Book Creator launched in September 2011, which means amazingly we're now celebrating our 10th anniversary!
They do say that time flies when you're having fun. After several months spent developing an app called 'My Story Book' (the original prototype), in September 2011 I launched Book Creator onto Apple's App Store. It's incredible how fast the next 10 years passed by.
Press play below to watch my message. Read all the way to the end of this post for details of a special anniversary giveaway!
Reflecting on the past 10 years
At Book Creator, we really do have the best jobs in the world. Seeing the impact that we've made on teachers and students across the world is humbling, and so gratifying. This app, which I originally built to help my son with his dyslexia, has gone on to become an invaluable tool in so many classrooms, in so many different situations.
If you've not done so before, I'd invite you to take a look at the Book Creator story, which documents the journey we've been on - the milestones, the awards, the updates... and more.
We spent some time recently catching up with some of the educators that have worked closely with us over the past 10 years to get their reflections - here are some of them.
Over ten years ago, as iPads took off, I remember looking for an app that would meaningfully let students DO things but without a steep learning curve. The barriers between the physical and virtual worlds had essentially been lifted thanks to the camera and microphone, but how to get everything into one product seemed elusive - until Book Creator emerged. At the time, I was doing professional development workshops with teachers, trying to help them understand why this new device would be such a benefit to their students. Book Creator sat at the heart of that work. I had one app where students could draw, type, record audio, and add photos. Teachers could easily learn how to use it, and students required minimal instruction. It was amazing how something so simple could be so powerful. While the app today can do so much more, and on more devices, I'm always comforted to know that as soon as I open it, I feel like I'm back in a familiar creative space. The elegant simplicity of the app combined with the powerful ways in which it empowers students and educators is certainly central to its longevity. Congratulations to the two Dans for making what we so desperately needed and for keeping it going.Dr. Beth Holland
For the last ten years, I have used Book Creator in my kindergarten classroom as well as in professional learning activities for educators. It is a versatile tool for all ages that allows for creativity across all subjects and all grades. Creators Dan Kemp and Dan Amos have a real passion for education and have developed a product that is unsurpassed in the education app world. I'm honored to be a part of the Book Creator Ambassadors! Happy 10th Anniversary Book Creator!Dr. Kristi Meeuwse, Apple Distinguished Educator and Book Creator Ambassador
Joe Moretti, iPad in Education Consultant
There are a lot of tech tools out there, but I feel that the best ones are those that give teachers and students flexibility in how they work and learn, and those that empower us to share our ideas with the world beyond our classrooms. Book Creator is one of those tools. It's simple to learn and use, so it doesn't get in the way of my focus on ideas, curriculum, and learning. I've gotten to know the developer team over the years, too, and know that they care deeply about teachers and students. It's no wonder why they continue to develop a high quality product that has our success in mind.Michael Hernandez, Apple Distinguished Educator, PBS Lead Digital Innovator
Wow !! Amazing!! I still remember meeting you in 2013 at the ADE institute ! I was star struck! Still love @BookCreatorApp pic.twitter.com/pnyAjntiCY
— Tanya Avrith ❤️🖤 #AdobeEduCreative (@TanyaAvrith) September 2, 2021
WOAH 🤯‼️
— Ann Kozma (@annkozma723) September 2, 2021
This is AWESOME!!!
Happy 🔟th @BookCreatorApp 🎉
Sending big love your way, friends! 💚 pic.twitter.com/jT1rkTc1ED
Book Creator is a fantastic tool for student creators at all levels, in any subject area! It has been so much fun seeing all of the growth and release of new features over the past decade. I love how flexible Book Creator is -- and how teachers have embraced this powerful tool to capture student learning. Students love hearing their own voice as a recording on a page, choosing the perfect picture for their book cover, and sharing their unique creation with friends and family. I can't wait to see what the next ten years bring for student creators around the world!Monica Burns, Ed.D.
Book Creator provides a wonderful creative tool for teachers and students of all ages that runs beautifully on Chromebooks. The app's design offers a seamless blend of touch and web interaction patterns that make it feel natural on all types of devices. Book Creator is well integrated with Google Workspace, provides advanced functionalities like text to speech with Google Cloud technologies, and is easily deployed at scale by any administrator.Andy Russell, Product Lead - Chrome OS Education Team, Google
Book Creator continues to be a wonderful simplistic yet powerful solution for people of all ages, creativity levels and imaginations. It’s a solution that when I show it I know everyone in the audience will be able to create content quickly and effectively. Happy 10th birthday and many thanks to the people behind the book that continue to improve Book Creator while providing valued support to its user base.Leslie Fisher, Director, lesliefisher.com
Book Creator in numbers:
v1.5 - the first version of Book Creator released to the public.
