When you travel, it’s not always convenient to bring along a large collection of your child’s favorite books. Of course, you want to encourage your child to read, but carrying multiple books around can be difficult. But if you have a laptop or you anticipate internet access at your destination, there’s an easy solution, as many websites now offer children’s books online with audio.
A great answer for families on the go, these sites may also help parents who are struggling with children who prefer television or video games to reading. Some sites include actual pictures from the books, allowing your child to actively turn the page with the click of a mouse. This can provide a fun and interesting change to your child’s reading routine.
ONE MORE STORY allows children to see and hear books being read to them. Each is professionally narrated, accompanied by original music, and paired with images of the books’ actual pages. As the stories are read aloud, each word is highlighted at the bottom of the screen. You can preview the books online; a one-year subscription is $44. Visit OneMoreStory.com.
THE ROSETTA PROJECT is the largest collection of illustrated, vintage children’s books online. You can view pages of the books from the volunteer-driven collection at no charge, but if you want the accompanying audio file, there is a small fee for the download. Visit ChildrensBooksOnline.org.
CANDLELIGHT STORIES offers free audio files. The books themselves are not uploaded, so you can’t view them, but it is a great site to download files to your iPod for a trip with the kids. The site also offers a variety of games. Visit CandlelightStories.com/audio. iBi
