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Story time has long been a completely analog process — employing good old-fashioned print books, read together with a child. Well, like most things, there’s now an option to enjoy kids’ stories online: Storyline Online.
Read mostly by professional actors (and one by Al Gore), the stories are well-produced, showing the illustrations as well as an optional follow-along written track at the bottom of the screen (be aware — on some stories this may go by too fast for some kids).
The site includes classics like “Me and My Cat” read by Elijah Wood, “Brave Irene” read by Al Gore, “The Polar Express” read by Lou Diamond Phillips, and lots more (click on “more stories” below the list of stories at left for more). The site is operated by the Screen Actors Guild Foundation, and is great fun…though you’ll find yourself giving in to “just one more story” more than you would if you had to read the books yourself!
While we’re on the topic, what do you read your kids at story time? Any particularly Flossy kids’ books out there?
(Via Pop Candy.)
While I don’t personally read it yet, I plan to read Tikki Tikki Tembo when I start working with kids at least. It’s a good lesson and a better read along.
posted by Sarah on 3-3-2008 at 8:37 am
tikki tikki tembo no sirembo cherry berry luchi pip berry pembo
posted by Jackwald on 3-3-2008 at 8:40 am
We, my boys and me, like to read Dr. Suess, Shel Silverstein, and other silly things. Occasionally, we read longer books over a few days like Sherlock Holmes or something.
posted by Danielle on 3-3-2008 at 8:53 am
Flossy kids books were my specialty when I used to work at children’s bookstore.
Now and Ben (the modern inventions of Ben Franklin, Ben, George, Paul and Tom, Sky Boys: how they built the empire state building, Gregor Mendel: the friar who grew peas, How Pigasso met Mootisse (one of my faves!), the You wouldn’t want to…series (You wouldn’t want to be a roman gladiator, sail on the Mayflower, etc etc etc), Stephen Biesty’s cross sections (mostly out of print, but sometimes you can find them online), and so on.
Anything you can still find from the DK press (Doring Kindersley) is great, but since they were bought by Random House a couple of years ago, a lot of their catalogue has been gutted and much of it is no longer available on line.
Aditionally, I remember really enjoying a book called Toasters, Toilets, and Telephones, which was all about how every day things were invented.
posted by Julia on 3-3-2008 at 9:20 am
Right now we’re in the midst of “Charlie and the Chocolate Factory”, but if you’re looking for good metal floss-type books my son LOVES the cross-section books that Stephen Biesty (I think that’s how you spell it) makes.
posted by Anita on 3-3-2008 at 9:25 am
I don’t have any children yet but my mother looks after a little boy who just turned 2, and their favourtie book to read, by far, is “Don’t Let the Pigeon Drive the Bus”. It’s hilarious.
posted by Brittany on 3-3-2008 at 9:32 am
every night i read two books to my girl rudi. one is barbie’s fashion show, which i hate with a force. cinderella which was a fav of mine when i was little. but my favorite book i read to her is MUNCH. the story of a monster who loves toast and jam and he protects his house from a bigger monster.
posted by meta on 3-3-2008 at 9:37 am
Thanks for the great link. Another good online reading site for kids is eduscapes.com/tap/topic93.htm
posted by jdl on 3-3-2008 at 9:38 am
i think the best flossy book ever for kids is “the jolly postman” such a cool book.
posted by tami on 3-3-2008 at 10:50 am
Disappointed in the fact that there are no books about U.S. Presidents written for very young children, I wrote one for my son.
I have sent it to publishers, but somehow I feel that my son and my nephews will be the only ones to ever enjoy this quality piece Children’s literature.
posted by Witty Nickname on 3-3-2008 at 11:28 am
I read larger books to my niece and nephew, like the “Little House on the Praire” books and the “Black Stallion” books… this way, you can read a chapter or so a night. They have something to look forward to the next night.
posted by Sarah on 3-3-2008 at 1:12 pm
My daughter is almost 3 and she currently LOVES PJ Funnybunny books. The one she reads is “It’s Hard to be a Bunny” and she seriously loves it. Other than that, we take our two girls to the library every two weeks to read a couple of books and check some out. I avoid repeatedly reading the same books over and over again in favor of a diverse selection of new books.
MY girls also LOVE Green Eggs and Ham.
posted by Darren on 3-3-2008 at 1:30 pm
I discovered the Storyline Online site last week (probably from Pop Candy as well). This weekend, I sat down with my 2 1/2 year old son to see if he liked it. I read to him fairly often, and since he’s incredibly talkative, I usually have to ask him to stop talking and listen so I can finish the story. Well, as we were watching this, I guess I said something to him and HE asked ME to be quiet so he could hear the story. I was quite amused, and he obviously liked the site.
