iStoryBooks

The iStoryBooks app is a free application for smartphones and tablets available for both Apple products and Android. The app comes in both a free version, and a paid one, which is $.99. The free application has about six stories that it comes with originally, with the option to download more. The books are mostly classic stories, such as Little Red Riding hood and Cinderella. There are also some non-fictional books, such as one about dinosaurs. There are also some books for those that come from more multicultural backgrounds, such as a Cinderella version in Spanish, and a Gambian folk tale.

The books have bright art that changes for each page, and the book has text that can be read as the story is played aloud. The book will read to children, and then they can click to the next page of the story with a simple touch. The app also offers more stories for download, and that area of the application is parent centered. The application requires a semi-complicated math problem (for two year olds, anyways) to be completed before downloading more stories, allowing parents to fully control what their children are reading. Overall, the application is a pretty one that's easy to follow, and should be nice for children who enjoy being read aloud to when their parents are busy. The only downfall is that of course, with the free version, there's a limited number of books available; but the paid version has a new book come out every two weeks, and it's really not too pricey. The only other downfall is that downloading many books could take up a decent amount of space on a phone's memory.… (altro)