App review by Dana Villamagna, Common Sense Education | Updated July 2013
My Story Book Maker
Get it now
  • Download from App Store

My Story Book Maker

Super-easy way to introduce digital book creation to kids

Get it now
  • Download from App Store
Learning rating
Editorial review by Common Sense Education
Community rating
Based on 5 reviews
Privacy rating
Not yet rated Expert evaluation by Common Sense
Grades
1–5 This grade range is based on learning appropriateness and doesn't take into account privacy. It's determined by Common Sense Education, not the product's publisher.
Subjects & Skills
Arts, English Language Arts, Communication & Collaboration, Creativity
Price:  Free Offers In-App Purchases.
Platforms:  iPad, iPhone, iPod Touch
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Take a look inside

2 images
Write in text boxes and place the box where you want it.
Edit pages as many times as you want, then share via email or on iBooks.

Pros: Limited choices, simple instructions, and easy-to-understand icons.

Cons: No advanced features or extensive sharing options.

Bottom Line: Practical, experiential learning gets kids started on digital book creation.

How Can I Teach with This Tool?

Use My Story Book Maker to introduce digital story creation to your students for the very first time. Consider demonstrating creating a short story for them as a whole-class presentation, or writing a story together as a collaborative exercise, page by page. After that, the possibilities are endless. Use this app for students' fiction stories, non-fiction reports, field trip photo journals, and more. Stories remain stored on the iPad (unless the app is deleted) so kids can return to work on the same story for numerous writing sessions. At the time of this review, stories cannot be printed, which limits the ability for teachers to use this app for kids to make books to take home or include in a portfolio of work, but books can be emailed or published to iBooks (check your school rules on sharing students' work digitally).

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Standards:

My Story Book Maker is an extraordinarily easy-to-use book creator and book-sharing app. It empowers kids or adults to create books using photos, typed content, voice recordings, and drawings created on the app. The drawing option, in particular, offers many creation choices including 20 colors, multiple tools, and different sizes for each tool. Choose to create a new book, and written directions will instruct you to tap the top of the screen to title the book. Tap "Cover" and move to the page-creating screen with all icon options scrolled across the bottom. Import photos, begin to draw, add text, and add a voice recording. Tap bottom left and the "+" icon to add Page One. Add content, as on the cover. Tap bottom left to save. Repeat for all pages. That's it! On the main page, choose Read, Edit, Share, or Delete for all of your books. There's no limit to the number of books users can create on this app, and books can be shared via email or iBooks. My Story Book Maker makes the process simple for anyone new to digital book creation.

Can anyone learn to create and share a digital book? With My Story Book Maker the answer is definitely! This app walks users through the book creation process from title page to saving and sharing with simplicity and ease. Through the process of book making, kids also practice writing, drawing, photography, and/or speaking skills. By sharing their book creations with classmates or working on a book collaboratively as a class, kids can also get feedback on how to convey messages most effectively. This app is a stress-free way to empower kids to make their first digital book.

Overall Rating
Engagement Would it motivate students and hold their interest? Is it visually appealing? Would it inspire teachers to try something new or change their instruction?

Highly engaging. This well-designed, engrossing app puts kids' focus completely on content creation because the book-making itself is so easy. Drawing tools, lots of colors, photos, text, and voice recording add fun to the creation mix.

Pedagogy Does the tool help teachers promote a more student-centered experience? Will students gain conceptual understanding or think critically? Does it deepen teachers’ pedagogical thinking?

Kids learn through the experience of creating their own books on personal topics or stories in which they have intrinsic interest. Skills they learn on this app can later transfer to other, more complex digital content-creating tools.

Support Can students and teachers get assistance when they need it? Is it created with people of different abilities and backgrounds in mind? Is learning reinforced and extended beyond the digital experience?

Not a lot of supports here, other than some written instructions to go with important steps in the creation process. But the user interface is intuitive.

Common Sense reviewer
Dana Villamagna Classroom teacher
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Key Standards Supported

Speaking & Listening

  • SL.1.5

    Add drawings or other visual displays to descriptions when appropriate to clarify ideas, thoughts, and feelings.

  • SL.2.5

    Create audio recordings of stories or poems; add drawings or other visual displays to stories or recounts of experiences when appropriate to clarify ideas, thoughts, and feelings.

  • SL.3.5

    Create engaging audio recordings of stories or poems that demonstrate fluid reading at an understandable pace; add visual displays when appropriate to emphasize or enhance certain facts or details.

Writing

  • W.1.6

    With guidance and support from adults, use a variety of digital tools to produce and publish writing, including in collaboration with peers.

  • W.2.6

    With guidance and support from adults, use a variety of digital tools to produce and publish writing, including in collaboration with peers.

  • W.3.6

    With guidance and support from adults, use technology to produce and publish writing (using keyboarding skills) as well as to interact and collaborate with others.

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Community Rating

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Featured review by
Melissa P. , Media specialist/librarian
Media specialist/librarian
Great way to create and share ebooks
I really like the My Story app for storytelling and creative expression. The app has changed significantly since the original Graphite review and looks nothing like the pictures posted with the review - it is so much better and very user friendly. I downloaded it when it was on sale for free, but it is worth the full price. One of the best features is the ease of sharing. My Story will host the book on their server so you can share it with a link and view it in a browser. You can also share it via ...
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