HarperCollins Publishers? interactive application for iPhone and iPod touch that helps children learn to read by taking them on a trip along the rails is available in Apple?s App Store.

The application, created by ArcTouch and based on Donald Crews? award-winning children?s book ?Freight Train,? colors, numbers and words are introduced to young readers through all of the sights and sounds of the railroad. App users can make Mr. Crews? Caldecott Honor illustrations come to life by using the touchscreen interface.

?We wanted to bring a bestselling, award-winning classic book to life by creating a fun, interactive app for preschoolers,? said Diane Naughton, vice president of marketing at HarperCollins Children's Books, New York.

?The Freight Train app has games on every page, reinforcing reading skills, color concepts and shape recognition, word association, memorization, vocabulary and counting,? she said. ?Over 1 million Freight Train books have been sold, and we?re really excited to adapt this classic for the digital space.

?The Freight Train app is aimed at preschoolers, so educators and parents would be the ones making the purchase.?

Curious Puppy provides online educational games and applications for children. By combining books with interactive and fun content, Curious Puppy educates young learners through entertaining and engaging instruction.

All of its apps are designed to develop important educational skills while enhancing the reading experience right in the palm of users? hand.

A division of HarperCollins Publishers, Curious Puppy apps are intended to help fill inquisitive minds with knowledge.

Donald Crews is the Caldecott Honor-winning creator of many bestselling books for preschoolers and toddlers, including Freight Train, Truck and Ten Black Dots, all published by Greenwillow Books.

Get on board
The interactive Freight Train application is designed to make it easy to read along with the story and sing along with familiar songs.

Children can interact with all the cars on the Freight Train as it goes down the track.

ArcTouch's challenge was to preserve the look, feel and experience of Mr. Crews? work of art, while enhancing it to take advantage of the interactive aspects the device offers.

HarperCollins used original artwork, augmented it with new artwork and recorded original music in the style of the train theme in both English and Spanish.

?We feel that although our greatest joy is to read the positive comments from parents on the App Store, we're especially proud of the feedback we got from Donald Crews, the author, about how well we delivered something that preserves the book and expands on it,? Ms. Naughton said.

?We are in the planning process for the promotion of the title for the iPad,? she said.

Final Take
Mr. Crews