Bookinou: giving children a taste for reading

One satisfied user is worth two. Bookinou understands this - since the beginning of June, the Lyon-based start-up has been running a loan campaign for teachers. The aim is to give teachers the opportunity to test the Bookinou reading device and validate its pedagogical virtues for teaching reading to 3-8 year-olds.

Since its creation, Bookinou has helped over 500,000 children. With just a few weeks to go before the loan offer for teachers closes, we catch up with Vincent Gunther and Guillaume Chanteloube - the two co-founders of Bookinou - to hear their beautiful story. 

The genesis

Although the subject of education brings them together, Vincent and Guillaume did not meet on the school benches. Vincent graduated from Grenoble Ecole de Management. The latter studied at EPSI, a computer engineering school. 

During his studies, Vincent co-founded the Roots'n'Culture association, whose annual festival collects foodstuffs which participants use to pay their admission. Logically, Vincent began his career in 2005 in the entertainment industry, working on social and solidarity projects. As for Guillaume, he found himself a partner in several start-ups, where he put his technical expertise to good use. In 2009, he co-founded "Espace Météo", a collaborative website bringing together various weather-related services. 

The pair formed in 2015 at Shoops, a mobile app that connects its users with local businesses. They were salaried employees at the time, but both shared an entrepreneurial spirit. Guillaume's wife - a speech therapist - is confronted daily with the various challenges of reading for very young children, while Vincent is expecting his second daughter and understands the problem perfectly. 

The epic

It's 2018 and the Bookinou adventure begins. The two men know that the more books we read to children, the more they love to read. Their mission is clear: to give children a taste for reading thanks to a reading companion, a storyteller of books for children aged 3 to 8. 

Like many start-ups, Bookinou was launched following a crowdfunding campaign on Ulule. With more than 700 participants and 45,000 euros raised, the initial objective is exceeded by more than 400%.

The euphoria of the launch gives way to a long industrialization phase, so that the first Bookinou can be marketed with peace of mind in 2019. It's now a reality: parents record the story of their choice using an app, and stick a sticker on the book. For children, the magic happens: it's the voice of their loved ones that comes out of the little blue reader. 

Concept validation and positioning

In 2020, Vincent and Guillaume are witnessing a phenomenon they hadn't anticipated. More and more teachers are bringing Bookinou from the bedroom into the classroom. For them, the e-reader is a powerful tool for learning to read from an early age. Of course, the two co-founders wanted to offer their solution to schools, but "working with the French Ministry of Education, we were really worried about it", recalls Vincent. 

Yet on social networks, teachers are talking about Bookinou. Kindergarten director Laurence Le Corf is one of them. Vincent contacts her for a long chat, to find out what makes her tick.

"Laurence, like many other teachers, gave us invaluable advice. She sees Bookinou as a pedagogical tool to help young children learn to read independently", says Vincent Gunther. 

Word of mouth spreads. Nearly 1,000 teachers make the e-reader part of their daily routine. This is also the birth of the gang des maîtresses - a group of teachers who select the best in children's publishing for the Bookinou community according to very strict criteria.

The two co-founders listen, learn and practice. In doing so, they gain the trust of teachers. " School isn't there to keep children busy, it's all about pedagogy," Vincent reminds us. 

The crowning achievement came in 2021, when Bookinou received the backing of the French Ministry of Education. The e-reader integrates perfectly with government programs, adapting to different educational projects thanks to new uses. 

Backed by this support, Vincent and Guillaume enlisted the help of cognitive science researchers to study the impact of Bookinou: "Inequalities at school still exist, but they are halved when children in difficulty have better access to reading". Books as a vehicle for social advancement.

The team also includes a pedagogical advisor from the French Ministry of Education. This recruitment enables them to go even further in supporting teachers, with the introduction of activity kits to help children rapidly acquire language skills. 

In 2022, Bookinou will be moving up a gear by integrating two gas pedals: Passerelles, for EdTech solutions supported by Banque des Territoires, and the educational innovation gas pedal of Réseau Canopé, the teacher training network. 

Working hand in hand with the French Ministry of Education, Vincent and Guillaume have now mastered the theory. Now it's time to put it into practice: to speed up their development, they need to give teachers the chance to test the e-reader. 

Loan offer for teachers

Lending to teachers was an obvious choice. It's a simple fact: teachers need to test to validate the pedagogical interest.

"In the hardware world, getting a product tested on such a large scale can be complicated, but we want to play the game to the hilt. We're convinced that teachers will adopt Bookinou, but for that to happen, two conditions have to be met. Firstly, the test must be open to all. Secondly, it must last long enough to form an opinion", explains Vincent. 

Bookinou opens a new chapter with its loan offer for teachers. Vincent and Guillaume have broken with the recommended duration of free trials for start-ups. To take into account the constraints and pedagogical freedom of teachers, the test period will be 4 months to exploit the full potential of the e-reader. 

More

The project was launched at the beginning of June. Over 500 schools have already ordered the Bookinou set. The symbolic €15 cost of postage will be covered by the company. For the others, the clock is ticking until July 15 for delivery before the start of the new school year. The summer promises to be a studious one for the ten or so talented members of the Bookinou team. When Vincent and Guillaume shared the action plan with them, they all said: I dare you!

Update - October 1, 2024: Bookinou launches Bookinou 2e vie

In October 2024, one year after the loan offer for teachers, the start-up continues to innovate. From December onwards, young and old alike will be able to take advantage of "Bookinou 2e vie", a reconditioning offer for a more ecological and economical e-reader.

"Children grow up and leave Bookinou sooner or later to read on their own. But what about us? We always produce more for the little ones coming along. So we've created a loop that allows us to recover Bookinou books at the end of their useful life, repair them and pass them on to newcomers to the world of reading. Our secret dream? That Bookinou could be passed down from generation to generation, like books and stories!" explains the team.

A new model presented today on Ulule, where the adventure began.