Living Books

Living Books is a series of interactive storybooks for children, first produced by Brøderbund and then spun off into a jointly owned (with Random House) subsidiary, which were distributed on CD-ROM for Mac OS and Microsoft Windows. The series began on 7 February 1992[1] with the release of Just Grandma and Me (an adaptation of the book by Mercer Mayer) in 1992 until it ended in 1998; other titles in the series included Arthur's Teacher Trouble (and other adaptations of books by Marc Brown), Dr. Seuss, and Berenstain Bears titles.[2] Three titles exclusively created by Living Books (not being existing book adaptions) included Ruff's Bone (co-produced by Colossal Pictures), Harry and the Haunted House, and a retelling of The Tortoise and the Hare.

Living Books
Founded7 February 1992; 28 years ago
Headquarters
Los Angeles, California, United States
OwnerHoughton Mifflin Harcourt
ParentRandom House/Brøderbund

Atlantan production company Red Rubber Ball (later Little Ark Interactive) created a series of biblical-themes interactive storybooks under contract from Living Books in the late 1990s, and developed under the direction of members of the original Living Books team.

By 2012, Wanderful, Inc. obtained the rights of the series and ported most of them to the iOS platforms[3] and also added additional languages to the products.[4] The digital licenses for Dr. Seuss, The Berenstain Bears, and Little Critter were obtained by Oceanhouse Media, who created their own iOS titles.[5]

The assets are currently licensed by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt.[6] As of 2017, Houghton Mifflin Harcourt is offering the Living Books brand as a licensing opportunity on its website.[7]

Games in the series
Title Author(s) Year Other Language(s) Number of Consecutive Pages Notes
Just Grandma and Me, 1983 Mercer Mayer February 7, 1992 (Tandy VIS/Macintosh)
April 10, 1992 (Windows)
  • (V 1.0)
  • (V 2.0)
  • (V 2.0)
  • (V 2.0)
 12
  • Released on the Tandy Video Information System console a few months earlier before being released on PC/Mac.
  • Version 2.0 released in 1997, which includes an increased resolution and a game. Version 2.0 also features a different Spanish dub, and is Castilian as opposed to Latin.
  • In Brazil, it was only released in 1998 after Delta Publishing acquired a contract to translate the Living Books to Portuguese (as "Livros Vivos")[8]
Arthur's Teacher Trouble, 1986 Marc Brown October 1, 1992 (PC)
2012 (iOS)
24 Originally, Mark Schlicting was going to make a Noddy book instead of this one, but he loved the Arthur story so much that he decided to stick with the latter.
The New Kid on the Block, 1984 Jack Prelutsky and James Stevenson September 12, 1993 (PC)
2014 (iOS)		 17
Little Monster at School, 1978 Mercer Mayer December 10, 1993 (Philips CD-i)
July 18, 1994 (PC/Mac)
2012 (iOS)		 18 Released on the Philips CD-i console a few months earlier before being released on PC/Mac.
The Tortoise and the Hare, 1993 Aesop's Fables December 24, 1993 (PC)
2012 (iOS)		 12 The first original Living Books game that is not based on any existing books as Mark Schlichting, founder of Living Books, created this retelling of the fable. This version uses humorous twists and cartoon animal characters.
Ruff's Bone, 1994 Eli Noyes May 13, 1994 (PC)
2013 (iOS)
12 The second original Living Books story, co-produced by Colossal Pictures and written by Eli Noyes.
Arthur's Birthday, 1989 Marc Brown June 24, 1994 (PC)
2013 (iOS)		 13 Version 2.0 released in 1997, which includes an increased resolution and two minigames.
Harry and the Haunted House, 1987 Mark Schlichting July 22, 1994 (PC)
2012 (iOS)		 12 The third Living Books game that is not based on anyone's books. This is the only original Living Books story that was officially created by Mark Schlichting, founder of Living Books. This was actually written and published as a paperback book.
The Berenstain Bears Get in a Fight, 1982 Stan and Jan Berenstain July 28, 1995 (PC)
2013 (iOS)		 11
Dr. Seuss's ABC, 1963 Dr. Seuss August 11, 1995 (PC)
2016 (iOS)		 26 Sing-a-long is included. It appeared on Adventure Workshop: Preschool-1st Grade, and Tots. This title is one out of four books released by Software MacKiev for the iOS version. The iOS version is not on the App Store anymore to prevent confusion over the similar-titled Oceanhouse Media app.
Sheila Rae, the Brave, 1987 Kevin Henkes May 17, 1996
12 A game and 7 sing-a-longs are included.
The Berenstain Bears in the Dark, 1982 Stan and Jan Berenstain June 14, 1996 (PC)
2013 (iOS)		 12 2 games are included.
Green Eggs and Ham, 1960 Dr. Seuss July 26, 1996 (PC)
2016 (iOS)		 19 3 games are included. This title is one out of four books released by Software MacKiev for the iOS version. The iOS version is not on the App Store anymore to prevent confusion over the similar-titled Oceanhouse Media app.
Stellaluna, 1993 Jannell Cannon August 23, 1996 (PC)
2015 (iOS)		 14 A game is included. This title is one out of four books released by Software MacKiev for the iOS version.
Arthur's Reading Race, 1996 Marc Brown February 21, 1997 12 3 games are included.
The Cat in the Hat, 1957 Dr. Seuss August 15, 1997 (PC)
2016 (iOS)		 12 A game is included. This title is one out of four books released by Software MacKiev for the iOS version. The iOS version is not on the App Store anymore to prevent confusion over the similar-titled Oceanhouse Media app.
Arthur's Computer Adventure, 1997 Marc Brown June 19, 1998 16 5 games are included.
D.W. the Picky Eater, 1995 Marc Brown September 18, 1998 10 Also known as Arthur's Adventures With D.W.. New menu system. Four games are included.

