How books come alive with the Callfinder®!

A truly revolutionary development

Briza launched its Callfinder® ready titles in 2013 with the publication of SAPPI Birds of South Africa, (SAPPI Voëls van Suid-Afrika in Afrikaans) written by Herman van Niekerk and Saartjie Kidson.  For the first time in South Africa, this exciting and highly anticipated book allowed the bird watcher to see an image of a bird and hear its actual call on the same page of the book, ensuring quick association, supplemented by information and hints on the bird’s behaviour to assist with finding and identifying it correctly. It was an instant bestseller and remains one of Briza’s most sought after titles.  To date, more than 30 000 books have been sold!

Following the success of SAPPI Birds of South Africa, Briza released a revised edition of Mammal Guide of Southern Africa (Soogdiergids van suider Afrika in Afrikaans) by Burger Cillié in 2015, complete with Callfinder® ready capabilities.  The new edition of this popular field guide made it one of the most comprehensive guides to the mammals of the southern African sub-region with an added bonus: readers are able to listen to the calls of mammals, big and small!

But how does this marvel of technology work?

The Callfinder® looks like a pen.  You switch it on, select the relevant soundfile and touch the Callfinder® ready photograph, image or word and the sound plays!  The images are printed with an invisible code which the Callfinder® is able to scan and associate with the relevant sound bite.

If you already own a Callfinder®, simply buy another Callfinder® enabled book and the associated soundfile, load it onto your Callfinder®, select the soundfile by pointing the pen at the cover of the book for about 5 seconds, and you are ready to go!

Briza has launched two other titles that are also Callfinder® ready.

Blinktand van Bosveldparadys written by Attie Snyman is a very informative and entertaining children’s book.  The book follows the story of Blinktand, the biggest, strongest and cleverest warthog of Bosveldparadys (bushveld paradise).  This humorous tale informs and educates the reader, assisting in comprehensive reading with the help of the questions at the end of each chapter and  it builds vocabulary with the handy wordlist and definitions of unusual words.  The Callfinder® enables the reader to listen to the tale or read along with the narrator, Lochner de Kock.  Colour photos of the fauna and flora found within the book appear at the back and are also Callfinder® ready meaning the reader can listen to the animal and bird calls.

Briza’s latest Callfinder® enabled title, Nature Unpacked (Jou Natuurgids in Afrikaans) is written by Megan Emmett and illustrated beautifully with the photographs of Shem Compion.  This book contains a little bit of everything – mammals, birds, insects, reptiles, amphibians, trees, plants and flowers.  Wherever the sound icon is displayed, readers are able to listen to the sound or call the featured species makes.  Readers are also able to listen to the pronunciation of all the scientific names of the fauna and flora!  As this book is written by a well-known game ranger, readers will be pleasantly surprised with tidbits of very interesting information given about all featured plants and animals.

How do I get a Callfinder®?

You are welcome to order online at www.briza.co.za or visit our bookshop at 121 Soutpansberg Road in Riviera, Pretoria. Callfinder® products are also available at most reputable bookstores.