By Dearbhla Parry
A small Cooraclare book company is launching a campaign to deliver free books to 100,000 school children across Ireland, starting in Clare.
Knook Books is a small company that creates hyper-personalised storybooks for children using artificial intelligence. The books are tailored to pre-school and primary school children and can feature “Pixar-style” illustrations of relatives, friends, and even their favourite toys or activities. Co-founder Tommy Courtney said, “They’re the heroes of their own stories.”
The Kook Book Drop Campaign began only a few weeks ago in Clare with the goal to provide books to 100,000 children in Ireland over the next year. For the campaign, Knook Books will work directly with local and national businesses and teachers to sponsor and distribute their books to school children, and have previously been sponsored by Riverside, the Design Bank, and SuperValu. Businesses are given the
opportunity to get “brand awareness” while also “supporting the local community”.
The next “drop” of books for schools will take place in September, which will discuss what will be involved in the year ahead. However, Knook Books claimed that children also enjoy their books toward the end of the school year as an “end-of-year gift from their teachers and the school”. Books cost €20 to make and sell for around €30, depending on the story. Businesses interested in sponsoring and providing stories to schools can buy the books in bulk at a discounted price. With the campaign, students are given books for free and are presented with them by the businesses.
“It’s lovely for the businesses and the schools to get presented with their books and every child gets to take one home.”
The company of three started 15 months ago when Courtney found a way to entertain his son whilst encouraging him to read. After “playing around” with the idea of personalised children’s stories, the concept “resonated” with other parents too. Since then, books have been sent to schools in Cooraclare, Creegh, Kilmihil, Milltown, and Doonbeg.
Courtney said, “There's not a huge amount of representation in books for children with additional needs”, whereas with Knook Book’s stories, children’s needs and reading levels are tailored.
“We just get so many lovely stories about how our books have become their go-to bedtime story at night”.
To order or sponsor Knook Books for your child or school, you can visit their website app.knook.io.
