Wendy Turner-Webster: All little children love having a bedtime story read to them before they go to sleep, but now things are getting even better for the kids as they become the heroes of the very own adventures. Miranda Rijks who has designed a set of bedtime stories which parents can personalize for their very own children and I am also joined by Nicola Goddard and her son, Davis. So welcome to all of you.
Miranda Rijks: Thank you.
Wendy Turner-Webster: We've got full say for here today. So Miranda, if you say I'll start with you, it's your brainchild, just tell me how it all came about? You're lying and you couldn't get to sleep one night -
Miranda Rijks: I think my daughter couldn't get to sleep one night, coming to the point and it started when she was very little and we started making up stories every night and then developed these little characters called the Dreamies and we have Fluffaduffle and Pinkapop.
Wendy Turner-Webster: Right, hold on, stay in pause in this quickly. Who is this one?
Miranda Rijks: This is Pinkapop and this one is --
Davis: Fluffaduffle
Wendy Turner-Webster: Oh, why you said that, I really love that one.
Miranda Rijks: Fluffaduffle is particularly popular.
Wendy Turner-Webster: I am sure I am sure.
Miranda Rijks: So these little characters took my daughter on happy dreams and that's really where it started from. So we developed different stories every single night and I thought, oh, my goodness, I've got to remember all of these stories and then I started writing them down and here we are, we have got loads of them now.
Wendy Turner-Webster: When you say you couldn't personalize them, do you mean that people can put in favorite odds and on calling -- pets just people think --
Miranda Rijks: Yes, we have, we developed the website and it's nightnight.co.uk and on that website you can go in and you can see all of the details of your child so it's -- then obviously it's their name, the names of their best friends, and his siblings, pets and try to remember favorite color, names, favorite food etcetera, etcetera. And obviously not all of the stories have got every single detail in but we used those throughout sort of that we've got about 35 stories and so every single story has got big detail so it completely personalized to that child.
Wendy Turner-Webster: It's an absolutely brilliant idea. Nicola, it's been working for you I understand.
Nicola Goddard: Yeah, very much, kids love them, -- enjoys them. Yeah, absolutely I do because it captures our attention because it's got their name in there and it's got all the points of reference fill of them, as Miranda said their siblings, favorite toy for example, and that was like great because they capture things that perhaps the child wanted anyway like Halloween one that we see, that was Halloween real, all goes real, things are like play with child's mind and -- kind of captures them and -- them if you like and the stories besides are great, a great to preview this as they have got to see a nice colorful pictures, it's great -- was in there which you'll see kids loving them, pushing and bang and all those sort of things and so yeah, actually, I do -- bed of hours.
Wendy Turner-Webster: Now Davis, have you got any favorites that you can remember, favorites stories or favorite characters?
Nicola Goddard: Yeah.
Wendy Turner-Webster: Can you tell me about one? Or do you remember the Halloween one, perhaps?
Nicola Goddard: Yeah, we want Halloween in any want? Yeah why did you like that?
Davis: I like because I was hiding.
Nicola Goddard: Yeah, that's right.
Wendy Turner-Webster: This is the whole point. The focus of attention of the story is on the child itself. Now Nicola just the people who perhaps -- maybe they are frightened of the Internet side of it, would you explain to me the mechanics of a pertaining the story downloading it just to be through the side of it?
Nicola Goddard: Really, really straightforward. It's just a feeling in the full, it -- child's nine, ask for their siblings, their friends, favorite toy kind of gun thing and then it's just really straightforward to choosing which description you got to fall, so as if in a seven stories or more. You can name on any time and download them. I download really straightforward, straight following a computer, you can then print them off.
Wendy Turner-Webster: So you just print them out so --
Nicola Goddard: Yeah, absolutely and sometimes it can talk about his nanny except they don't scream when we read out.
Miranda Rijks: It is design to be extremely simple to use because I realize that some people are obviously somewhat scared by the technology so we have made it absolutely as simple as we possibly can.
Nicola Goddard: And the company is now proved itself.
Miranda Rijks: Well, we want to do -- themselves.
Wendy Turner-Webster: Really, that's amazing. Presumably not getting the credit card out. So just tell me more about where the actual idea came from and how you thought of all these different characters? Have you done anything like this before?
Miranda Rijks: No, not really.
Wendy Turner-Webster: Because of your creative background.
Miranda Rijks: Yes, yes, I mean I have to answer various creative type things in the past. I am very much aware to person rather than a designer so wonderful people here design the characters and Simon drew all the characters for me and so I would describe on a piece of paper what I wanted until it was. He then draws them and so we created in that way.
