Interactive storybook explained

An interactive storybook (or CD-ROM storybook) is a children's story packaged with animated graphics, sound or other interactive elements (e.g., word pronunciation). Such stories are usually published as software on CD-ROMs. They have also been referred to as computer books, picture book programs,^[1] books-on-disk,^[2] talking books,^{[3] [4]} or living books.

This software is targeted at young readers (usually kindergarten to second grade) for educational purposes.

In their seminal work To Instruct and Delight: Children's and Young Adults' Literature on CD-ROM, H. Bennett wrote, "Something magical and non-threatening happens when a children's story weds a computer."^[5]

Children's Tech Review wrote that when a children's book comes to a touch screen, it can be called many names, including: “ebooks,” “living books,” “digital story books,” or even “app books.”^[6]

Examples

• Disney's Animated Storybook
• Europress Bookshelf
• Living Books (including Wanderful Interactive Storybooks re-releases)
• Magic Tales
• Playtoons
• Reader Rabbit's Reading Development Library

Pitfalls

There are studies indicating that some students will simply "cruise through" a story, either just playing with the graphics or not trying to read it themselves.^[7]

External links

• Reframing research and literacy pedagogy relating to CD narratives: Addressing 'radical change' in digital age literature for children
• http://www.schwimmenlernenimnetz.de/veroeffentlichungen/holue_adventure.pdf

Notes and References

1. Book: Beaty, Janice J.. Preschool Appropriate Practices: Environment, Curriculum, and Development. 2013-01-01. Cengage Learning. 978-1-285-49995-6. en.
2. Web site: Kids will love ROMping through these stories. 2020-10-28. Tampa Bay Times. en.
3. News: Diegmueller. Karen. 1995-05-03. 'Talking Books' Pressed Into Classroom Service - Education Week. Education Week. 2020-10-30.
4. http://pdf.textfiles.com/zines/CGW/1992_07_issue96.pdf
5. Web site: Literature and CD-ROM: Strange Bedfellows or the Marriage of True Minds?" by Griffin, J. R. - Computers in Libraries, Vol. 16, Issue 5, May 1996 . 2020-10-31 . https://web.archive.org/web/20201031021859/https://www.questia.com/read/1G1-18323218/literature-and-cd-rom-strange-bedfellows-or-the-marriage . dead .
6. Web site: Says. Adidas Zx Flux Sizing Review. What (exactly) is an App? Children's Technology Review. 2020-11-01. en-US.
7. Lefever-Davis, Shirley, and Cathy Pearman. "Early readers and electronic texts: CD-ROM storybook features that influence reading behaviors." The Reading Teacher 58.5 (Feb 2005): 446-9.