The New York Public Library is using Instagram Stories to make classic pieces of literature more appealing to younger generations.

The library has teamed up with Mother in New York, an advertising and creative agency, to launch what it’s calling ‘Insta Novels’. Through the initiative, classic pieces of literature are being turned into animated, digital versions illustrated by a variety of artists.

The first literary classic available on the library’s Instagram account – @nypl – is part one of Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland by Lewis Carroll, which has been illustrated by Magoz. Over the next few months, the library will add two other classics to its Instagram account in the form of The Yellow Wallpaper by Charlotte Perkins Gilman, illustrated by Buck, and The Metamorphosis by Franz Kafka, illustrated by César Pelizer.

All the stories will added to the ‘Highlights’ section of the library’s Instagram account, becoming a digital bookshelf as more are added.

To read the digitised pieces, users tap on the relevant story then rest their thumb on the lower right part of the screen to hold the page, and lift their thumb to turn the page. Or they can let the book play through on its own and see the animation in full.