Ebookadabra: 100s of Children’s Stories In One App

H is a real bookworm and always has been.  I’ve always found it difficult to provide enough reading material for him, particularly when we are away from home.  Books, especially picture books can quickly add weight and bulk to your packing.  It’s consistently proved a limiting factor on what we can take away with us and sometimes it’s been very tricky to pick out the right books to take away with us.  So I was really interested to try out Ebookadabra, which I thought could be the solution to the problems we’d encountered.

Moondog Books have teamed up with Disney, Harper Collins, Parragon and a range of other leading international and independent publishers to create a new app that is designed as a “one-stop” solution for children’s reading designed for kids between the ages of 3 and 7: Ebookadbra (http://www.ebookadabra.com). The app allows kids to read hundreds of books from leading publishers such as Disney and Harper Collins. The app is still in the early stages, but I have to say both H and I have been impressed so far. In the coming months there will be hundreds of new books and features, but here’s what we thought of the app as it stands now.

The app is really simple to set up. Just download Ebookadabra from the App Store here for just 99p per month (the normal price will be £5.99 per month). You can set up a profile for up to four children across unlimited devices so it’s very good value if you’re a parent of multiple kids. We set it up on my iPhone, but I think it would be better to use an iPad as you will be able to see the pictures better.

Children select a book to read through the hundreds available – there’s a wide selection, so there should be something there for every child. You can read the stories yourself if you like, but there’s also the option to switch to an audio book and be told the story as you turn the pages. H really liked the search tool for children to find books they may like because it allowed him to search by picture and even randomise his search.

Did it work for my holiday dilemma of not being able to pack enough books?  Yes, you can actually download up to 15 books to read offline, but if you have internet access, you can access the whole library.  Having 15 offline books is great for train or plane journeys though.  If you’d like to see Ebookadabra in action, you might want to have a look at this video as it will give you more of a feel for the app.

H also liked that he could unlock the fun educational puzzles, games and collectible stickers by reading more books.  I love that children are encouraged to read by using the app and rewarded for that reading. It’s a bit like the summer reading challenge that we do at the library each year.

Disclosure: This post is in association with Ebookadabra.