ACS Kids Club President, Lefty, Out with His Very Own Storybook App: Lefty & The Radtastic Road Rally
First Storybook App in Motorsports Aimed at Young Readers is Latest
From Award-Winning Animator Bob Boyle and Bento Box Interactive
Auto Club Speedway, already the leader in youth initiatives in the motorsports industry, will add yet another feather to its cap today with the launch of Lefty & The Radtastic Road Rally interactive storybook app, available for iPad, the racing world’s first storybook app specifically targeting young readers. The storybook app is available free-to-play through the Apple App Store.
With the app, produced by Bento Box Interactive and designed by Emmy®-winning artist Bob Boyle (The Fairly Odd Parents and Wow! Wow! Wubbzy!), readers will get a front row seat to the action as Lefty Turner and his pit crew get ready for race day, which comes alive with animation, music and sound effects. Who will win the race and survive treacherous obstacles including the dreaded Motorcar Monkey Pirates? Will it be the studious Lefty or his hasty rival Righty McRightson?
Features of the app include reading highlighted words along with the narrator, beautifully illustrated and animated pages, touch and swipe interactive pages and a high quality musical score.
The young readers’ initiative builds on a solid foundation already in place at the Auto Club Speedway. These include a yearly “Reading Challenge” in which more than 100,000 elementary school students participated in 2013, a groundbreaking “Lefty’s Fun Zone” at the Speedway, offering everything from hands on educational programs to kid-focused activities, and a successful “Math and Science Day” with hundreds of middle school students spending the day exploring the scientific foundation of racing.
“Reading has been critically linked with success in school and later in life. Our hope is that Lefty’s new storybook app will spark the love of reading in children who may not yet have developed the connection that reading can be fun,” said Gillian Zucker, Auto Club Speedway President. “In addition, by adding a technology component to our reading program with an interactive app, we meet our goal of staying on the cutting edge of what’s next in education.”
This remarkable resource was made possible through a partnership between Auto Club Speedway and Bento Box Interactive, which develops, publishes and markets interactive storytelling experiences. It is the digital media sibling of Bento Box Entertainment, the animation company responsible for Fox’s “Bob’s Burgers,” Comedy Central’s “Brickleberry” and Hulu’s “The Awesomes.”
“At Bento Box Interactive, we make a point of working with creative partners, and so are especially happy to join with Gillian Zucker and the Auto Club Speedway team in their imaginative and ongoing efforts to support Southern California schools,” said Scott Greenberg, President and Co-Founder of Bento Box Interactive. “Using the creative talents of Bob Boyle on Lefty & The Radtastic Road Rally, I’m confident we’ll promote literacy and ignite the imaginations of young race fans.”
Lefty & The Radtastic Road Rally is free-to-play for iPad devices available through the Apple App Store. For more information about the app and Lefty’s Kids Club visit: www.leftyskidsclub.com and www.facebook.com/leftyskidsclub.