Photo: Speakaboos
iPads and tablets can be a godsend to stressed parents. Whether it’s Angry Birds or Talking Tomcat, apps can distract kids of all ages from newborns to tweens. One NYC company is trying to offer something more productive for your little ones.
Rather than zoning out watching content, Speakaboos apps try to engage children in content and get them reading interactive storybooks. A recent $12.5 million Series C is certainly going to help.
Speakaboos interactive storybooks cater to children at all reading levels and makes reading more interesting by involving the child in the story. The reading app is aimed at children aged two to seven years old and is available on iOS, Android and on the web.
Speakaboos offers hundreds of its own stories, but also partners with big players in childhood education and entertainment like the Jim Henson Company, HIT entertainment and Penguin. This makes sure children can also read stories about their favorite characters, like Thomas the Tank Engine or Angelina Ballerina. Depending on the age, reading level, or just the mood of the child, the stories can be read in three different formats.
Founded in 2008, the app is based on the teaching philosophy of educational psychologist Dr. Alice Wilder, who said that "the only way to understand what children are capable of doing, what appeals to them, and what they know, is to ask them!"
Wilder is Speakaboos chief content officer. The team behind Speakaboos also created popular children's shows like Blue’s Clues.
Annual subscriptions to unlimited stories cost $49.99 while one month’s access will set you back $4.99.
