Alicia Keys develops her own app for kids

Alicia Keys is using hi-tech gadgetry to bring storytelling to a new generation of kids.

The Fallin' hitmaker has come up with an interactive app for cell phones and tablets to educate and entertain children.

The app, called The Journals of Mama Mae and LeeLee, can be downloaded from Thursday (25Oct12) and allows users to read books, play music and write a journal on their handheld devices.

Keys, who based the storytelling tool on her own relationship with her grandmother, says, "It's a new adventure for me, and I'm really enjoying it.

"It does remind me of my world. The piano, the journal, music's such a big part of my life, the city, all of that."

And the R&B star reveals that the birth of her own son Egypt in 2010 prompted her to start thinking about creating a new interactive experience for youngsters.

She adds, "I was just getting introduced to... the TV shows and the DVDs and all the things you start kind of introducing your kids to, and I thought how cool it would be to be a part of something that really allows them to hear music from different places, different cultures, different sounds. That's what we're able to do with this."