Scholastic Is Bringing E-Books To Children With Storia
March 6, 2012
Remember when you were a kid and you brought those Scholastic flyers home from school? I remember poring through that flyer, picking out a couple of books, and collecting change to send in the next day. Then, I had to wait several weeks for the book orders to come in so that I could devour those new books. Well, times have changed a little bit since I was girl. Scholastic is beta-testing a new product called Storia.
Storia is an e-reading app and e-book system designed specifically for children aged 3-14. It contains a carefully curated collection of about 1,300 Scholastic titles so far, 250 of which are "enriched" (multimedia) offerings. In the fall, when Storia launches officially, they plan to have 2,000 titles; 300 of which will be enriched. The enriched books will contain animation, games, and quizzes designed to draw in young readers and deepen their interaction with the books.
The free iPad app, which is coming soon, will include five free e-books (two of which can be enriched titles). Apps for iPhone/iPod touch, Mac, and Android will follow. The Windows version can be downloaded now. Prices for additional e-books will range from $1.95 to $20. Much like regular e-reading apps, children can highlight unfamiliar words to get definitions and pronunciation. Storia will also have a virtual bookshelf like other e-reader apps.
Parents can track their children's progress, following how many pages they read, what new words they learned, and how much time they spent reading.
For more information on Storia, check out Scholastic's website. What do you think? Will you be downloading Storia for your children?
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