We’ve seen storytelling apps aimed at deaf and hard-of-hearing children before: ITV’s Signed Stories for example. Now there’s a new one called The Baobab to swell their ranks.

Released for iPad, it tells the story of “a curious little girl who embarks on an adventure”, aided by watercolour-style illustrations, English text and a video-narrator using American Sign Language (ASL).

There’s also a glossary of 170 English words with their ASL equivalents. The app has been published by Gallaudet University in the US, which promises that the app is easy enough for kids to use it by themselves.

One thing to be aware of: the inclusion of all that video means the app is pretty hefty – a 793MB download – so make sure you have enough space on your iPad to contain it. And obviously it’s ASL rather than British Sign Language (BSL), which is important to know if you’re on our side of the Atlantic.

The Baobab costs £4.99 on the App Store, and is iPad-only. The university says that it’ll be investing all the proceeds into more storybooks, so here’s hoping it does well.