Being a child in today’s world is very complex. With digital sources of entertainment available in seconds, children are becoming increasingly distant from socialization with others and less frequently turn to tangible objects for learning and recreation.

As part of a collaborative project in the Design program at Concordia University, our team chose to offer a positive contribution to this issue. We were given special access to several short stories written by a grandfather to his seven-year-old grandson, all of which had the grandson as the main character exploring various adventures across the world and the galaxy.

We chose to investigate and interpret the short story “Doctor Charlie and his Magic Foot”. The final design was composed of a dynamic paper book which could be read in three different ways: 1) with our sketched-out version of the text, 2) with specific animated words, and 3) with watercolour mood paintings. The objective of this project was to encourage families to turn to tangible objects to entertain their children, and lessen the use of digital items to do so. Furthermore, it created the opportunity for children and their elders to share a bonding storytelling session that both parties can cherish.