• Skip to main content
  • Skip to header right navigation
  • Skip to site footer
  • About
  • Shop
  • Press
  • Media Kit
  • Contact
  • Facebook
  • Twitter
  • Pinterest
  • Instagram
  • YouTube

teach mama logo

teach mama

helps families connect & build bridges between home & school, by amy mascott

  • early literacy
    • alphabet
    • beginning sounds
    • phonics
    • phonological awareness
    • read-aloud learning
    • rhyming
    • sight words
  • reading
    • books
    • comprehension
      • activating schema
      • connecting
      • inferring
      • predicting
      • questioning
      • retelling / summarizing
      • visualizing
    • concepts of print
    • environmental print
    • fluency
    • non-fiction
    • spelling
    • word building
    • word consciousness
    • vocabulary
  • writing
    • creative writing
    • grammar
    • informative writing
    • tripod grip
  • math
    • computation
    • counting
    • numbers
  • science
    • animals
    • plants
    • science experiments for kids
  • Activities
    • birthdays
    • cooking
      • new for us foods
    • crafts
    • foundations
      • colors
      • critical thinking
      • fine arts
      • listening
      • pretend play
      • sorting
      • speaking
    • holidays
      • new year’s
      • valentine’s day
      • president’s day
      • st. patrick’s day
      • april fool’s day
      • easter
      • mother’s day
      • teacher appreciation
      • father’s day
      • july 4th
      • halloween
      • thanksgiving
      • christmas
    • family life
      • family fun
      • giving back
      • lunchbox love notes
      • school
    • indoor activities
    • outdoor activities
  • digital literacy
    • computer time
    • iPad for learning
  • early literacy
    • alphabet
    • beginning sounds
    • phonics
    • phonological awareness
    • read-aloud learning
    • rhyming
    • sight words
  • reading
    • books
    • comprehension
      • activating schema
      • connecting
      • inferring
      • predicting
      • questioning
      • retelling / summarizing
      • visualizing
    • concepts of print
    • environmental print
    • fluency
    • non-fiction
    • spelling
    • word building
    • word consciousness
    • vocabulary
  • writing
    • creative writing
    • grammar
    • informative writing
    • tripod grip
  • math
    • computation
    • counting
    • numbers
  • science
    • animals
    • plants
    • science experiments for kids
  • Activities
    • birthdays
    • cooking
      • new for us foods
    • crafts
    • foundations
      • colors
      • critical thinking
      • fine arts
      • listening
      • pretend play
      • sorting
      • speaking
    • holidays
      • new year’s
      • valentine’s day
      • president’s day
      • st. patrick’s day
      • april fool’s day
      • easter
      • mother’s day
      • teacher appreciation
      • father’s day
      • july 4th
      • halloween
      • thanksgiving
      • christmas
    • family life
      • family fun
      • giving back
      • lunchbox love notes
      • school
    • indoor activities
    • outdoor activities
  • digital literacy
    • computer time
    • iPad for learning
  • Facebook
  • Instagram
  • Pinterest
  • Twitter
  • YouTube

new for us friday–digital books

home / digital literacy / computer time / new for us friday–digital books
  • Share
  • Tweet
  • Email
  • Print

This spring, I was contacted by a representative from Story Fort, who asked me if I’d be interested in taking a look at one of their interactive, digital books for kids, What’s Bothering Carl?

Without hesitation, I told her absolutely, yes, sure, no question about it, I’d be more than interested; it’s just taken me two months to find a good time to do it. So today, on yet another rainy day, we tried a little something new on this New For Us Friday–our very first digital book.

  • Story Fort: What’s Bothering Carl? is about a young cyclops named Carl who isn’t bothered by much but ends up being totally irritated by his very itchy snowsuit. He then goes on a quest to end his problem, and little readers can follow along as he embarks on his adventure.

