Kids these days. They grow up with iPads, smart homes, and now, picture books like “The Intergalactic Journey Home” that utilize mapping technology and NASA images to create “highly personalized story experiences.” And as classic as “Goodnight, Moon” is for older generations, it seems that the literature of our childhood just doesn’t compare to the high-tech bedtime stories of today.
Lost My Name, self-described as a “full-stack” publishing start-up, is comprised of “three sleep-deprived dads (and an uncle),” who simply grew tired of the inadequate selection of interesting (and effective) children’s books on the market. So they became “dadpreneurs,” creating a solution to a problem they’d all experienced firsthand — getting their children (or nieces and nephews) interested in reading.
Lost My Name first exploded onto the literary scene in 2012 upon the release of the firm’s first book, titled “The Little Boy/Girl Who Lost His/Her Name,” which allowed parents to order an actual, name- and gender-specific story for their child, rather than just having to fill in the blank. In just over a year, their debut book surpassed 600,000 in sales, and in 2014, ranked as the UK’s top-selling picture book.
And now, Lost My Name is moving overseas, focusing on American audiences with the publishing of “The Intergalactic Journey Home,” heralded as “the most technically ambitious picture book of all time.” The latest story tells of “an amazing journey from space to [each child’s] front door.” Parents submit their kids’ names and addresses, giving their little tykes a highly stylized story experience that is sure to delight and entertain.
The tale, Lost My Name tells Digital Trends, follows a child and his or her robot companion on an “intergalactic adventure that takes them far from home.” As the child makes her way back through the universe, she sees familiar pictures from her country, city, street, and ultimately front door. This, Lost My Name explains, is achieved by “leveraging unique mapping technology and even images from NASA.”
And while technology is clearly an integral component of the book, there’s a certain sense of nostalgia baked into “The Intergalactic Journey Home” as well — after all, this isn’t a story that you read on a tablet. Rather, it plays a supporting role, and rather encourages families to “to have a traditional and treasured story time” with a physical book.
“The Intergalactic Journey Home” is tech meets children’s literature in the best way possible. What could go wrong?
