HarperCollins Children's launches app for Google Assistant

HarperCollins Children’s Books UK has launched a voice-activated app on Google Assistant for children’s audiobooks.

StoryCastle launched on Thursday (7th June) and is available on Google Assistant’s new Apps for Families developer platform and will allow children to access free audio content and new stories every day. StoryCastle will be available to Google Home users in the UK, US, Canada and Australia.

Every day two audiobooks will be streamed for 24 hours. Stories will be available in two different areas of StoryCastle: The Blue Garden will feature the full text of a classic picture book for younger children, while visitors to the Red Tower will find the first chapter of a classic title for older children. All content is free at the point of access and, after listening to their daily titles, adults will be offered more information about the titles or the opportunity to purchase them from the Google Play Audiobook store.

The project which was developed by HarperCollins’ digital innovation and project director Nick Coveney, who was recently recruited by Kobo as its  publisher relations and content lead for the UK, Australia and New Zealand.

Google Assistant is a virtual assistant developed by the US technology company that is mostly available on mobile and smart home devices.