Chipmunk and a bestselling children’s author have launched a new novel written entirely on a Nokia mobile phone to help encourage young people to get reading as recent figures show that one in three children do not own a book.
The book, The Perfect Poison Pills Plot is written by Horrid History author, Terry Deary, and narrated by Chipmunk in a special video. The miniature novel was written directly on to a Nokia E6 mobile phone.
The story was launched to help encourage young people, who happily spend countless hours texting, to get back to reading in a fun way.
Terry Deary said: ‘Writing a novel directly onto a phone was an interesting way to work – it’s certainly not my usual method! But I found myself enjoying it; using stolen moments on the train or bus to add to the story of The Perfect Poison Pills Plot. It demonstrates just how easy it can be to have a creative outlet wherever you are, particularly for today’s young adults, who are so inherently familiar with technology.’
The Nokia short story is a black comedy aimed at young adults and was inspired by the popular Japanese ‘keitai’ or mobile phone short stories, which are written on mobile phones and each chapter is only 70-100 words long. They can be sent direct to a mobile phone through text messages.
Rapper Chipmunk added: ‘I’m used to writing my own lyrics but it was great to be in front of the camera, speaking to kids who may not necessarily reach for a physical book to kick back to. Terry’s an inspiring man to work with and I hope together we can encourage more young people to read.’
Nokia is also encouraging budding writers to submit their own keitai short stories for the chance to win a brand new Nokia QWERTY smartphone plus signed copies of Terry Deary’s book, Put Out the Light and Chipmunk’s latest album, Transition. Enter here.
The first two parts of the story have been revealed, and the third and fourth will be released tomorrow and Saturday.
By Rykesha Hudson