That being said, I don’t know if it’s the default on the site but the captions were on while we were watching the stories. I left them on, hoping that they might do just a little something to reinforce the reading aspect of this instead of it just being a different form of television. I was appalled to notice that there were spelling and grammatical mistakes in the captions! It wasn’t incredibly prevalent, but I don’t see why there should be any at all. First of all, there is plenty of production time to get it done - it’s not like they’re doing this live and a stenographer is trying to keep up. Secondly, they HAVE THE BOOK in front of them! I’m still really surprised about it.
posted by caitlen315 on 3-3-2008 at 1:33 pm
My daughter is nine, now, and usually reads on her own. But, some of our favorites when she was little were the classic “Goodnight Moon,” which she memorized and quoted along with me as I read, anything Seuss (I was partial to “Fox in Socks”)and, of course, “Where The Wild Things Are.”
I saved a bunch of my own childhood books (sadly, not much survived Mom’s garage sales), and my daughter’s favorite from those is “Cranberry Thanksgiving,” by Harry Devlin. I hope she reads it to her own kids someday.
posted by Bre on 3-3-2008 at 3:02 pm
It’s true that there are few books written for young children on U.S. Presidents (though interestingly several written on Ben Franklin….).
But if you’re still looking “Witty Nickname” You might try “What Presidents Are Made Of”, a quirky little picture book about the different qualities of US presidents (do you have a better shot if you’re tall? from Illinois? etc).
Another one would be “John, Paul, George, and Ben” a really well done book that talks about Adams, Revere, Washington, and Franklin.
There are also several great kids books on running for president (I love “Duck for President” if you want something that’s more silly than realistic, but there are more “realistic” ones as well), and a really good one on First Ladies and American women in general called “A is for Abigail” (it’s good even if it is written by Mrs. Dick Cheney).
But then it also depends on how young is young. Good luck with your book!
posted by Julia on 3-3-2008 at 3:42 pm
From the time he was 1 - 2 Margaret Wise Brown’s Goodnight Moon, The Runaway Bunny and the Big Red Barn were my son’s favorites. He also liked It’s Hard Being a Bunny and Don’t Let the Pigeon Drive the Bus. As he got older Alexander and the Terrible Horrible No Good Very Bad Day (Judith Viorst) was read every day. He’s nine now and we still have a copy of Alexander. When either of us have a difficult day we read it together.
posted by Sue on 3-3-2008 at 9:13 pm
Some of these just aren’t flossy enough for me. You’ve just got to check out The Happy Hocky Family and The Happy Hocky Family Moves to the Country - seriously postmodern tales of woe for the picture book set! And for something more upbeat, my hero, Scaredy Squirrel. And for the really small fry Yummy Yucky by Leslie Patricelli - “Burgers are Yummy. Boogers are Yucky.”
I’d also highly recommend Click Clack Moo, Cows That Type. It’s Union Organizing for preschoolers!
For grownups who grew up with Nancy Drew, Hardy Boys, et al, have a look at MT Anderson’s Whales on Stilts.
People! Sarcasm, Irony, and PUNS aren’t just for grownups.
posted by Marion Librarian on 3-3-2008 at 11:59 pm
A lot of the ones mentioned are great books, my students (1st grade) absolutely LOVE anything by Mo Willems (the Don’t Let the Pigeon Drive the Bus guy). He’s written some hilarious books. My kids wanted to know if there were any more by him, so I went online and found out that there’s a new “Pigeon” book coming out in April, so now they ask me fairly frequently when we’ll get it. To me, that’s a sign of a good author, when FIRST graders ask about their new book!
posted by greenstrawberries on 3-4-2008 at 5:10 am
Sorry you asked yet? My son is 7, right now we take turns reading Calvin& Hobbes.
Then, there’s _The Great Brain_ Series by John D Fitzgerald,
_The True Confessions of Charlotte Doyle_ a fictional pirate book about a CHICK! *PLOT SPOILER* Don’t worry folks, her Father doesn’t believe her and calls her a liar when he reads her diary about the pirated journey to rejoin the family in the USA. She IS just a female!
Ben and Me (the second book about a horse and Paul Revere we only got 1/2 through, not as good)
Most anything Shel Silverstein of course (except for that “Not for kids” book he wrote!), but I can’t bring out the _Giving Tree_ now without my son vehemently objecting at the very sight of its cover. I end up a sobbing blubbering mess every time I read it.
_How Things Work_ A book I hate, because it’s got these wooly mammoths that are in the illustrations and quite honestly, I don’t care to know how everything works. I’m fine with simply plugging appliances in w/o a care in the world. *SIGH*, it’s books like this that leave me wistfully wishing I’d had a girl and we could play Barbies instead.
That’s what my Flossie JR’s been reading lately.
posted by Ingrid on 3-4-2008 at 10:38 am