This children’s iPad book illustrated by South Jersey Google Doodle finalist

With Lil’ Readers, bedtime stories go digital.

Lil’ Readers, an interactive bookstore and read-along iOS app with operations in South Jersey, launched in late 2013. The app marries content with image, making each storybook come to life with colorful illustrations. The store currently offers five stories.

Get the bookstore app for free here. Stories range from free to $1.99.

In fact, perhaps the coolest thing about their latest book—Just Us, a story about overcoming social anxiety written by local elementary school teacher Oscar Hernandez—is its visual look. The book is illustrated by eighth grader Maria Iannone, who was a finalist last year for Google’s national “Doodle 4 Google” challenge. Out of 130,000 submissions from applicants grades K-12, Maria’s artwork placed her as one of the top 5 finalists overall.

Hernandez says that Maria’s drawings transform his storybook into the “immersive experience” that young readers crave these days, according to a press release.

Lil’ Readers was founded by Justin Furniss, who lives in Devonshire in South Jersey with his “wife, son, dog and about a dozen chickens.” Furniss, 32, was previously the director of product and software development for Telos, a Northern Virginia government contractor.

Furniss is looking for authors and illustrators, both established and aspiring, to create stories for Lil’ Readers.