Babajide Aroyewun, the founder of Hootperch, is tapping innovation to reshape how families engage with learning at home.
Speaking about the idea behind HootPerch, Babajide explained that it was born from a personal experience.
“As a parent who’s been graced with having a child who loves to read books, a lot, I grossly discovered that I was struggling to keep up with engaging her in discussions around the books she had read, before the next set of ones she’s picking up at the library,” he said.
The seasoned digital product professional emphasised that the gap between a child’s voracious reading habit and a parent’s ability to meaningfully participate became the spark for HootPerch innovation.
Babajide disclosed that HootPerch is a mobile reading companion that goes far beyond the traditional book tracker.
According to the tech-preneur, “Users can add books to a personal bookshelf, log their reading progress, rate books using emotion-based reactions, and once a book is completed, take a timed AI-generated quiz that tests real comprehension.
“Performance in these challenges earns readers an animal totem (from the humble Frog to the mighty Elephant), creating a gamified profile that reflects their reading depth and consistency.”
The app also features the Owl Wizard, a recommendation engine that suggests books based on mood, genre, page count, occasion and more, offering a personalised discovery experience that adapts to each reader’s tastes.
Hootperch’s niche is its ability to serve a broad audience, from children reading their first chapter books to adults exploring complex literature. The app, he said, supports independent readers seeking structured comprehension, parents encouraging literacy development, educators tracking engagement and understanding, and lifelong learners aiming to retain more from what they read.
“By focusing on measurable comprehension rather than passive consumption, HootPerch bridges the gap between entertainment and education,” he emphasised.
Besides, the app is designed to transform reading into a gamified, reflective experience, thus combining vibrant design, artificial intelligence and the psychology of animal totems to make books unforgettable.
The new AI-powered reading companion app, designed to help readers discover, track and truly engage with the books they love, introduces a fresh approach to reading culture, one that rewards comprehension and curiosity over speed, and turns every finished book into a playful challenge.
The key features of the app include personal bookshelf, AI-powered reading challenges, animal totems, emotion-based ratings, Owl Wizard, achievements & milestones, reading statistics, and collections and recommendations.
On why the HootPerch matters for Nigeria’s reading culture, Babajide explained that Nigeria has one of the youngest populations in the world, and a growing appetite for digital products that entertain, educate and empower.
Hence, HootPerch sits at the intersection of education technology and lifestyle, offering something the market has lacked: a reading app built by a Nigerian, designed with African readers in mind, and engineered to make reading feel less like a chore and more like a game.
“Research consistently highlights declining attention spans and reduced deep reading habits in the digital age.
“HootPerch addresses these challenges by introducing accountability, engagement mechanics, and structured reinforcement. The result is a platform that supports improved retention, critical thinking, and long-term reading discipline,” he said.
The philosophy behind the app, he noted, is, ‘Reading isn’t a race. We score it differently. Fall in love with reading again. Read sharp. Think faster. Perch higher, and we perch, we read, we repeat.’
HootPerch is available on the Google Playstore and iOS Store with a premium tier that unlocks unlimited challenges, an expanded bookshelf and the full Owl Wizard experience.
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