Babajide Aroyewun, a digital product expert and entrepreneur, has launched HootPerch, an AI-powered mobile reading companion designed to deepen engagement with books. The app emerged from his personal struggle to keep up with his daughter's rapid reading pace and the lack of tools to help parents meaningfully discuss books with their children. HootPerch allows users to build a personal bookshelf, track reading progress, rate books using emotion-based reactions, and take timed AI-generated quizzes after finishing a book. Performance in the quizzes earns users animal totems—ranging from Frog to Elephant—creating a gamified profile that reflects reading depth and consistency.
The app features the Owl Wizard, a recommendation engine that suggests books based on mood, genre, page count, and occasion, offering tailored reading discoveries. It serves children, adults, parents, educators, and lifelong learners, aiming to shift reading from passive consumption to active comprehension. Aroyewun emphasized that HootPerch is built by a Nigerian for African readers, responding to Nigeria's young, tech-savvy population and the need for homegrown edtech solutions. He cited research on declining attention spans and weak deep reading habits in the digital age, positioning HootPerch as a tool to foster retention, critical thinking, and discipline. The app is available on Google Playstore and iOS, with a premium tier unlocking unlimited challenges and enhanced features.
Babajide Aroyewun isn't just selling an app—he's reframing reading as something measurable, rewarding, and distinctly personal. By tying comprehension to gamified achievement and African-centric design, HootPerch challenges the notion that Nigerian edtech must mimic foreign models to succeed. For Nigerian families and educators, this could mean a real shift from book ownership to actual reading engagement. If adoption grows, it may quietly reshape how a generation relates to knowledge—one quiz, one totem, one finished book at a time.
