Magicblox.com

When I found this website I was very excited. It was inviting, kid friendly and had an amazing selection of picture books! I went to read a book and it only showed my the first eight pages, so I decided to create a free account like the site suggested. When I made a free account I was then offered options to upgrade my account so I could have access to more books. I eventually found out that with the free account I could have access to only one picture book a month. You choose a book that stays in your personal library until the completion of the month. It then resets and you can choose a new book. Since this is the case it really limits the number of books children can read from this site, however there are some positives. If a teacher creates an account on this site and they choose one book a month they could have it as another option for students to use during independent reading time or the teacher could use it as a whole class read aloud. I know it is frustrating that you are limited to only one book a month, but if it isn't the only website or app you're using for digital picture books, having
access to this amazing selection of books could provide useful for your students. This site is also helpful because it provides a rating for the books as well as comments from people who have read them. This can be useful when selecting a book each month.

Website Link: http://magicblox.com/books/most-read

Magickeys.com

 

I was not a big fan of this website that specialized in children's storybooks online. However, a positive of the website was that they provided a large selection of picture books for both young and older students. I wish that more than a couple of books for the young readers had the read aloud option. Many young readers prefer this when they read books online and it helps develop their fluency. Some of the books that are under the category for young readers are pretty challenging and without the read aloud option they become useless for readers in younger grades. I find that on this website the children would spend too much time trying to find an appropriate book for their reading level. Another part of this website that I didn't really like was the illustrations. Many of the books had sketches for illustrations that didn't really enhance the story in any way.

Overall, I would not recommend this website for teachers to use in their classroom. The site has many ad's on it that children can click on that will link them to other places and/or cause spam on the classroom iPad or computer.

Website link: http://www.magickeys.com/books/

Starfall.com

Starfall is a website supported by the Starfall Education Foundation which is a public charity. This website is geared towards students in K-2 since it is focused on learning to read. Most of the content is free on the website so it is very useful to teachers. Depending on the grade teachers can choose between ABC's, Learn to Read, It's Fun to Read, and I'm Reading. In the I'm Reading section students can choose between various genres such as comics and poetry. This website is helpful for young readers because they have the option to have the words read aloud to them. As the website reads the story the words are highlighted to help the children follow along. Another part of this site that I liked was the animation effects included in some of the stories.


I think this is a really great website for teachers to use in their K-2 classrooms. It is child friendly and easy to use. I would definitely bookmark this on the iPads or computers that students in my class use.

Link to website: http://www.starfall.com