We reached 1 million books made in Book Creator in August 2013, two years after launch. Within 18 months we reached 10 million books, and now, ten years on, we have surpassed more than 100 million books made by students and teachers across the world!
That's over 3 million teachers and students using Book Creator in their classrooms and beyond each month.
Book Creator for iPad reached no.1 in the App Store in over 90 countries.
In the US, 86% of all districts (with over 100 teachers) have at least one teacher using Book Creator! We estimate around 10% of all the teachers in the US are using Book Creator in their classrooms.
For the first few years of Book Creator's existence it was just the 2 Dans running the show, we now have more than 20 employees spread across the US and UK (and we're now up to 3 individual Dans).
Beyond that, the Book Creator family has increased to over 1,000 Ambassadors worldwide.
Dan is the founder of Tools for Schools and the Chief Product Officer of Book Creator. He is married to the children’s author Ally Kennen, and they have 4 great kids.
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20 Comments on “Book Creator turns 10 years old!”
Happy 10th birthday. Book Creator is an amazing tool. There are plenty of apps and resources out there, but I love this one for its visual attractiveness and endless possibilities. Well done!
Thank you! Wow! My kids have been so proud to see their first ebook!
Bonjour, je suis Sandrine , enseignante de FLE pour les enfants et j’utilise Bookcreator pour mes cours. C’est fantastique , les élèves adorent pour eux c’est ludique et pour l’apprentissage du lexique en français c’est très interactif ? Pour nous les enseignants c’est d’une utilisation très simple et de qualité? Par ces temps ou la pandémie touche le monde de l’enseignement, avec les confinements et re-confinements, enseigner en ligne avec un tel outil est merveilleux . Merci beaucoup. Joyeux anniversaire Bookcreator
Merci!
I’m very happy to have discovered BookCreator. I’m using it with my students !
Donatella Amadei
I love book creator for so many reasons but during remote teaching it was an invaluable app for my writers in 2nd grade, and am forever grateful that my student with dyslexia could be successful!!
I will offer it in person as a co- curricular class for grades 1-3!
Thank you!!
BookCreator is my favorite tool. Me and my students follow it with love. You can’t imagine what a great contribution he made. Thanks for everything💞💐
Book Creator has been a godsend during our recent Covid Lockdown in NZ. It is super user-friendly, allows creativity with layouts and has hooked in even our most reluctant writers! Kia Kaha Book Creator!
Book Creator is inspiring and gives students a platform to show off their creativity and understanding.
He utilizado book creator para la elaboración de cuentos y comic de mis alumnos de la clase de Español. ha sido una gran herramienta porque aparte de practicar su redacción demuestran toda la creatividad que tienen al elaborar su proyecto y posteriormente compartirlo con alumnos de su grado y con alumnos de grados pequeños al agregar el audio y compartirlos.
Tambien lo han utilizado como base para sus presentaciones de oratoria. Realmente disfrutan trabajar con Book Creator. Mil gracias.
¡Gracias!
I love to enter the giveaway but I don’t use any social media. That is a shame. I recommended book creator to many colleagues in different universities. I found myself teaching them how to use it frequently. Sometimes, I joke that I should get commission from Book Creator. However, I will continue to use Book Creator because it is a very good tool and my students love it.
Thanks so much for your support. I’m sorry we had to use social media for the giveaway to make sure we didn’t get thousands of students entering!
Woah!
So excited to be a part of Book Creator Team.
It has enhanced the reading and writing ability of my students and gave them a wing to fly and feel like an author.
Love and Thanks .
Happy Birthday BookCreator. I love you. Thank you for providing an amazing platform to create our own e books. My students are always excited to create books on their own. many more 10+ birthdays to you. Hurrrrreeeeeyyyy
Happy anniversary to the Book Creator! Hopefully we in Indonesia can be a part of you.
Happy Birthday my dear Book Creator. Its an amazing platform for me to apply it in teaching and learning session. Its a fantastic application and almost created 40-50 books.thank you..
Happy Birthday BOOKCREATOR! In my opiniom you are the best ICT tool for creating books with kids. So Happy I met you:)
Book Creator is an inspiring platform and gives students voice and choice to show off their creativity and understanding.
My students love Book Creator. It allows them a unique platform to display their creativity and learning, while being fun and engaging at the same time.