It's story time!
In honor of National Read Across America Day on March 2, Google has introduced new tools that were designed to help youngsters learn to read while interacting with digital books (ebooks) on iOS and Android devices.
The first new feature allows kids to listen to books being read out loud, and it lets them choose whether pages will be turned automatically or manually as they follow along. Kids can also now tap on individual words in a storybook to hear them spoken out loud.
In addition, a child-friendly dictionary feature lets kids read or listen to “thousands of kid-friendly definitions,” with many including illustrations.
In a blog post, Google said these features have been enabled in “the vast majority” of digital books for kids 0-8 that are available within the Google Play Store and Google Play Books app on mobile devices.
Google offered a few examples of free books that have these features enabled, so families can try them out:
Do your littles enjoy reading on a smartphone or tablet? Let us know on Twitter at @superparenthq.
Brandy Berthelson has been writing about video games and technology since 2006, with her work appearing on sites including AOL Games, Digital Spy, and Adweek. When she’s not gaming, Brandy enjoys crafting, baking, and traveling with her husband.
