SUMMER DAY
Once upon a time there was a young girl whose name was Solveig. She had a little brother named Alexander and two dogs named Malina and Sausage.
One beautiful summer morning, whilst Solveig was staying at her Auntie’s house, she thought it was a perfect day for a trip to the forest. “Alex would you like to go for a walk to Blueberry Forest?” Solveig asked cheerfully.
Her little brother was just putting a train track together but the moment he heard his sister mention the forest he raised his head with curiosity. “Of course I’d like to go!” he cried, “But Solveig, we’re not supposed to leave our backyard when Auntie is out, and we’re not supposed to go to the forest on our own!”, he pointed out.
Solveig was looking after her little brother that day. “I know that Alex, don’t worry, the day is beautiful and we’ll only have a short trip. We’ll be back before our Auntie’s back from the library! We’ll take Malina and Sausage,” she decided. “We could have a little walk,” she kept planning, “and then picnic later.” Alexander was getting more and more enchanted by the idea of a great, morning walk to the forest with their dogs.
Sausage was very excited too when Solveig told her about their plans. She was a lively, brown dog and full of energy. She knew exactly that the children were not allowed to trips like this, but deep down she was too tempted and curious to not go herself. I’ll be looking after them. I’ll keep my eyes open all the time, she thought.
“What a great idea!”, She said to Malina, “It looks like we are going to have an eventful day! How amazing!” Malina wasn’t sure whether she was happy to go to the forest or not, but just in case she made all the necessary preparations. As the most elegant dog in the area she never left the house before doing her gorgeous hair, turning them into curls so it was the very first thing that she did this morning and probably the only thing.
“Come on let’s go to meet Abby first! I’m sure she would love to go too!” cried Solveig.
As soon as they all were ready Solveig took Alexander and two dogs to meet her best friend, Abby.
Blueberry Friends is a story about group of very good friends, who one day get lost in their neighbouring forest. A story about friendship, love and connections we are making with other people in our lives, as well as incredible adventure, full of thrill and surprises.
When Solveig had first met Abby, the girls connected with each other as strongly as only young girls can do. It was as if they had one soul which had been divided in half and put into two separate bodies. They did so many things together. Spent hours giggling and laughing. Drawing princesses and knights. Doing art and junk modelling. Watching frogs, birds and mini-beasts, running and playing in the garden and fields behind the house, climbing lots of trees and building imaginary houses. But their most favourite thing to do was listening to stories about the forest.
Sometimes in the evening when Abby and her mother were at Auntie’s house, they would all sit together with a nice cup of tea and slice of cake, and Abby’s mother would tell amazing stories about Blueberry Forest. The amazing forest behind Solveig’s old grandparents’ house was always in her mind as a beautiful, enchanting and mysterious place. Some of the very old stories included tales full of strange creatures and furthermore some people claimed they could see ghost like lights and hear chilling sounds coming from within the forest. One particular story, was about a young man who had lost his dog, and without realising, the evening had turned into night. He found himself on the edge of the forest and, out of the corner of his eye, he saw a shape moving between the trees. He came closer thinking that it must be his dog, but as he approached closer he saw a tall woman with light and long hair. She looked at him and asked: “Have you seen my daughter?” Her eyes were green and blue. There was something incredible and unreal in the way she looked, so the young man said nothing and ran away. The next day the dog came back all covered in leaves. “Are all those stories true?”, Solveig asked her mum once, when her mum, little Alex and she were travelling home after their Christmas holiday which they spent with Auntie. “No, they’re just stories” said her mum “but still, I don’t want you or Alexander go anywhere near that forest on your own.”
Children love magical stories and story is the main focus of the app. They can read it or have it read to them. They can interact with the story and the characters, move things around, change and create the story as they slide their finger across the screen. Blueberry Friends is a tablet game, an interactive book and a source of fun and wisdom. Apart from the main story it will have games and interactive activities with elements of learning and problem solving.
Just then the children reached a big green clearing surrounded with tall trees. Right in the middle of the clearing there was a huge, old, wrinkled tree. When they approached it, a strange thing happened. In the middle of the thick trunk, high above the ground, something rustled and screeched. They all froze with fear. Then a big chunk of the tree opened like a door with a loud squeak. Cheerful light spilled out. In the threshold stood a big grey owl wearing thick, brown glasses.
“Who is wandering around our magnificent forest in this dark wet weather?” said the owl. “Who is so silly to loiter about when the huge storm — A huge, thunderous storm — is coming? I don’t remember a storm like this ever happening here before now. You have to be very careful! This is not an ordinary forest. Bizarre and peculiar things can happen here.”
“Most of the games will be based on maths, logic, programming and science. I’d like particularly focus on programming. I’ve been working as a front end developer for many years I think it’s great for the children to be exposed to it early. It’s going to be for all of the children but maybe with the slight focused on little girls as they are a bit misrepresent in programming even though I know they are very interested. I’ve got 7 year old daughter who called herself coder 🙂 and I know it’s great to have a chance to try.”
Suddenly the girls looked concerned. The little cloud continued to grow bigger and bigger and became more and more grey. It turned dark and ominous. It grew so big that it obstructed the whole sun. The day became dark and cold, and the gentle breeze turned into a strong, cold, howling wind. Dark fog was gathering overhead. “Oh, Solveig”, called Abby with a frightened voice, “a big storm is coming!”
THE HOLLOW IN THE TREE
Solveig looked around. She couldn’t believe how beautiful this place was. The living room was a large, circular room. A row of stained glass windows rounded on top, ran all around the whole room. It was possible to see the forest from every point of the room and to look out on all sides of the world. Some of the windowpanes were very colourful and others were plain. Together they showed a scene of plants, children and grownups.
It has to be absolutely gorgeous in here on sunny days with all the light coming through that stained glass, thought Solveig.
The floor was covered with nice green carpet which resembled spring, yet was softer and lighter. On one side of the living room was the kitchen with a big, cosy-looking stove pressed between two windows. In the middle of the living room was a big, round, soft bed, where, wrapped in a big pink towel, comfortably sat Malina. Abby first helped little Alex to wrap himself in a towel and then sat him on a big, cosy armchair. She had been completely soaked to the bone herself. After making sure little Alex is fine, she sat next to Malina, trying to dry herself.
On the other side of the living room climbed a beautiful, carved staircase. Solveig guessed it had to lead to Owl’s bedroom.
“It’s very bizarre,” she whispered into Sausage’s ear. “This tree looked completely ordinary from the outside. I didn’t notice anything unusual, I didn’t see the door or the windows. What an incredible place!”