If you check the website, you’ll see that the creators describe the book in four ways. They call it Interactive–you can click on parts of the story to create movement, hear sounds, and discover surprises. It’s also Musical, since there are two “music videos” in this story, one in the middle and one at the end (and darnit, these tunes are catchy!). The story is also Educational in that phrases are highlighted as they are read, and several words on each page can be clicked on and (bam!) the word is spoken at the same time a picture of the word pops up. It’s also called, Playful–there is a game at the end of the book that facilitates hand-eye coordination and memory skills.

We–Maddy, Owen, Cora, and I–found all of these things to be true, and we totally had a blast exploring the site, enjoying the story, jammin’ to the songs, and printing out some of the coloring sheets.

One of the several coloring sheets at Story Fort

They’re offering a free trial now, and you can also view one of the music videos for free if you check the site. But if you want to skip the trial and just go for the book, you’re certainly not going to break the bank; you can get the book itself for less than 10 bucks, and after that, it’s yours to read whenever you want. Over here, we’d say it’s definitely worth a try.

Here’s what we thought. . .

We liked:

  • the colors, the graphics, the simplicity of the site;
  • the ease with which Maddy (5 years old) and Owen (3 years old) could navigate through the story and site;
  • that it’s made for children 3 years and older and it actually held Owen’s interest the entire 20+ minutes he went through the book;
  • that the story highlights words on each page that kiddos could click to then see a picture and pronunciation of each;
  • that the story included different characters that aren’t in many of our children’s literature–cyclops, gnomes, etc.
  • that there were “secrets” on each page that kiddos need to search for;
  • the songs–they’re cute and catchy without being annoying and there’s even a bird who raps in the middle of one (seriously);
  • the whole idea behind it–not too many choices (not picking an ending, deciding the characters’ fate), just handing the control and speed of reading to the child;
  • the memory game and coloring pages at the end are fun follow-ups. . .

We wish:

  • that the individual words were highlighted as they were read instead of phrases in order to better teach that one-to-one correspondence that early readers need to learn;
  • that levels of the game were a little (cough) easier–Maddy got rocked by the baby, Carl, and Pop (3 levels of the game)–and so did I!! Okay, so maybe we don’t have the best memories over here. . . but we tried–like 10 times!

Overall, we’re so thankful for the kind folks at Story Fort for giving us What’s Bothering Carl? for free to try out. It was an awesome, fun, and new-for-us way of passing a rainy afternoon, and it’s pretty cool that it’s stuck on my computer now to use any time we want and won’t end up ripped, lost, or torn. How cool?

Disclaimer: Although I received this product for free, my opinion is my own and was in no way swayed by the company. It was, however, influenced by three cool little people I hang around with every single day.

Thanks for subscribing to teachmama! Have a good one!

You May Also Like...

  • how to prepare your child for kindergarten -- summertime prep
    how to prepare your child for kindergarten -- summertime prep
  • Virtual Summit for Educators: Navigating the Online Classroom & Beyond
    Virtual Summit for Educators: Navigating the Online Classroom & Beyond
  • Navigating Education in a Time of Uncertainty: A Virtual Summit for Educators
    Navigating Education in a Time of Uncertainty: A Virtual Summit for Educators

About amy mascott

teacher, mother, dreamer. lover of literacy, fun learning, good food, and three crazy-cool kids. finder of four-leaf clovers | dc metro ยท http://about.me/amymascott
tweet with me: @teachmama

Previous Post:bingo chips and bottle tops
Next Post:backyard alphabet huntbackyard alphabet hunt

Sidebar

amy mascott profile blog

join the coolest club around:

  • About
  • Contact
  • disclaimer
  • terms of use
  • privacy policy
  • Site-Map

Instagram


our books

setting the stage for rock-star readers
raise a reader

Find Us On Social Media

  • Facebook
  • Twitter
  • Pinterest
  • Instagram
  • YouTube

Helpful Links

  • About
  • Contact
  • Press
  • Media Kit
  • Disclaimer
  • Terms of Use
  • Privacy Policy

Follow Us On Instagram

View
Open
UMD Womenโ€™s Basketball ROCKS!! โค๏ธ๐Ÿ’›๐Ÿ–ค๐Ÿ€

We absolutely love watching you play, @terpswbb !

