stories are intriguing,”
“He was a wonderful storyteller, particularly the fairy tales. Every story has a moral: compassion, selflessness, generosity. There’s a lot to be learned from it. A lot, without it being thrust down their throats.”

Devices : 

Tablets ; smartphones.

Where to purchase?

Available :


credits:  Iain Masterton/Alamy
Apps for education are a awesome tool to involve kids learning to read. Engaging, interactive and entertaining versions of popular fairytales for children are important resources to introduce into the curriculum.

It’s good English, it’s well read – even by me – and the stories are intriguing,”

Roger Moore

True. So if you teach English language, it's a wonderful educational resource to improve the language skills of your little students.




Some thoughts:
Moore is right. Young children continue to love Hans Christian Anderson fairy-tales when we reading them in the classroom. They listen to the stories over and over again.

So make your students discover a world filled with magic and colours through this free app beautifully illustrated books and let their imagination run wild in the most famous stories of all times!
At the same time, students are helping other children and young adolescents of the world. Remembering the values through the stories, improving as well for the values of solidarity, generosity if your students could help to educate other children who have no access to education.



“I had no idea what they meant by apps. But all they said was ‘can you get a few celebrities to record stories. So I approached Ewan McGregor, who’s an old friend – and I brought him in to Unicef a few years ago, actually – and I called Stephen Fry, and, of course, Dame Joan. So here we are.

“They did beautiful recordings. Mine, of course, was rubbish. He says modestly before you could say it! And the stories are beautifully illustrated too, by some wonderful illustrators in Hungary.”

Roger Moore

G-Souto

20.07.2015
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Apps for Education : Children's farytales in English bG-Souto is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License.

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