Disclosure: Many thanks to Vooks for providing this product/product information for review. Opinions are 100% my own and NOT influenced by monetary compensation. I did receive a sample of the product in exchange for this review and post.
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We have almost made it through another school year! It’s been challenging but the kids are happy to be in the classroom. Last year, like many schools around the world, their school shut down early and the frantic battle for finding reading resources began! With libraries and schools closed sites like Vooks, have become an invaluable tool for parents that are doing home learning with their kids.
Vooks is a streaming library of animated storybooks, that is not only ad-free but also kid-safe. For a small monthly subscription fee your little one can browse a large selection of books and choose a favourite book to read, hear and watch. Try it for FREE for 30 days! Go to Vooks to sign up.
The navigation is simple, with four buttons in the upper right corner – Home, Search, Favourite and Profile.
Click the home button to browse books by category (be sure to click the “View More” button to the right of each heading to expand the selection) or search for your favourites using the “Search Button”. Even the youngest user will be able to navigate the site easily.
Place your mouse over the book to get a brief overview of what the story is about and if you like it, simply click on the image to be brought to the viewing page. Each book page follows the same format. Clicking on the “Details” button will reveal a detailed description of the book, everything your little one would need to know to complete a book report.
The books can be viewed on both mobile or computers. The navigation buttons for each story are located at the bottom of the screen and are basic. Your little one can control the volume, pause the book and make it full screen. . To advance or rewind the story you can move the slider. Older users might prefer a more fleshed-out navigation system but the simplicity of this one makes it easy to use for all users.
The stories are told in “karaoke” style, the narrator reads the story as the words are highlighted. I love that young readers can hear and see the words while viewing the book. This is helpful when learning new words. The addition of sound to the stories and the different narrations help hold the add attention of the readers. The animations are taken directly from the original stories. My daughter has discovered that she can turn the volume down and read the story on her own.
If you are using this in a learning environment be sure to check out the “Resource” section for supplemental worksheets. These sheets include a Story Summary, Book Chat, Pause and Ponder and other activities that can be printed off at home.
Each child can have their own profile while using Vooks. There is a large selection of icons to choose from. There doesn’t seem to be a way to password protect each individual profile. While setting up a profile you can also set the preferred language. I tried to change languages, but only some of the content changed. The animated stories and book resources seemed to remain in English.
There is a favourite button to save your favourite stories. This list is customized to each profile, so each child can have their own list. The button appears to be inconsistent in the location for me in terms of being beside the “watch” button, but it is always on the images of the book when under the “Channel” tab.
My favourite part about Vooks is that it is a safe and ad-free environment for children. I currently have a subscription to another reading site, but I am unable to allow my children to search as there are many inappropriate books. I love that Vooks is created specifically for children and I do not have to worry. I am able to let my children listen to the stories while I attending to other things around the house.
Vooks is a great worry-free site for kids that makes for better screen time.