We love watching you perform, @marylandcheer !

And @mightysoundofmd we love your music and your hilarious signs! ๐Ÿ˜ฌ๐Ÿ˜ณ

See you in Greenville! 

#terpsbasketball #terpswbb #umd #familyfun #marylandcheer #umdfamily
View
Open
Tomorrow is St. Patrickโ€™s Day!

Are you ready? 

https://shop.teachmama.com/

#saintpatricksfun #stpaddysforkids #familyfun #classroomactivities #teachmamashop
View
Open
This is how we use the St. Patrickโ€™s Day Brain Teaser Scavenger Hunt! ๐Ÿ€

Super easyโ€”and makes kids work a little for their golden chocolates! ๐Ÿ˜‰

Grab them here: https://shop.teachmama.com/product/st-patricks-day-scavenger-hunt-4-pack/

<< Tag a pal who needs to know about this and would LOVE to use it with kids or students! >>

#stpatricksdayfun #saintpaddysday #stpaddysforkids #stpatsfun #linkinbio
View
Open
and then there were six
๐Ÿฑ๐Ÿฆ๐ŸฆŠ๐Ÿฆ„๐Ÿฏ๐Ÿฐ

thank you @thewoobles for giving my mind, heart, and hands something fun to do during a really challenging few months. 

#crochet #thewoobles #brainbreak #teachersanitysaver #shescrafty
View
Open
With great sadness, I'm writing to share that my brother-in-law, Jeff Mascott passed away from pancreatic cancer earlier this week--at home, surrounded by family and friends. 

The family is very grateful for the community's immeasurable help, encouragement, and prayers over the past several months since Jeff's diagnosis. 

Jeff's obituary will run this weekend in the Post: 
https://www.collinsfuneralhome.com/obituaries/Jeff-Mascott?obId=27420280&fbclid=IwAR2YTRooCyaLTikfjLeqF4gM-GaB1amZI2OmVl1VtKLUOjWj3Wo4URD8lC8#/obituaryInfo
View
Open
Flowers and a basket of @traderjoes faves are salve for a tired and weepy soul. ๐ŸŒท

Thankful for great, longtime friends ๐Ÿ’š๐Ÿ’›๐Ÿ’š๐Ÿ’›

#itshardtobeahuman #thankfulheart #wlhs4evah #teacherbffs
View
Open
Almost 30 years of friendship!! I love these smart, beautiful, strong and creative women who walked with me through my early days of teaching. 

๐Ÿ’›๐Ÿ’š๐Ÿ’›๐Ÿ’š

Thank you, Wilde Lake High School, for bringing us together way back when. 

๐Ÿ’š๐Ÿ’›๐Ÿ’š๐Ÿ’›

Missed you, jigofjoy ๐Ÿ’›๐Ÿ’š

#weareteachers #andoneprincipal #wildelake #wlhs4evah #teacherbffs #wildelakehs #teachersofinstagram #celebratewewill
View
Open
Today marks the 4th time in 3 weeks that I have had to hang new Kindness Reminders Tear-off Sheets! 

Makes my heart ๐Ÿฅฐ!! 

Some kids come by every day and give one to a new person. Others take a bunch for the week. One 2nd grade girl comes by evey morning to tell me who she gave hers to the day before. 

Every little bit helps, friend. And every interaction matters!

#kindnessrocks #adoormadeforme #teachersofinstagram #makeadifference
View
Open
Best crew for one of the best @terpswbb games weโ€™ve seen all season! 

And of course super job by @marylandcheer and @mightysoundofmd too! 

#terpswbb #terpsbasketball #familyfun #marylandcheer

Copyright © 2023 · teach mama media, llc · All Rights Reserved