MOTHER

Sol Frías (Bilbao, 1953) obtained a Bachelor in Fine Arts from Basque Country University in 2001. She worked for many years as an administrator, until one day she decided to quit and open her own art gallery. Since its opening, Xanon Art Gallery has exhibited dozens of international contemporary artists. The adventures of You and the Flying Squid is her first foray in the world of children’s book illustrations, and she loves it!

SON

Iván Cortázar (Bilbao, 1975) majored in Business Administration from Basque Country University. He  worked for several years as an accountant. Like his mother, he also quit to study art.  He moved to New York City and got his MFA in photography and film from the School of Visual Arts. Currently, he lives in New York City, working as a filmmaker and artist. His short films and video art have won numerous international awards and have been screened internationally. With the birth of his first son, he discovered a new facet that he did not know he had: child storyteller.

GRANDSON

Yuri (New York, 2010) majored in Marine Piracy from the prestigious “Treasure Island” University in 2012, with an emphasis in Ecology. One year later he published his first essay: “Patches and flashes: A guide to become a modern pirate”. At the present he sails the seas accompanied by his faithful partner Chopito, The Flying Squid.

Our mission begins with our family history. One son, inspired by his son, invited his mother to create a series of children’s books, inspired by her grandson. It looks like a tongue-twister, and it’s likely to be, but it also means the start of a new adventure in the form of a family business and innovative spirit.

We work with enthusiasm to create the best and most beautiful children’s content that we can make. With our series “You and The Flying Squid,” we use new technologies to overcome some of the limitations of printed books and maximize the experience of reading children’s stories. We want to provide both parents and children with a unique experience that they can relish together.

We believe that reading stories has always been a very important part of a child’s education, and it should remain so. That is why we don’t add interactive interferences that may distract the child from what is really important: the story.

We see our stories as short immersive films, with beautiful music and sounds, in which the child can advance in the story at his or her own pace.  The child can design the desired character, from hairstyle to clothes to skin tone, among other elements. This will help the child to get really involved in the story by making immediate connections with the created alter ego, thus facilitating the assimilation of the values and concepts that the story tries to instill.

Solidarity, companionship, friendship, ecology, freedom (or equality) are a few of the topics found in our adventures, always related with humor and playful sense. Ultimately, we want our apps to be a great tool that parents can use to communicate with their child, while playing and learning with them.

What is the App “You and The Flying Squid?”

It’s a children’s picture book, app, short animated story, educational game, and tool for parents and children to engage and learn from each other.  It’s a rollicking adventure story in English or Spanish.

How many books will there be?

Currently we have released four books slated. But we have many more in the works. You and your friend Chopito, the Flying Squid, sail from island to island in search of adventure; therefore there can be as many islands as there are drops of water in the sea…

Are you a big team?

We are a small family business. We have just started our own and we love it. We do not have a big marketing team, therefore it is critical that if you like our books, please share, like, tweet or review them. It will help us enormously, and you will instantly become a loving flying squid member.

I love your app. How can I help?

This is how you can help us:

– Share our project on your social media or with parents and teachers  you think might like it.

– Rate and review the apps on the app store.

– If you know people that can write reviews in blogs, magazines etc… please share our apps or put them in contact with us.

I don’t like your App. How can I help?

This is all new to us, and mistakes and improvements are all part of the process. Please let us know how you think we can improve our app, what you like, what you don’t like. This way, we can keep making the apps better.

Please read our Terms of Use to know more about how we might use your feedback!