Early childhood academic internationally recognised for bilingual children’s e-book

A bilingual digital book by an early education researcher at Western Sydney University has been internationally recognised.

The Director of Academic Program for Early Childhood, Dr Kumara Ward, was recently awarded the 2017 Bronze E-Lit medal for her digital novel World Wanderer (opens in a new window).

The book was recognised in two categories; in the Environment, Ecology and Nature, as well as the Children Under 7 category.

World Wanderer (opens in a new window) is the tale of an adventurer who travels across the globe in search of warmer waters.

His story is told through stunning illustrations, text and voice narration in both English and Mandarin, and any combination can be selected through easy access buttons on each page. The whale sounds bring the story alive and are complemented by original songs available through icons.

Dr Ward says she's thrilled that World Wanderer has been recognised.

"The aim of the book was to fill children's imagination with colourful images and sounds and to highlight the wonder of the oceans" says Dr Ward.

"The text and voice overs in Mandarin and English also make it a perfect bilingual learning story."

The eLit Book Awards are an industry-wide, unaffiliated awards program open to all members of the electronic publishing industry and celebrate the ever growing market of electronic publishing in the wide variety of reader formats.

Ends

28 August 2017

Mark Smith, Senior Media Officer