Short Stories for Kids is an iPhone/iPod/iPad audio storybook app with five short stories for kids to enjoy. The app features five interactive renditions of popular Aesop’s Fables. Geared toward children aged 2-6, this app allows students to experience these famous stories with nice graphics and sound.
Short Stories for Kids has a very easy user interface. The app opens to a scrolling menu with five stories identified with a picture and title. Simply tap the story you want and select Read For Me or Read By Myself. The app is a free app, however only one story is unlocked in the free version. An in-app purchase of $1.99 (at the time of review) unlocks the other four stories. The app includes the fables:
The Ant and the Grasshopper (free)
- The Fox and the Grapes
- The Dove and the Ant
- The Fox and the Stork
- The Goose that Laid the Golden Eggs
The app's graphics are nice and the quality of the narrator's voice is pleasing. The app has an interactive feature where if the screen is tapped a sound or motion goes along with the story. This is the only interactive component to the stories. Some pages have a sound effect and others have a motion. Tap the screen once to start and again to stop it.
What Fun Educational Apps liked:
The stories are short and to the point, with easy to read words, giving a budding reader the opportunity to practice. The stories have good graphics and messages that are easy to understand. The moral of each story is at the end and provides a good lesson for parents to discuss. While the app doesn't offer a lot as an interactive book, some parents may like the lack of distracting screen mashing that young children can be prone to.
There was one small aspect I didn't like as the parent of a three year old. The story The Goose that Laid the Golden Eggs has images of the farmer and the wife with the dead goose and a bloody knife. I'm not sure I'm comfortable with that imagery for my young son. Aside from that, all of the other stories are absolutely appropriate for the 2-6 year old crowd.
Overall, this app offers some classic Aesop's Fables in a format that is appropriate for young children. Having the option to have the story read aloud lets kids be independent with the app. Having the Read By Myself option will allow beginning readers the chance to practice reading while giving them the option of a fluent example just a button push away. I also like having the moral of the story clearly stated at the end of the tale. This provides a great opportunity for parents to jump start a conversation about values.
Short Stories for Kids is available for downlaod via iTunes App Store: Universal App iPad/iPhone/iPod Touch
Note: Free to download with 1 story - the others are availabe via in-app purchase.
This app was reviewed by a brand new reviewer at Fun Educational Apps Sarah Emerling, a mom, a special education teacher, and a technology coach. She is a self proclaimed nerd with a passion for incorporating technology into education.
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Disclosure: Review was move up the waiting list priority-services. All opinions expressed are purely that of the author.
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