NEW YORK, May 20, 2016 /PRNewswire/ -- Global learning
company Houghton Mifflin Harcourt (HMH), announced today that its
interactive content service Curious World™ is now
available on Apple TV. The service will be accessible on the newest
generation Apple TV device, released in late 2015. The new offering
extends availability of Curious World's multimedia platform, making
its ever-growing library of playful learning content accessible on
three screens for one subscription price.
Curious World offers children an expansive collection of games,
videos and eBooks mapped to key learning areas. Parents are
encouraged to be active participants in the learning experience;
through the "parent dashboard," parents can track their children's
progress, learn more about their interests and even see
recommendations for how to extend the learning journey through
offline activity.
With Apple TV, Curious World takes parental engagement yet one
step further. By transferring classic children's books to the
television screen, complete with vibrant illustrations and audio
capabilities like read-along functionality and sound-effects,
Curious World creates a new model for family "story time" and
encourages togetherness. Content is simple to explore and organized
into kid-friendly categories including Animals, Cooking, Crafts,
Space, Wheels, eBooks and Videos. The experience also provides
additional viewing suggestions after each eBook or video based on
their interests. Initially, only the videos and books from the
mobile version will be available on Apple TV, with games to come
later this year.
In addition, Curious World has recently introduced new features
that make personalization, discovery and navigation within the app
even easier, including a robust recommendation engine and enhanced
search functionality. Using an intuitive and dynamic algorithm, the
recommendation engine draws upon a child's progress and interest in
key subject areas and serves up fresh, relevant content for future
exploration.
Curious World's extensive library includes close to 1000 titles,
including originally produced games, original video series and
books, as well as licensed titles from best of breed partners, and
it continues to grow. The app's content is curated and created by
HMH's internal development team of education experts and
award-winning creative partners such as Bix Pix and CloudKid, and
also includes licensed programming from leading kids' content
providers like National Geographic, Storybots, Caspar Babypants,
PBS Kids and Young Rembrandts.
"Curious World encourages parents to share in their child's
learning journey," said CJ Kettler, Chief of Consumer Brands and
Strategy, HMH. "With the launch of Curious World on Apple TV, our
goal is to expand traditional conventions around 'story time' by
offering another layer of family engagement. We recognize that
parental involvement is key in early learning, and Apple TV offers
another opportunity, beyond mobile devices and tablets, to
cultivate a trustworthy, safe learning digital environment that
balances screen-time with activities that families can enjoy
together offline as well."
All content within Curious World aligns to eight key learning
areas (science, math, language and literacy, health and wellness,
creative expression, social emotional, executive function, and
family community). The content offering is designed to give kids a
balanced learning experience across these essential learning areas,
and provide parents with the confidence that programming will be
educational, relevant and fun to their young learners.
Curious World is a subscription-based experience for kids aged
two to seven. The app can be downloaded for free from the App
Store℠ with sample content and features. Access to the full
customized content experience is available for only $7.99 per month or $64.99 per year. The companion site, where
parents can learn more about their child's personal learning
journey, can be found at www.curiousworld.com.
About Houghton Mifflin Harcourt
Houghton Mifflin Harcourt
(NASDAQ:HMHC) is a global learning company dedicated to changing
people's lives by fostering passionate, curious learners. As a
leading provider of pre-K–12 education content, services, and
cutting-edge technology solutions across a variety of media, HMH
enables learning in a changing landscape. HMH is uniquely
positioned to create engaging and effective educational content and
experiences from early childhood to beyond the classroom. HMH
serves more than 50 million students in over 150 countries
worldwide, while its award-winning children's books, novels,
non-fiction, and reference titles are enjoyed by readers throughout
the world. For more information, visit www.hmhco.com.
Follow HMH on Twitter, Facebook and YouTube.
Curious George®, created by Margret
and H. A. Rey, is copyrighted and trademarked by Houghton
Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights
reserved. IPhone and IPad are trademarks of Apple Inc.,
registered in the U.S. and other countries. App Store is a service
mark of Apple Inc. Curious World™, Houghton Mifflin
Harcourt™, and HMH® are trademarks or registered trademarks of
Houghton Mifflin Harcourt.
Forward Looking Statements
This news release may
contain certain statements that are not historical facts, including
information regarding our intentions, beliefs or current
expectations concerning, among other things, our results of
operations, financial condition, liquidity, prospects, growth,
strategies, the industry in which we operate and potential business
decisions. Those statements constitute "forward-looking
statements" within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation
Reform Act of 1995. Forward-looking statements involve known
and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors that could cause
our actual results to differ materially from the results expressed
in or implied by our forward-looking statements, including, but not
limited to, changes in state and local education funding and/or
related programs, legislation and procurement processes; adverse or
worsening economic trends or the continuation of current economic
conditions; changes in consumer demand for, and acceptance of, our
products; industry cycles and trends; conditions and/or changes in
the publishing industry; and other factors discussed in our news
releases, public statements and/or filings with the U.S. Securities
and Exchange Commission, including our most recent Annual and
Quarterly Reports on Form 10-K and Form 10-Q. We undertake no
obligation, and do not expect, to publicly update or publicly
revise any forward-looking statement, whether as a result of new
information, future events or otherwise.
MEDIA CONTACT
Leah
Riviere
Manager, Corporate Communications
Houghton Mifflin Harcourt
617-351-5020
Leah.Riviere@hmhco.com
Logo - http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20151116/287902LOGO
To view the original version on PR Newswire,
visit:http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/curious-world-now-available-on-apple-tv-offers-families-a-new-approach-to-story-time-300272243.html
SOURCE Houghton Mifflin Harcourt