US kidsnet Nickelodeon has released Nick Jr. Books, its first-ever reading app for preschoolers featuring interactive stories based on fan-favorite brands including PAW Patrol, Blaze and the Monster Machines, Bubble Guppies, Wallykazam! and Dora the Explorer.

Available for free on the Apple App Store for iPhone and iPad, the app comes pre-loaded with three free titles and offers nearly 50 additional books via in-app purchase for US$2.99 each.

Features include Apple Watch compatibility, a parent’s section for monitoring learning progress and managing security controls, four Dora books in Spanish, interactive character elements on each page, offline reading and daytime and nighttime modes.

It also provides auto-read, read-aloud and read-myself modes, as well as a reward system.

No stranger to the digital space for preschoolers with a library of more than 40 apps and games and its own streaming service Noggin, Nickelodeon’s move into e-books comes amid growing competition in the virtual storybook space.

In November 2016, Apple introduced its own kids reading app for Apple TV called iBooks StoryTime which features one free book at launch and others individually priced from US$3.99. Then in December, Amazon released a chat-based reading app for kids entitled Rapids that works on Fire tablets as a US$2.99 monthly subscription service.

Mobile platform PlayKids also recently grew its book content in a new deal with Sesame Workshop.