Apps+for+Reading

=Apps for Reading= Check out a tons of apps at: []

//So many books! These developers are producing amazing interactive reading experiences for the whole family. We’ll direct you to their websites so you can check out their entire library of book apps.// //For the most up-to-date book selections, don’t miss the [|Digital Storytime] website for book app reviews and [|deals].// [|**mytales digital**] [|**Okenko Books**] [|**Once Upon An App**] [|**PicPocket Books**] [|**Reading Rhino**] [|**Ruckus Media Group**] [|**StoryBoy**] [|**Touchoo**]
 * 7 Wonderlicious**
 * [|Oceanhouse Media]**
 * [|Piccolo Picture Books]**

[|Toontastic] Designed by the Stanford school of education and Zeum: San Francisco's Children's Museum, this app helps students practice storytelling by prompting them to pick a setting, characters, and music to tell their own stories. It guides students through the story arc, asking them to fill in a setup, conflict, challenge, climax, and resolution. Once they've chosen their characters and setting, the students animate the scenes and record the story with their own voices. Adding the background music can help them decide the overall tone or feeling they want to convey. Stories can then be uploaded to a Web-based network; their creators can earn "badges" based on other children's ratings.
 * Created by:** Launchpad Toys
 * Cost:** Free
 * For:** iPad
 * Grades:** K-5

[|Instapaper] This app allows users to bookmark websites and articles on their computers, iPhones, iPads, or Kindles to read later. After creating their accounts, users can add a "Read Later" button to their browsers if they find articles they'd like to read in the future. Pressing the button downloads the content, which can be accessed later. The app syncs the articles to a user's account; they can be read on whichever device the user may have at a later point. Downloading articles through Instapaper allows students to access the material wherever they may be—on the school bus, after class, at home, or at school—whether or not an Internet connection is available.
 * Created by:** Marco Arment
 * Cost:** $4.99
 * For:** iPad, iPod touch, iPhone, Kindle
 * Grades:** K-12

[|iBooks] Through iBooks, users can access the iBookstore, which has a variety of e-books available for downloading for different prices. Users can browse books by title, author, or genre, and they may download free samples of books where applicable. After a user buys a book, it appears on the iBooks bookshelf. The app comes with a built-in dictionary, as well as the ability to highlight text and make notes. Users can also change the font type and size of the text and adjust the brightness of the display. The app includes audio or video with the book if the book has such features attached.
 * Created by:** Apple
 * Cost:** Free, but the cost of downloading books varies
 * For:** iPhone, iPod touch, iPad
 * Grades:** K-12

[iWriteWords.html|iWriteWords] This app aims to help younger students learn how to write. Children use their fingers to trace letters and numbers on the screen. Once all the letters in a word are drawn, the program spells and pronounces the word, and then a drawing of the word appears. The student's handwritten letters then replace the computerized letters, which the child is prompted to shake into the corner of the screen before moving on to the next level.
 * Created by:** gdiplus
 * Cost:** $2.99
 * For:** iPhone, iPad, iPod Touch
 * Grades:** Pre-K and K

[|StoryKit] Using StoryKit, students can create their own stories or modify classic children's stories such as "The Three Little Pigs." The students can write their own text; illustrate their stories through their own drawings, photographs, or art they create on the screen; record dialogue and sound effects; lay out stories through text boxes, images, and sound clips; and finally add, reorder, or delete pages from their stories. The app was designed at the University of Maryland's Human-Computer Interaction Lab to explore how mobile devices can be used for creative and educational activities. When students have completed their stories, they are stored in the device and can be sent electronically to friends and family.
 * Created by:** International Children's Digital Library Foundation
 * Cost:** Free
 * For:** iPhone, iPod Touch, iPad
 * Grades:** K-12

[|Word Wagon] Word Wagon helps young students practice letters, words, and phonics with two animated characters: Mozzarella, a moose, and Coco, a bird. Children move through four levels of difficulty: learning the names of letters, learning the sounds of letters, spelling words of four letters, and spelling words of six letters. Students earn stickers and stars as they progress through the levels. For instance, they drag and drop letters to spell words, and when the letters are in the correct order, the app sounds out each letter and then pronounces the word in full. A picture of the word then pops on the screen. Words are grouped into categories, such as animals, foods, vehicles, numbers, and colors. **Bookster****.** Young readers can find new literary faves with helpful narration from kids their age. Your little ones will also learn new vocabulary words and can record themselves reading the books when they’ve finished! //iPad, iPhone, iPod Touch, Android; free with first e-book.// **Tales2Go****.** A Parents’ Choice Gold Award-winner that streams on-demand, unlimited access to more than 1,000 stories. Scroll through and sort by reader age, genre, and more. Bookmark and build a favorites list for easy return visits! //iPad, iPhone, iPod Touch; $10 per month.// **A Story Before Bed****.** More than 300 stories in this app’s library for an interactive read-along experience with your child. Record video of storytime so that your little one can watch it again in the morning, while paging through and following along! //iPad, iPhone, iPod Touch; $10 per month.// **TouchyBooks****.** Quirky sounds, animation, and flip-book usability offer a realistic experience and a touch of magic for toddlers and tweens. Use the easy star voting system to rate your favorites on this multilingual platform. //iPad,// //iPhone, iPod Touch, Android, Windows Phone; free with two free books.// Reading For Kids: 100 Ways to Encourage Your Child to Read This free [|iPad] app provides 100 resources for parents who want to encourage their children to become life-long readers. It describes engaging ways to make reading fun and exciting for young learners.
 * Created by:** Duck Duck Moose
 * Cost:** $1.99
 * For:** iPhone, iPod touch, iPad
 * Grades:** K-1
 * **Tikatok StorySpark****.**** From book behemoth Barnes & Noble, Tikatok StorySpark is aimed at your family’s pint-sized publisher. Kids write and illustrate their own books, using a catalog of art or their own photos or digital drawings for the backgrounds. When it’s ready, books are “published” under a chosen pen name and posted online at Tikatok.com. //iPad, iPhone, iPod Touch, Android; app is free, books are $3 each.//
 * **MeeGenius****.**** Highlight words for review and use the MeeGenius audio playback to keep your little bookworms engaged. Give the personalization element a try, where a child can substitute his or her own name for that of a favorite character in the book! //iPad, iPhone, Android, Google TV; free with book selection.//