Availability

Brøderbund released two compilations of the stories under the line "Three for Me Library™". The first volume contained "Sheila Rae, the Brave", "Just Grandma and Me", and "Little Monster at School",[10] while the second volume contained "The Berenstain Bears Get in a Fight", "Tortoise and the Hare", and "Harry and the Haunted House".[11]

Several former Brøderbund leaders have released selected titles as fully interactive animated applications for Apple mobile devices, as well as for Android as Wanderful Interactive Storybooks.

Reception

Critical reception

Computer Gaming World in 1993 praised Just Grandma and Me and Arthur's Teacher Trouble, describing Living Books as "Broderbund's acclaimed series".[12] Publishers Weekly, in a review of Dr. Seuss' ABC, called that title "one of the best children's CD-ROMs to date" and stated that, "[...] the producers' fondness for Dr. Seuss and their fidelity to his sense of refined silliness spill into every sequence."[13] Simson L. Garfinkel and Beth Rosenberg found that the CD-ROMs played better on Macs than on PCs. Although they found the titles to be of high quality in a market flooded with "questionable" releases for children, they stated that not all of them lived up to the company's educational claims (noting Dr. Seuss' ABC, Hop on Pop and Arthur's Reading Race as exceptions) and felt that the added dialogue supplementing the book's text was sometimes "out of character".[14] Arthur's Teacher Trouble, The Tortoise and the Hare, Ruff's Bone, and Little Monster at School all received a very high score of over 90.00 in the book CD-ROMs Rated by Les Kranz; in the review for Little Monster at School, the graphics and the number of clickable areas were described as positives.[15]

Commercial performance

By 1995, Mercer Mayer's "Just Grandma and Me" had sold over 400,000 copies since its debut.[16]

See also

References
  1. "1995 Online Annual Report". Broderbund. 1995. Archived from the original on April 11, 1997. Retrieved September 22, 2018.
  2. Series Review "THE LIVING BOOKS Series by Living Books/Broderbund." McMath, Chuck. Game Bytes Vol 1. Num. 21. 1994. Retrieved March 24, 2007.
  3. "Wanderful Storybooks on the App Store". iTunes. Retrieved April 12, 2017.
  4. "Wanderful Storybooks - Living Books". Wanderful Storybooks. Retrieved April 12, 2017.
  5. "Oceanhouse Media Apps". Oceanhouse. Retrieved April 12, 2017.
  6. "About Us". www.little-ark.com. Retrieved March 5, 2017.
  7. "Licensing Opportunities". Houghton Mifflin Harcourt. Archived from the original on February 14, 2018. Retrieved January 17, 2017.
  8. Zilveti, Marijô (August 19, 1998). "Livros Broderbund vêm em português" [Broderbund Books come in Portuguese]. Informática. Folha de S.Paulo (in Portuguese). Archived from the original on July 1, 2019. Retrieved July 1, 2019.
  9. "Software para crianças traz histórias e jogos" [Kids' Software brings stories and games]. Informática. Folha de S.Paulo (in Portuguese). March 3, 1999. Archived from the original on October 15, 2019. Retrieved July 1, 2019.
  10. Brøderbund (April 12, 1997). "The Three For Me Library Volume 2™". Archived from the original on April 12, 1997. Retrieved September 15, 2019.CS1 maint: unfit url (link)
  11. Brøderbund (April 12, 1997). "The Three For Me Library Volume 2™". Archived from the original on April 12, 1997. Retrieved June 3, 2016.CS1 maint: unfit url (link)
  12. "Forging Ahead or Fit to be Smashed?". Computer Gaming World. April 1993. p. 24. Retrieved July 6, 2014.
  13. "Multimedia Reviews: Dr. Seuss' ABC". Publishers Weekly. New York: Cahners Publishing Company. 242 (35): 41. August 28, 1995. ISSN 0000-0019.
  14. Garfinkel, Simson L.; Beth Rosenberg (February 5, 1998). "Bringing kids' books to life". Boston Globe Online. Globe Newspaper Company. Retrieved November 2, 2009.
  15. Kranz, Les (1994). CD-ROMs Rated: A Guide to the Best and Worst CD ROMs & Multimedia Titles. Laura L. Armer, Adrienne Brown, Joel Gershon, and Pamela Thomasson (Senior Reviewers), and Marjorie Glass, Brian Harrison, Douglas W, Horner, Corolyn Huesman, Dan Laxton, Vivian Laxton, and Josh Sinton (Reviewers). McGraw-Hill. ISBN 0-07-912052-0.
  16. Gillen, Marilyn A. (February 18, 1995). "Kid-Biz Entry". Billboard. Retrieved September 7, 2018.
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