Reading Aloud to your child is one of the many things that you as a parent can do to prepare your child for kindergarten and beyond. Many experts recommend reading 1,000 books prior to kindergarten. Why not use some of these digital book apps to read to your child? The app can read to them, or you can turn the narration off, and read the story aloud to your child. Store a few away on your phone and you will always have a book with you to read to your child during those “in between” moments. Reading a book is a great way to spend that “in between” time while waiting to pick up a sibling, sitting in the Doctor’s office, waiting at the bus stop, or at home before bed.
iStoryTime is a digital library full of books you can purchase. This digital library specializes in popular cartoon character stories such as Wubbzy, Jim Henson’s Fraggle Rock, Strawberry Shortcake, VeggieTales, Yo Gabba Gabba!, Animal Planet, The Smurfs, Sid the Science Kid, Barney, Mike the Knight, Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs, Puss n’ Boots, How To Train Your Dragon, Madagascar, Shrek, Kung Fu Panda and others. If your child likes many of these characters, iStoryTime would be a good match for you. Also included in iStoryTime’s library are classic stories such as The Legend of Sleepy Hollow, and Jack and the Beanstalk. New stories are added each week, and there is a locked parent section to view the store. A handy “My Books” area holds your purchased books. The stories do not contain much interactivity, but provide animated narration, and some of the books highlight the words as they are read. The app also includes four free books to try before purchasing additional titles as in-app purchases. iStoryTime is a handy addition to your on-the-go reading time.
Little Red Riding Hood, The Three Little Pigs, Jack and the Beanstalk, Cinderella by Nosy Crow
KinderTown adores these recreated fairy tale classics! The stories include wonderful graphics, moving characters and scenes, speech bubbles, puzzles to solve along the way, and child-centered story development. For example, in the Little Red Riding Hood, there is a slide-out map for children to determine the direction in which they advance through the story. Each area contains information about the story and a puzzle or activity to increase engagement, such as imitating a tune with musical instruments (with a monkey!), or helping a lost spider out of her web. The stories are based on the classic fairy tales, but updated and adapted to engage young, 21st-century readers. Kudos to the developer for reinventing timeless classics for the next generation. Each fairy tale is $2.99 and appropriate for children ages 3-7.
Polar Bear Horizon by Oceanhouse Media
Polar Bear Horizon is a non-fiction book app for children to learn about polar bears. This app has a lot of strengths: great narration, rich vocabulary, colorful pictures, tappable picture labels and highlighted words. Older children could also personalize the app by rerecording the narration, or parents can rerecord the story for children. Compiled with the help of the Smithsonian Institute, the information is sure to fascinate children and provide new facts to learn. Oceanhouse Media provides many fascinating educational topics for their e-book apps, check out the full Smithsonian collection. Each ebook app is $2.99 and appropriate for children ages 5-8.
Math+iPad=Fun!