Storytime By Kindoma

Storytime by Kindoma

The name of the app is Storytime by a company called Kindoma. It allows long distance parents or relatives of a child read them a story over the app. The story appears on the screen along with the video of each of the people using the app. The child can point to something and the other person can see where the child is pointing and they can highlight words as they go along. This can make interacting with books much more fun for the child and provide the long distance relatives a chance to connect with the child. The price of the app is free and it gives you ten free books to read. If a parent want more books they have to buy each book and the prices vary. For an unlimited access to the catalog of books in the catalog, subscription is available for 1 month at $6.99 or for 6 months at $29.99 ($5 per month).

A child can use this app by listening to the adult read or doing the reading by his or her self. It can be a fun interactive experience for all the members of the party involved and the child can even ask questions to the adult while reading the story. It’s just like regular story time expect its long distance which a lot of families have to deal with and this can creatively solve the problem of interaction while long distance. 

            Storytime is easy to set up and takes less than ten minutes to get everything installed and working on the device. Even though it is easy for some people such as grandparents it may be hard to work this app since it requires video and audio and a good internet connection and if anything of those things fail, grandparents may have a hard time trying to get it up and running again.

I would recommend downloading this app. This is great for long-distance relatives and its much more engaging for the child instead of a simple phone call. But before buying any packages with it I recommend testing it out first. There are some reviews that says the video can come in fuzzy and the audio might not be heard if the device isn't set up properly which ruins the whole concept. It went well for me but I would try it out if I was you. Make sure you get everything working on both devices first before buying anything. Also storytime only works on Apple devices, not Android.

As a librarian I would be in charge of setting up the app and testing it out with the child to make sure it works. Since this is an app for children and their distant relatives I wouldn't use it personally but to help the child learn how to work it for their future use. In a special case for a sick child, I can communicate with a child from my regular story time using the app and read them the story that way as long as I get the parent's permission. This can be the same thing in a school library to communicate with the child that way and read stories to them if they are unable to go to school for a serious reason.

Link to Storytime: ttps://itunes.apple.com/us/app/kindoma-storytime/id621742145?mt=8&ign-mpt=uo%3D4