This app is good for kids who need help with:

Focus

Getting started and then maintaining attention and effort to tasks.

By nature, reading is an activity that requires a steady, constant level of sustained attention. Because words in novels and stories often imply more than what they mean on the surface, readers must constantly maintain keen concentration to get a deeper understanding of the text. Even though iStoryBooks provides narration, users still should focus their attention on the relationship between the text and animation. However, the narration does allow children to understand well beyond their indicated "reading level," helping introduce them to more advanced vocabulary. Completely finishing via the app can make the task of reading a book not seem so daunting for reluctant readers. In this way, iStoryBooks helps to establish a strong foundation in developing users' motivation towards finishing stories or reading assignments outside the app.

Self-Awareness

Understanding our own actions, thoughts and feelings.

Users are presented with a fairly extensive library of animated books. They range in subject matter from biography to fiction, allowing users to match their interests to the types of books the choose to read. When users first begin using the app they should search for titles that will keep them hooked. This way, struggling readers can find content that will keep them motivated, while the narration makes the text easier to read along with and understand.

Since the narration allows users to enjoy reading that may otherwise be a bit beyond their reading abilities, iStoryBooks also serves as a great way for children to grasp their own current reading level. Audiobooks can help users take steps towards pushing forward into harder material, while helping them refine and master reading that is on par with their grade level.

Finally, reading is an activity that lends itself to reflection, and as users discover new tales and characters, they are likely to experience emotions like empathy or admiration as they begin to relate to these characters. To foster such reactions, encourage your child to try to see things from the protagonist's -- or even antagonist's -- point of view.

Reading

iStoryBooks works to improve the four building blocks of reading: phonics/phonological awareness, fluency, vocabulary, and reading comprehension. Once users listen to the narration for a whole page, they can attempt to read the paragraph themselves. Even if users are not strong readers, they will slowly develop the capacity to understand the correspondence between sounds and letters. By re-reading a favorite story, users will become better at recognizing sight words with more efficiency. Increased vocabulary will come directly from users' exposure to new words with thematically linked animation, ultimately leading to comprehension.