Do you know about online storybooks?
Once you learn to read, you will forever be free – Frederick Douglass
Who would have considered this statement’s importance, especially right after the post-pandemic? People used to read books to escape from their busy schedules and gain knowledge.
Suppose you want yourself and the new generation to get into the habit of reading besides over-using social media apps. In that case, online storybooks are the best way to do it.
You cannot give up using mobile phones or computers. So, go through this article and learn about the existence of digital storybooks on the internet and how to read and create stories.
By definition, an online storybook can be regarded as a multimedia presentation using different digital elements and presenting a story. Digital storybook takes the best of the “new era” and the “old era”, the multimedia elements from the “new era”, and the storytelling of the “old era.”
Why do you need an online storybook???
Several good things came out of reading and creating stories on digital storybook apps or websites.
Advertise Literacy: Did you know more than 70% of kids aged 12.6 get access to a smartphone? That’s what Erin Digitale from Standform Medicine News Center said. And, let’s be realistic; almost all parents let their children see kid content on YouTube while feeding them.
They will inevitably spend much of their time going on the internet, social networking, gaming, and watching films and shows.
So, how can you use this smartphone and the internet to enhance their reading ability and broaden their knowledge? By downloading online storybook apps or going to websites.
Online storybooks can show new ideas, history, and culture to young people. It will spark their imaginations and help them to be creative at every step.
These stories have multiple characters, and obstacles are set in different parts of the story. These things will push the children to think critically and increase their problem-solving skills.
A lot of us learned new words by watching foreign films or gaming. Maybe you can relate to it too. In this new digital era, online storybooks can be the best digital tool to develop kids’ comprehension skills as well as improve vocabulary.
A new wave of learning at school: During the COVID lockdown, for the first time in the history of humanity, schools, and colleges had no choice but to go digital. As a result, the students were unable to read and learn in person. Not only the teachers but also students around the world were affected by this event.
The good thing was that technology was in a very dominating shape, which helped education go beyond. Teachers started learning about online storybook apps and websites and encouraged their students to do that as well.
This helped the teachers connect with their students smoothly and made learning exciting and efficient. Still, many teachers follow this method in this new digital era.
Connecting with different cultures: Online storybooks allow you to connect with many people besides your friends in school. You can communicate with them and learn their culture, language, history, and even experiences which will broaden your knowledge and give you a new perspective.
Besides, these online storybook apps provide a wide range of stories from different countries and cultures, which can help the kids to shape their knowledge and perspectives.
Easy-access & Multi-modal: You will be surprised to know that many children face difficulties reading printed books. There can be several reasons behind this. But it can happen mainly due to dyslexia or visual impairments.
Well, that won’t be a problem with storybook apps because you can easily adjust the size and color of the texts, contrasts, and other available settings. Besides, you can access many stories from your home or any convenient place.
Online storybook apps and websites contain different forms of media like images, audio, text, and even video. Due to these varieties of visual presentation, it can help kids with different abilities and reading styles.
Basic Online Storytelling 101: How to Create and Use it
There are several things you have to be clear about before trying to create storybooks on online storybook creator websites.
Choose an online storybook creator website or app
I have mentioned several online storybook websites with great and unique features. You can go through that, and after your research and needs, you can choose one particular app or website according to your preference.
Once you have selected an app or website, you can create an account. Creating an account will allow you to save your work and share your stories via social media. If it’s for your kids or students, who cannot open an account by themselves, guide them. Advise the students’ parents the same thing as well.
Plan the story you want to tell
If you have a story in your mind, you need to understand which category it falls under and how to write it.
- Choose your theme wisely; it can be a fairytale (primarily for kids) or a personal experience.
- Brainstorm about the approach you want to follow and which audiences will easily catch.
- Research about it and get feedback from people around you before starting to write about it.
Develop the characters of your story
After establishing a theme and research, you have to think about the characters you want to include.
- Create their background story
- Develop personalities
- What are their purposes
Write your story
Once you have the idea, you must understand what elements you need while writing the story.
- Search and select the narrative arc – the beginning, the middle & the end. You have to set the dramatic tensions at the beginning, develop conflicts or twists in the middle, and show the perfect destination at the end.
- Trust your own storytelling – Yes, you have to make sure the audience can catch up with your story. However, trust your own voice too. If your kid or students are writing, then encourage them to trust their voice and storytelling style.
