BPT - Educational Storybooks for Children (Preschool & Primary)

This collection's strength is using kid-friendly language to tell stories about some of the most exciting people and discoveries throughout history, but several elements diminish the overall quality. A map on the home page nicely gives kids some perspective in placing where these different people lived or events occurred. And, sometimes, well-placed comprehension checks get kids to pause and see how well they've been paying attention. Unfortunately, there are some significant downsides as well: The graphics are pretty standard cartoon stock illustrations, and some of them -- such as depictions of Africans -- might feel negative to some. The animations and sound effects don't always fit, which makes them more distracting than helpful; for example, in the story about Nelson Mandela, there's a page about segregated bathrooms and the accompanying sound is of children's laughter. Different reading options are great, though highlighting words to help kids read along would be helpful and is common in ebook collections. Since quiz questions are never read aloud, it makes them inaccessible to prereaders, and sometimes the questions and answer choices don't match what was in the story, which makes them hard to answer correctly. Though the stories cover a nice range of topics, there are disappointingly few women featured (other than Marie Curie). Parents can fully explore the free content before deciding whether it appeals to them enough to subscribe or buy individual books.