Beatrix Potter, Ladybird and Moshi Monsters apps on way from Penguin

Publisher says it wants to publish stories on whatever format children want to experience them.

British books publisher Penguin Children's has announced a series of new apps, including a version of Beatrix Potter's The Tale of Peter Rabbit.

Due out in November, the app will add animation, audio and interactivity to the classic tale, complete with hidden extras like a family tree, newspaper cuttings and parallax technology. It's not the first time Peter Rabbit has got an app. Loud Crow Interactive released a pop-out application in the US last year, but it's not available in the UK. The new version is the first to be released under the banner of the book's original publisher Warne.

Meanwhile, Penguin's Ladybird imprint is getting a new app today - First Words: Toddler Touch and Say. It's a language book offering 48 themed words for older babies and toddlers. It joins the existing Peekaboo and Happy Babies apps, as well as the recently released Ladybird Classic Me Books.

Penguin will also be releasing the intriguingly-titled Moshi Monsters Buster's Lost Moshlings in December, based on the hugely popular online gaming world for children. It will be the second Moshi-branded app, following Moshi Monsters MouthOff, which was released in October 2010 by UK studio ustwo.

"We are storytellers and we publish stories for every child, whatever their age, whatever their tastes and in whatever
format they wish to experience it," says Penguin Children's Division MD Francesca Dow.