Time for a Story (http://www.timeforastory.com/)

Time for a Story is hardly a requirement for adults and children who are separated by long distances to connect via broadband video – any number of instant-message tools do exactly this -- but it could easily serve as a fun way to get a tech-reluctant grandparent or parent stationed overseas to come together online with a young child in a focused way. Though the image of the book is a bit small on the screen so an eyesight-challenged grandparent might find reading aloud a challenge. Once the two have connected and read through the rather small selection of books, they will still have the technology – and a comfort level using it -- in place so that they can connect again. And that, of course, is the idea here: To bring people who might otherwise choose a different chat client to choose MSN Messenger. It seems hardly enough reason, though, to drive that choice. Using a broadband video chat with a child is a great idea but a better place to start is probably with a tool you already use. If MSN Messenger is that tool, trying out Time for a Story is easy. But if you use AOL, Gmail, or Yahoo it hardly seems worth installing another chat client. MSN Messenger asks users to look at ads while using it. Other tools, such as Skype, do not.