If you have children that are fans of the Oxford Reading Tree series of book then this is an offer that you will not want to miss. Read with Biff, Chip and Kipper is the app version of the hugely popular series that is used in Primary Schools throughout the UK and beyond.
It contains books organized into six levels -
Level 1: Getting ready to read.
Level 2: Starting to read.
Level 3: Becoming a reader.
Level 4: Developing as a reader.
Level 5: Building confidence as a reader.
Level 6: Reading with confidence.
The first three levels are aimed primarily at 4-5 year olds while the others target 5-6 year olds. That said, my 7 year old son loves them and my 9 year old daughter will still take a look at them from time to time. There are 48 books in total and these are divided into two distinct sections First Stories and Phonics.
First Stories are really enjoyable books that will help young children practice reading common words and develop vocabulary. The Phonics books are also enjoyable stories to read but the focus is on particular sounds. Phonics are often difficult for many children to master so having books that are dedicated to this area is very helpful. It can be a dry subject but the developers have managed to make these books engaging.
Three Ways to Explore
All of the books allow users to explore the stories in one of three ways – Read by myself, Read to me and Auto play. Read by myself effectively makes them into a digital version of the physical books whereas the other two options introduce narration. These are recorded with professional actors and in my opinion really add to the experience. A feature I really like about this app is that the words are highlighted on screen at the same time they are being narrated. This is a wonderful facility. Normally when children are listening to a bedtime story being read by a parent their gaze is primarily on the pictures but with these books I have noticed that my children are much more likely to follow the words as they are being read. This means that not only are they able to enjoy the story but they are also developing their sight vocabulary at the same time.
After a page has been read, children can tap on individual words to hear them read again. Other elements within the pictures are also interactive. For example, it is often possible to tap on animals within a picture and hear them make a noise. There are even things to find in each book that will help keep children focused. For example, in the Level 2 book The Snowman, there are little robins hidden in every picture and in the Level 6 book The Lost Voice there are clocks and watches be found. My youngest child loves doing this and looks forward to finding out at the end of the story if he has been able to locate all of the items.
Really Good Advice
Each book has a Tips for Reading Together section which has some really good advice for parents and includes helpful suggestions regarding things you can do while reading with your child. At the end of the books there are questions that let you see if your child has been able to understand the story. These can also be used to spark discussions. At least one puzzle or other activity related to the story is also included at the end.
Read with Biff, Chip and Kipper really typifies everything that is good about interactive books. The app is free to download and you automatically get two of the books free of charge. However, if you buy the books individually it could work out very expensive. Last year the price per book was £3.99 meaning that if you bought all 48 of them the cost would be approaching £200. You can purchase each level for £4.99 / $6.99 but that still adds up to nearly £30 / $42. The current offer of the entire series for just £9.99 therefore represents remarkable value for money.
Peter
Educational App Advice
