Inspiration
Our journey began with a simple Snoopy book. Growing up with tirelessly working parents to provide for us meant countless sleepless nights and little time for familial connection, such as bedtime stories. For Caleb and his family, receiving a book with his father's voice narrating each page was a lifeline—a source of comfort and love amidst hectic schedules. A heartfelt gesture and a cherished memory, we are inspired by these efforts of love to spread the ability to always be connected to our loved ones. We are on a mission to create an online platform where every child can experience the same warmth and connection through storytelling—book at a time.
Purpose
WhisperedPages is dedicated to busy parents who work night shifts and their children. As first and second generation immigrant children, one aspect of this project that is very important to us is its potential role in preserving our native languages. Growing up without a surrounding community, our parents were our only link to our languages, cultural heritage, and traditions. We hope that by bridging this gap between parents and children, this platform can also be leveraged for families who speak less common languages to preserve that connection and strengthen ties to their cultural identity.
How we built it
We utilized the Google Text to Speech Python library to generate the audio recordings for the ebooks and built our platform using JavaScript, HTML, and CSS.
Project Ethics
We carefully curate the books on WhisperedPages to be appropriate for child audiences which promote values such as kindness, empathy, and selflessness. We require consent from adult users for our app to store personal data, such as voice recordings, on our website. Personal data will always be available for users to access in order to manage or delete recordings to ensure their children’s safety. Text-to-Speech is another alternative for our books to account for different learning preferences, disabilities, and to encourage children to continue reading in the case their guardian is not able to record.
Our hand-picked books are strictly on the public domain and/or have no copyright to ensure our respect toward private domains and do not violate property rights.
Impact
In today's digital age, technology plays an increasingly central role in our lives. However, unlike a decade or two ago when there were numerous platforms offering child-safe content, we're witnessing a concerning decline in these carefully curated spaces. Instead, the digital landscape has evolved into a more unregulated and shared space, presenting challenges for parents and caregivers seeking safe and educational content for children. As the internet becomes increasingly integral to daily life, it's imperative that we prioritize the development of secure and child-friendly digital environments, ensuring that children can explore and learn in a safe and nurturing online ecosystem.
We are applying for the Best Hack for Sustainability Overlay in accordance with the UN’s 17 Sustainable Development Goals. Subtopics for Number 4: Quality Education specifically highlights quality early childhood development and pre-primary education, and achieving literacy (4.2 and 4.6.) We aim to cater to children with diverse learning styles, offering an alternative to traditional classroom methods and for parents seeking to enrich their children’s education. By intertwining education with enjoyment, we aspire to cultivate a long lasting enthusiasm for learning in children, nurturing a positive relationship with knowledge that transcends the classroom to empower children to embrace education and foster a lifelong love of learning.
As public libraries, vital spaces for learning, especially for children, face the threat of defunding in many states, our platform aims to bridge the gap by integrating with popular apps like Libby and Overdrive. These platforms enable library cardholders to access more children’s books digitally, thereby potentially bolstering public library usage and support. By aligning with these apps, we strive to demonstrate the continued relevance and importance of libraries in our communities. Our goal is to dissuade defunding efforts by showcasing the invaluable role libraries play in fostering literacy, education, and community engagement. Additionally, by promoting our public libraries, we're advancing SDG 4's targets to ensure literacy for all.
Log in or sign up for Devpost to join the conversation.