I wanted it to be around dreams in particular because it comes back to all sleep. I feel that's -- it's a one time a child's day when they are actually separated from the parents and so children often, yet, have the nightmares and scared at night, so I wanted to create these characters that gave children an element of security at night time so that's why we've got them in the stories and of course, being about dreams it can be absolutely anything so I have got one story. I don't know if you remember Davis, do you remember the story about the goggles who live in a radiator?
Yes. So you know, -- strange house and it goes also pump up in the night and children's imagination goes well. Actually, it says cute little goggles that are living in the radiators. So we have - so what we do in all the stories is we have got the good characters that take the child, so they take Davis on a happy dream and then they meet some of the bad characters and we have got all mischievous and bad, and that called Guzzlers and we have Ratto Jabalot in particular and to that the naughty ones I am trying to create all sorts of havoc. And so we address issues in a child's life, that could be starting a new school or going on holiday, all these sort of things and the stories are around those and then obviously --
Wendy Turner-Webster: It's almost just sound like it's something constructive behind it.
Miranda Rijks: I mean we have given it a lot of thought. I mean as I said it started of just me my daughter bedtime stories but we have given it a huge amount of thoughts since then and we have noticed emotional development of children and so how can a stories and how the kindergartens fit within that.
Wendy Turner-Webster: And presumably, you've got to be a character supposedly you are writing them that you are not -- I mean you are assuming that when a child's -- you wanted to get him off to sleep, you are not making them so sort of probably in high top, and thinking about these stories that it's having the opposite effect because a fine line to thread for you.
Miranda Rijks: It is, I have created same structure for all of the stories so every story, the child can choose whether they want to go on that story with Pinkapop or with Fluffaduffle because generally, the girls prefer Pinkapop and boys prefer Fluffaduffle. So the character comes down and collects them from their bed and then make their own adventure and then the dream brings them back into that bed and then at the end of the story, they wake up with them and they wake up back in their beds, it's just rounds it all off.
Wendy Turner-Webster: Absolutely, yes.
Nicola Goddard: So it was sort of a little bedtime message at the end of the story and Davis tend to be scared of monsters, they just made believe have a sweet dream, love Fluffaduffle or some they says, -- personalized message at the end of it, so it rounds off.
Wendy Turner-Webster: And how long if you and Davis being doing this full name?
Nicola Goddard: 16 months.
Wendy Turner-Webster: And what are these rows of colorful looking masks down that you brought in?
Miranda Rijks: Right, well, these are some of the, this is the Guzzlers. This one here is --
Davis: Jabolot.
Miranda Rijks: Thank you Davis. That's impressive.
Wendy Turner-Webster: Excellent.
Miranda Rijks: That is Jabolot and who is this?
Davis: Ratto.
Miranda Rijks: Ratto and that obviously needs the mask of Fluffaduffle.
Wendy Turner-Webster: Yes, that is definitely my favorite, that one. What is the pink one?
Miranda Rijks: Pinkapop and we have got also full range of merchandise that sits along side of stories so the kids can -- they can wear their pyjamas in bed in that dressing gown so they can help though, blankets and read the stories.
Wendy Turner-Webster: And it's obviously sounds I mean all the array of merchandise you have got of as well that it's really taking off which is obviously not to surprise you, I am sure because you must be very proud of these with what you have done but you know, how much she was surprised suppose if that you have actually come all these way and how long has it taken to get this far?
Miranda Rijks: A long time. It takes a long time to get to this stage.
Wendy Turner-Webster: When did you do all this starting?
Miranda Rijks: About 4 years ago. I have been doing the stories for that long and it just let me few months actually on the stories but in terms of the character development, it's been quite a while and we have -- we would like to be, we have big plans for these guys. You know I'd like to see them have their own television show actually.
Wendy Turner-Webster: Of course.
Miranda Rijks: Of course. That so we like to go.
Wendy Turner-Webster: But it's actually, I mean he is doing the fabulous job. I am sure we'll be putting the website details up. But you can just give me a plug now.
Miranda Rijks: Thank you. It is nightnight.co.uk.
Wendy Turner-Webster: Excellent! So people could go on that. Nicola has told us that it's simplest as anything to do and Davis has told us, okay, see how wonderful it is. So thank you so much for all coming in. I am definitely going to log on to that because my little Freddie, he is nearly three, wake up just yesterday morning, actually he terrifies, he -- and so tell him a story. I need to go the other way. So I will be logging on thank you so much.
Miranda Rijks: Thank you very much.
Transcription by:
Scribe4you Transcription Services