Roland Bartholomew Dexter the Third’s whole life has been about routine and rules. Every day he wakes up, studies the books in his family’s library, sweeps the floor of his family’s barber shop, and goes to sleep.
The barber shop has only one customer–a creepy old relative named Mr. Puddlewick—so his family is very poor. So poor, in fact, that they use hair for almost everything. They wear hair clothes and sleep in hair hammocks. Roland suspects that they may even be eating it.
Night after night, Roland dreams of an outside world he’s never seen. Day after day, nothing ever changes. Until one day a little girl appears at his window, and together they discover that the barber shop is full of secrets, and that the town outside his window is quite unusual indeed.
It’s up to you to:
You decide what Roland does next.
Follow clues as you choose which trails are worth pursuing.
What you do now affects what you can do later.
Intrigued? Get it here:
Journalist? Find media assets here.

…but aren’t anymore. We’ve filled this position. Thanks for your interest!
The American Association of School Librarians has asked us to do a webinar on using Loose Strands as a teaching tool.
Tuesday, November 17, 2015
7:00 p.m. Eastern | 6:00 p.m. Central | 5:00 p.m. Mountain | 4:00 p.m. Pacific
We’ll be discussing interactivity and SEL (social and emotional learning) and how you can use the choose-your-path format to confront tough choices. Loose Strands was named by USA Today’s Jinny Gudmundsen as one of the year’s best apps for teaching SEL [social and emotional learning], and was also an AASL 2015 Best App for Teaching & Learning.
More info (or to register) at: ala.org/aasl/ecollab/loose-strands
We’re so thrilled to announce that Loose Strands won Best Children’s App at the 2015 Digital Book Awards. So many thanks to everyone who worked on it, and everyone who’s supported us or enjoyed Loose Strands.
If you haven’t yet, check out the other finalists, all excellent: Nosy Crow’s superb Jack and the Beanstalk, Ninio Studio’s touching LOVE, the app, and EPIC! a fantastic app that gives you access to thousands of children’s books.
Check out all finalists and winners in all categories here.
We’ve just heard: Loose Strands is one of four Digital Book Awards finalists in the best app for children category. We’re super excited to be listed alongside some fantastic apps: Nosy Crow’s Jack and the Beanstalk, Bologna Ragazzi 2014 winner Love, The App, and Netflix-like kids book service Epic! High fives all around!
At The Children’s Bookseller’s Conference in London, book critic and author Nicolette Jones sparked a debate when she mentioned her reservations about “the kind of apps that replace a book.” (I wasn’t there, but her comments were covered in The Guardian, and in responses by publishers like Nosy Crow.) “I’ve never seen a picture book-app that does something that a book doesn’t do better,” she said.
Written and coded by
Markian Moyes
Illustrated by
Jeff Frizzell
Animation by
Zak Tatham
Dani Alon
Jeff Frizzell
Graphic design by
Daniel Faucher
Edited by
Susan Hughes
Copyedited by
Dimitra Chronopoulos
Testing by
Jennifer Powell
Video trailer by
Adam Palmer
Additional coding by
Minh Tran
Made possible with the support of
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