Grandma and the Great Gourd

Picturebooks have changed immensely with the digital revolution. With the arrival of the tablet, many picturebooks have become book apps. Grandma and the Great Gourd: A Bengali Folktale (Divakaruni, 2013) is about an old woman who travels through a deep, dark jungle by tricking hungry animals. An interactive app Grandma’s Great Gourd (Literary Safari, 2016) was created based on the book, integrating music, movement, animation, games and supplementary features. Through the lens of critical multicultural analysis, the picturebook and the app were critically analyzed, looking closely at power, class and gender across both versions. In addition, the analytical tools of color, gaze and illustration style were explored in the picturebook and app.