The Best Thing I Saw at Digital Book World Today...

was this site, A Story Before Bed. I was so interested when the founder started talking as I've been obsessed lately with figuring out how I can record my voice reading some of my son's favorite books for him to play when I can't be home at night. One of my friends told me that he recorded himself reading several books into his Ipod and his kids have the option of an Ipod story after he and his wife read to them each night. Then a woman in my office told us how her mother recorded a ton of books for her when she was little and she would play them back on her tape recorder and "read" the books when her mother wasn't able to read to her. Her mom even rang a little bell when it was time for her to turn a page. And this woman now reads like 5 books a week....

So today, when A Story Before Bed popped up on the screen I perked right up. Because instead of just an audio recording of your voice, you actually record a video of yourself reading the book, which plays in a little box on the screen alongside the pages of the book, which are large and very visible and turn along with the story. This is great idea not just for my husband and myself, but for Nana and Grandpa (who live several hours away) too! I cannot wait to have my parents try recording themselves reading a story. Check out the below video to see A Story Before Bed in action right now and visit the site for a thorough demonstration and to try it yourself!

Comments

[Lisa]

Oh how I wish this had been available when my kids were young! My dad does a marvelous job of reading aloud; I wish my kids could have had Grandpa reading to them at bedtime!

[A Bookshelf Monstrosity]

I love, love, love this idea! Thanks so much for sharing with all of us.

[Traci - Author Exposure]

This is fantastic. I'm going to try it out for my 5yr old.

Thanks for sharing!