Parents' Guide to

Novel Effect: Read Aloud Books

Novel Effect: Read Aloud Books Poster Image

Common Sense Media Review

Mieke VanderBorght By Mieke VanderBorght , based on child development research. How do we rate?

age 3+

Add music, sound effects to story time for enhanced reading.

Parents Need to Know

Why Age 3+?

Any Positive Content?

Parent and Kid Reviews

age 3+

Based on 1 parent review

age 3+

Wow! One of the best apps I've ever seen

The beauty of the novel effect app is the way it empowers parents to engage and inspire kids with a good ole fashion print book. I've never seen anything like it. And my daughter absolutely adores the sound effects. She's only 3 and after the first story, she wanted to read to trigger the sound effects. So cool!

Privacy Rating Warning

  • Unclear whether personal information is sold or rented to third parties.
  • Personal information is shared for third-party marketing.
  • Personalised advertising is displayed.
  • Data are collected by third-parties for their own purposes.
  • User's information is used to track and target advertisements on other third-party websites or services.
  • Unclear whether this product creates and uses data profiles for personalised advertisements.

Is It Any Good?

Our review:
Parents say: (1 ):
Kids say: Not yet rated

High-quality sound effects easily enhance the excitement of reading many beloved kids' books. Novel Effect: Read Aloud Books is a unique approach to adding a little something special to story time. The mood of the music nicely matches the overall feel of the story. And at select points, there are some fun sound effects, like a sneeze, when Peter Rabbit says "kerchoo," or monkey vocalizations when the peddler tries to get his caps back in Caps for Sale. With over 200 books, and more added regularly, there's a great selection of highly popular titles, including Mo Willem's Don't Let the Pigeon Drive the Bus and the classic Goodnight Moon. Families that don't have a well-stocked home library will need to buy electronic versions of some of the titles or rely on their local library. Voice-recognition software works pretty well, though it can take a little time to catch up if there's lots of jumping around. The music and sound effects add a nice touch, creating some extra magic around reading. And it's nice to be able to put the screen away while parents and kids have a meaningful experience together (though the screen is still there, and must be relatively close by while you read). Some families may feel that reading is magical enough and that music and sound effects are superfluous at best, and just another way to insert technology into family interactions at worst. That said, Novel Effect: Read Aloud Books could be a nice tool to break out for some special family fun.

App Details

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