As the school years starts to wind down it’s great to have a check-in with the kids to see how far they’ve come since the start of the school year.  For me the true test of how they’ve grown in the school year is in their progression in reading and writing.

Storytelling or storybook apps are good way to check out reading fluency and sight word recognition. Story writing apps offer an opportunity to check progress in writing style, writing in a sequential manner, spelling, grammar, punctuation, imagination and character development.  The apps below are a great tool for evaluation and practice in a fun learning environment.

Little Red Riding Hood by Nosy Crow
is a new 21st century interactive story book.  As we see technology develop we find more and more exciting ways to draw kids into reading. The story app offers multiple “paths” along the way so that readers can create a new, fully animated adventure with different endings every time.  Selecting different choices offers different stories which is exciting to the reader.

Recommended for kids ages 3 to 8 my 11 year old enjoyed it as well.  My 8 year old daughter loved that when the wolf came along she had the ability to control the interactions so it wasn’t scary.  I watched to see if she could intuitively figure our how things worked and she just naturally knew how to be engaged with the story.  It was amazing to watch.  After the first time she wanted to do it again and again. Nine games are included in the story including catching feathers which help build motor skills, following directions while collecting bee honey, and leading the story by making choices help to keep the reader engaged.  Little Red Riding Hood by Nosy Crow – Price: $4.99.

The Legend of Momotaro is a beautiful Japanese story which offers a cultural experience unlike any I’ve seen so far. It combines a story with learning Japanese characters and language so that readers can have a rounded experience.

Winner of many awards including Interactive story book Best of 2012, Critics’ Pick and a star for Remarkable Merit by Kirkus, a venerable review journal relied on by librarians to select books.

The story speed is flexible and you can pause along the way to engage with the Japanese vocabulary points.  My daughter loved being able to use her finger to “write” the Japanese symbols.  Great for a bedtime story where you can start and stop as you’d like sharing the story over a few days.  Little kids love to explore the artwork for new experiences and older kids can experience a new culture with the beautiful illustrations and gain a new appreciation for a different style of storytelling.
The Legend of Momotaro – Price: $2.99

Story writing apps come in different forms. Art apps can sometimes offer creative ways to tell a story or there are apps that are geared more like a story book and give an area for text and photos.  Key to success is making the process easy so the kids focus on the story writing making the steps easy and fun so that they want to create stories over and over again.

I like the Storyteller Deluxe app by isitt inc, it offers a nice simple to use interface for kids to tell stories.

You can edit the copy and change out photos or drawings easily.  The selector for image size within the page allows for more or less text depending on the type of detail in each page. The nice option to record the story is a great way to send a story to relatives to have them hear the story with your child’s voice.  Sharing the story via email is possible to others who’ve downloaded the app.
Storyteller Deluxe price: $.99

If you’ve heard of a great storytelling or story writing app please share it in the comments section below!

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