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June 28, 2022 • 3 Minute Read

Feedback is Gold.

“THE NEXT ONE SHOULD BE A TIGER!!!” I still remember seeing this subject line roaring at me from my inbox. I blinked twice. Huh? And then I clicked and realized it was an email from a librarian requesting a new animal for my Peek-a-Zoo series (on behalf of a child during a digital story time). I remember thinking, “What a great idea!” And then I remember wishing I could ask the child what other animals he wanted see.
As an indie app developer, thoughts and feedback from children (and librarians!) are like gold–precious, sometimes hard to come by, and something you can never have enough of. It’s valuable in that I can often see my questions answered almost instantaneously. Is the lion roar too scary? (No.) Will they tap on the faucet? (Yes.) Is it too hard to tap on that arrow? (Yes.) But even more precious are the things blurted out during play. Why isn’t there a tiger?! Why doesn’t the tractor move? I want to hear the train whistle! So many updates to our apps were inspired from questions like these. The idea for “Peek-a-Zoo Underwater” was born from one disappointed user’s adamant declaration, “I only want to see underwater animals!”
These kinds of heart-felt reactions are what actually inspired me to start making apps. When my son was a year old, one of his favorite books was Dear Zoo by Rod Campbell. The story is simple. It starts with, “I wrote to the zoo to send me a pet. They sent me an……” and then with each subsequent spread, we are greeted with special deliveries from the zoo–a basket, a box, a blue crate, a green crate, each represented by a durable flap that encourages the child to discover for himself what’s hiding in the box. Every night, my son and I would sit down with Dear Zoo, and with each new page/package, my son would grab the flap and open it with such zeal, it was as if it were opening it for the very first time. We read so many books, but nothing seemed to capture his attention and his imagination like Dear Zoo.
These kinds of reactions are what I strive for with every app I make–a desire to see more (a tiger!!), to do more (“I want to see a real sting ray!”), and to discover (more underwater animals!). And it’s in this regard that I feel apps and books go hand in hand. A digital app is a natural extension of a physical book, and like books, there are thousands (and perhaps soon millions) of titles to choose from. Who better to cull the pile than a librarian? And who better to inform app developers on what kids (and librarians) might enjoy or need from their apps?

This text was originally featured here:

THE NEXT ONE SHOULD BE A TIGER!!! Thoughts from a kids’ app developer, by Jenny Talavera

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]]> From Mom to App Developer https://treebettykids.com/mom-to-app-developer/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=mom-to-app-developer Wed, 29 Jun 2022 23:01:43 +0000 https://treebettykids.com/?p=31898

June 28, 2022 • 3 Minute Read

How I started making apps.

Another question people always ask me is “How did you start making apps? Aren’t you a graphic designer?!” Like the question I answered in my last blog post, I feel like this too is a long story. But the short of it is this: It’s true – I’m a graphic designer. I was also a bit nerdy growing up so I know how to program. And I also had a baby right around the same time the iPhone came out. The combination of those 3 things is how I started making apps.

The long version of the story began with my son’s favorite bedtime story when he was 6 months old. Dear Zoo by Rod Campbell. The story is very simple – it about a boy and a zoo and these mysterious boxes/crates/baskets that he keeps receiving. Each one is a flap that let’s the child discover for himself what’s hiding in the box. Each time we would read the book, my son would grab each flap and open it with such zeal and surprise, it was as if it were the first time he had ever seen the book. I, of course, would join in the fun and thrown in a ‘roar” when he opened the flap with the lion. Or a ‘woof’ when he opened the box with the puppy. Reading/acting out this book filled both of us with such joy and it was easily the highlight of our story time. We also loved reading Bear on a Bike, Goodnight Moon, the Hungry Caterpillar and various other classics, but nothing seemed to capture his attention and his imagination like ‘Dear Zoo.’
Around the same time that we were wearing out the flaps on poor Dear Zoo, I had also gotten my first iPhone. As overwhelmed as I was being a first time parent, I was even more overwhelmed by the excitement I felt when I discovered the world of apps that came with this new ‘toy.’ I was amazed by its gorgeous interface and quickly saw the potential for great kids apps with beautiful content. I searched and searched and to my surprise, I could barely find any apps of quality on par with Dear Zoo or any of our favorite books. How could this be possible I wondered?

And so, it was from this disappointment that I found an opportunity. I decided if I couldn’t find great apps for my son, I would try and make one myself! Never mind that I couldn’t draw and hadn’t programmed in 20 years.

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]]> What’s a ‘treebetty’? https://treebettykids.com/whats-a-treebetty/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=whats-a-treebetty Wed, 29 Jun 2022 18:30:19 +0000 https://treebettykids.com/?p=31896

June 28, 2022 • 3 Minute Read

What’s a ‘treebetty’?

Without fail, one of the first questions I get when I give someone my business card or email address is “What’s treebetty?” I’m always tempted to say, ‘oh that’s my mother’s maiden name’ or ‘that’s the town where I grew up in West Virginia’ but what often comes out is “It’s a long story” in the hope that they’re far too busy for a long explanation. Usually, they are too busy, but curiosity gets the best of them and they look at me expectantly.

So travel with me back to 1996. Back to a time of Netscape Gold and the early days of the web. Back then, I was two years out of college and living in Boston’s Back Bay. One of my favorite things to do on the weekends was go to my local cafe and will the time away with a good book or the newspaper. One Saturday in particular, I was sitting at a neighborhood cafe readying the paper in my favorite orange sweater and scarf when I heard someone noisily sit down at the table next to me. I looked up and thought ‘uh oh’ to myself. The person who had just sat down was a someone I would often see around the neighborhood. Without fail, he would be carrying a heavy shoulder bag (think Don Draper carry-on luggage, only not new) and have a possessed look in his eye. And now those eyes were staring at me from the next table and his luggage was on his lap.

I thought to myself. No problem. Just ignore him! So that’s what I did. I kept reading. Kept sipping my coffee. Kept acting natural. Kept not noticing him sitting there. Nope, he wasn’t staring at me or anything. And yet he kept staring! Perhaps 5 minutes went by. It seemed like 50. Suddenly he picks up the luggage and dumps its contents on the table. I had to look. To my relief, the table was now covered with old notebooks and boxes of crayons. No weapons or dead animals! Rejoice! And then to my surprise, he then picked up one of the notebooks, began staring at me again, and furiously started scribbling in it.

So again I thought to myself. You’ll be fine. Just ignore him. Again I kept reading. Kept sipping my coffee. Kept acting natural. And after 15 minutes I couldn’t take it anymore. In fact, I think I even said that out loud. “I HAVE to see what you’re drawing.”He paused for a moment and then pushed over a chair from his table in invitation. I swapped chairs and he handed me his notebook and what I found completely stunned me. It was a drawing of me. Beautiful lines lines and colors in a picasso-esque style loosely suggested my image. The main focal points of the drawing were my orange sweater and my lips. Not sure why my lips got all that attention, but there they were. ‘I love it’ I told him. “Pick the one you like best,” he said. So I did. And he then ripped it out of his notebook. Wrote ‘treebetty’ on it and then handed it to me. And then treebetty was born.

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