Hachette Children’s Group – the revered children’s publishers and publishers of author Enid Blyton, as well as owner of Enid Blyton Entertanment – ha teamed with the Department for Education’s approved reading practise app, Fonetti.
The deal will see a selection of Blyton’s stories uploaded to the Fonetti library, a resource that allows children to practise their reading skills and improve their literacy by listening to them reading aloud and checking their accuracy.
This is the first time ever that Enid Blyton has been part of a digital literacy platform.
Blyton is one of the world’s best-selling children’s authors with sales of her books in excess of 500 million copies, translated into over 40 languages. In the UK she sells more than one book a minute and many of her books have been adapted into films and TV series.
As well as being regularly voted the UK’s best-loved author, according to UNESCO, Enid Blyton is the most translated children’s author in the world.
Children will now be able to access the Blyton stories, which are grouped into three categories: summertime stories, animal stories and magic and mischief stories, using the Fonetti App (fonetti.com), with each bundle of stories costing £7.99.
Fonetti’s Kim Antoniou, said: “We are delighted to be able to offer our Fonetti readers these stories, from one of the best loved children’s authors of all time.
“Literacy is the cornerstone of every child’s life. Without it, children (and adults) are held back at every stage. The ability to read is a vital life skill and the Fonetti App aims to promote reading, particularly reading aloud, and language skills to children from four to nine years of age. Being able to offer Enid Blyton titles, alongside our many other authors, will help us to enhance and grow our reader base.”
Karen Lawler, head of brand strategy and licensed content, Hachette Children’s Group, added: “We are delighted to be working with Fonetti to help ensure even more children have access to Enid Blyton’s world-famous stories.
“Fonetti’s ability to recognise children’s words as they read aloud has the potential to build reading accuracy and fluency. Enid Blyton’s stories have been used to develop literacy skills for generations of children, so we felt it was the perfect fit.”
