Houghton Mifflin Harcourt is using mobile games to let parents and children interact with their favorite characters from the Gossie and Friends and the Curious George book series.

The series of mobile games let preschool-aged kids build the skills and lessons being taught in the classroom and at home. The mobile applications are available in the App Store for both the iPhone ($2.99) and iPad ($3.99).

?Houghton Mifflin Harcourt is committed to building innovative solutions to better engage parents and help them support the education of their children outside of the classroom,? said Tony Bordon, president of the Learning Company, New York. ?HMH created The Learning Company to help parents effectively engage in their children?s learning before they start school and to support and motivate them while in school. 

?The Learning Company is focused on reaching parents and students with fun and engaging products that build upon the skills and lessons being taught in the classroom and at home,? he said.

Houghton Mifflin Harcourt is a global education and learning company that provides innovative approaches to the challenges facing education today.

Mobile learning
The company is releasing four games including Go George Go, George?s Curious Climb, Gossie?s Eggcellent Parade and Ollie Ollie Oxen Free.

The Go George Go game lets users begin the game by dressing George in their favorite ensemble and then helping him navigate his vehicle through a series of mazes.

According to Houghton, the game senses how a child wants to play ? tilting or dragging ? and sets them off to avoid obstacles, unlock passages and guide George out of the maze and on his next journey. 

The George?s Curious Climb game lets players tap on the buildings to help George climb up to the top and wash the dirty windows while trying to dodge obstacles such as kitties, flocks of birds and bouncing balls.

Gossie?s Eggcellent Parade lets kids choose an outfit for Gossie by mixing and matching hundreds of clothing combinations to get her ready for a barnyard paradge.

Additionally, the Ollie Ollie Oxen Free game is a hide-and-seek game and uses the iPhone 4?s gyroscope feature to rotate the character bodies while holding the device at a 180-degree view of the barnyard.

?There is a growing desire and drive for parents to more actively engage with their children?s learning,? Mr. Bordon said. ?Our first mobile apps allow kids to play and learn untethered on the iPhone, iPad and iPod Touch. 

?These apps give kids the opportunity to further interact and engage with Houghton Mifflin Harcourt?s beloved characters, like Curious George and Gossie,? he said. ?Our intention is to launch all our mobile apps across multiple mobile platforms.?

Houghton is looking to launch additional mobile applications with new characters in 2011.

?Eventually The Learning Company?s products will encompass online and mobile educational games, virtual worlds, academic achievement resources, and remediation and support content,? Mr. Bordon said. ?We will also have a Web strategy to connect parents in peer-based communities and provide essential support and resources for enhancing their children?s learning experience.

?We intend to have a mobile component for all of these solutions, as we view the mobile channel as an important and valuable way to reach our target customers,? he said.