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  • Is it age appropriate?

    About our ratings

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    Not age appropriate for kids under 0, age appropriate for kids over 0; suggested age 4.

  • Is it any good?

    4.0

  • Common Sense says

    Storytelling site lets you browse, buy, or listen for free.

On this site kids can:   be read to, buy stuff, download stuff, play games, read stories

Why We Rated This on for Ages 4 and Up

The good stuff

  • Educational value:

    Story tracks combine illustrations and text along with narration. Beginning readers can follow along without having to know how to read every word. There are also simple brain-teasing games to play.

  • User-created content:

    The Record Your Own feature allows users to create their own stories. This feature has not launched yet, but when it does, kids and adults alike will be able to record their readings and send them to people they know.

  • Messages:

    Site offers up positive stories, with a focus on fables that teach life lessons. Celebrity narrators come from a diverse background and provide multicultural audio accompaniment. The illustrations are all originals created by artists from around the world.
 

What to watch out for

  • Violence:

    Not an issue.

  • Sex:

    Not an issue.

  • Language:

    Not an issue.

  • Consumerism:

    Each story page offers options to download and buy the related audio-book or album.

  • Drinking, drugs, & smoking:

    Not an issue.
 

How safe is it?

  • Personal privacy:

    Very little information is collected from members. To join the site, users need to supply a nickname, password and email address.

  • Online interaction:

  • Parental controls:

    Not an issue.
 

What Parents Need to Know

About Speakaboos

Parents need to know that SPEAKABOOS can be a great supplement to family reading time. Although no Web site can replace the one-on-one experience of families reading together, it does offer up an educational opportunity for kids to get engaged in the art of storytelling. Focusing mainly on classic fairy tales and fables, the site keeps things simple with short stories designed for young attention spans. Each book usually leads to a lesson, so kids not only can learn to read, but can also gain skills as well. A download option lets you upload stories to iPods and DVD players -- all for free. You have the option to buy each story or the entire book.

Did this review help you decide?

Families Can Talk About

  • Families can talk about the importance of reading together. Read our article Reading Rainbow Signs Off  for more on keeping reading alive.
  • Is it better to visit a Web site to learn about reading or should you just pick up a book? Can there be a balance between online time and offline reading? What limits should parents set on computer time?



Tools and tips that can help

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Our Members Say

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Most Recent Reviews

  1. Parent Reviewer
    jmo444
    I rate this title on for age 3 and give it 4.0
    • My highlights are:
    • User content is age appropriate

    if you need 5 to sweep or do the dishes

    i love this site! my only issue is it is fairly new so the content is a little sparse right now but hopefuly will expand soon...

    This review...

    Helped me decide | Had useful details | Read my mind
    Flag as inappropriate

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