- Get feedback from close people while writing it.
Illustrate your story
You will find several illustration features on every online storybook creator website. Since it’s a digital storybook, you can make your story visually soothing by adding clip art or stock images.
You can also choose a background theme and make the texts more readable by customizing the size and fonts. Besides, you can add meaningful audio or video elements that match your story.
Publish your story
Once you are done with writing, illustrating, and reviewing, you can publish it on the chosen website or app. It will be better for the ‘reach’ if you add tags.
Many online storybook creator websites allow you to easily share your stories on social media. So, you can share it and engage with readers. If it’s your son or students, guide them with this final step.
Best Online Storybook Websites and Apps You can use
My Storybook
This is one of the most popular story-creating websites on the internet. You can click the link and go through their website. My Storybook is for people of all ages who want to create stories through illustrations. It is for more than just kids, which makes it a popular online storybook website compared to others.
This website can be interesting for students because it allows you to create short-illustrated stories online. It can be saved and presented very easily. My Storybook also helps storytellers by giving them writing lessons. These lessons teach them to craft their own books with perfection.
WriteReader
WriteReader is one of the story-creating websites that gives you the freedom to write the story in your own words; however, it is a research-backed writing tool.
The books can be stored, printed, or even published through the in-app library with a teacher permission system. This website allows kids to take pictures of their nearby and write about it their languages. Teachers or their parents can review their writing and help them with their writing abilities.
BookBildr
When it comes to free online storybook creation, this one can stand at the top with a user-friendly interface and various options.
They have ready-made illustrations which can help you can create a kid’s book all by yourself. You don’t need to waste money on designers, illustrators, or any software for this.
Once you are one with writing your book, they will print and deliver it to any address worldwide. They provide this exceptional service. Besides, you can use it for both personal and educational purposes.
Another exciting thing is that you can use this website to create and publish books on Amazon.
Scribblitt
This online storybook website is for creative kids who want to present their idea and collaborate with other writers, teachers, or even other kids. They can make their own characters with their illustration tools very smoothly.
This digital storybook tool gives you an “About the author” option which helps the kids to feel like the successful author; gives them confidence.
One of the best things about Scribblitt is that they allow free access to kids to create stories and illustrations. They can easily publish those stories. Besides, kids can also create soft comic novels with this online storybook website.
Storybird
Storybird is one of the easy-going online storybook creators for school as well as home learning. The kids can easily create stories with images. They can design the pictures by themselves.
This digital storybook tool gives you the collaborative option where you can work as a group to create visually soothing stories and share knowledge. School teachers or parents can pay some money to have the kids’ books or stories printed via the online shop.
Besides, there is a cool feature in this app. If you enter a specific word, you will find an image. You can pair it up with something else and customize it to create an eye-catching and visually stunning story. It really focuses on kids’ creativity and enhances their imagination.
Storybird is highly rated by The New York Times, WIRED, The Washington Post, and The Guardian. The app is available on the App Store of Apple and Google Play.
FlipHTML5
This online storybook tool is unique. You will be interested to know that it can transform static PDF into a media-rich digital storybook. You are wondering how does that work?
Well, it’s simple; once you or your kid or student develop a great story, upload the PDF version to this tool. After that, FlipHTML5 will create an eye-catching and interactive children’s storybook online.
Besides, there are other great benefits of using this digital storybook tool.
- Plenty of themes, backgrounds, and scenes to make the book visually stunning.
- SEO feature which can help you to be on the top of search engines.
- Use it and read the stories on any device without any issues.
- E-Commerce feature – you can sell your storybook without spending a penny.
Bookemon
Just like FlipHTML5, this online storybook creator website supports PPT, PDF, and MS Word. It also offers you plenty of free artwork and templates which you can use for your storybook’s cover and many other places. It is a user-friendly tool for people of all ages.
There are some exciting features which can be helpful for you.
- Collaborative approach feature – you can create a book as a group. Besides enhancing imagination and improving creativity, it helps with your communication.
- Sell your storybooks on Amazon. You can go through their Bookemon creative author press to know more details.
- You can use their pre-made layouts or import docs you already created.
- Cost-friendly printed copies – if you want printed copies, you need to spend only 4.99 USD.
Special Mentions
You can go through these online storybook websites and understand which one suits you or your kids or students. All of these have standard features, some unique, but in general, all are great tools for creating stories.
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