Ebooks & Books Online
Storyline Online - High quality virtual storytimes provided by celebrities featuring quality picture books. GREAT site!! No login required.
Tumble Book Library - Very nice production of read aloud picture books. Many popular favorites. Great site! Also includes non readaloud ebooks. No login required.
Additional options:
Just Books Read Aloud - Many popular titles. Pretty low tech, it is similar to the experience of a lapsit read. No login required.
Story Place - Simple colorful stories read aloud. These are not traditionally published titles, so you won't find familiar titles here. No login required.
Novel Effect - Bring storytime to life at home with Novel Efffect. This app based program is compatible with most smart phones. Elevate storytime and immerse yourselves in many of your favorite stories!
Epic! - FREE for educators. Awesome! A good mix of fiction and nonfiction including some super-popular titles!! You can setup profiles for each of your students and monitor their reading progress. You or the student can personalize book recommendations for the student. At home access available to parents for free for 30 days (summer reading?!) and for only $4.99 a month (good for up to 4 student accounts in the home) thereafter.
Open eBooks - Ebooks available to students at low-income schools. For questions on how to access codes for your students, please see the Open eBooks site or contact Michelle Kelley.
Unite for Literacy - Low level nonfiction titles. NO logins required! (Website)
Oxford Owl - Requires teacher account and then the teacher can create student logins. Super easy, but does need that step. Mostly lower level. Collection includes a few familiar titles.
Tumble Book Library - Small collection of some well known titles. Also offers readaloud titles. No login required.
Ebooks can be a wonderful addition to a child's reading repertoire. Before encouraging your child to read primarily digital works though, do keep the following in mind:
E-ink ebooks (black and white Nooks, Kindles, etc.) are designed to mimic paper reading and are easy on the eyes. Unfortunately, popular ebook apps are often not compatible with these devices.
Color tablets and monitors used for reading can cause eye strain.