Community reviews for Skybrary – Kids Books & Videos

This is a wonderful app that can be effective for a variety of students. Students are able to select the books they would like to read by putting them in their virtual backpack. I have used this app in a whole group setting while streaming through Apple TV. I have also used it for a center with small groups. If you have an iPad for every student, you can have every student reading a book of their choice at the same time. One of my favorite uses was with a student who had severe behavior challenges. He loved this app, and I used it for his reward time. It was motivating for him to behave and to complete the required work needed to be able to have time on this app. Experiences with each book are scaffolded, so various levels of learners can be successful. There are short videos and games that accompany each book. The free version has limited resources. The paid version is much better.

This is a good tool to keep kids occupied to themselves while reading a book or having the app read it to them. It is kind of like a kindle with a large variety of books. However, it asks the child's interest and age, thereby pulling reading books that the child may be interested in reading. For a teacher, it has a search feature so the teacher can enter the topic and it will pull up some books. It is a good library source and makes it easier find topics to read about as opposed to looking through your physical library. The child will visit many different floating islands which has a library of common topics and it will also throw in a non-topic book that causes curiosity. It also has a video library that involves children telling the story or someone reading a book. The child is awarded a figurine to add to the world, such as a palm tree, a house, a dinosaur, etc. after reading or viewing videos. Overall this is an excellent app. I used an iPad however, I believe that it can be used on an android as well

Reading Rainbow is an excellent individual reading motivator however, I could also see using it as a class teaching tool for whole groups as well. It would be an excellent way to bring a story into social studies or science by projecting the story and reading it together and then going on a virtual field trip. It would be an excellent way to introduce a topic or reinforce a subject you have been teaching. Skybrary for school does require an account purchase but they do offer it free to Title I schools, it was only offered free while they were in BETA. That is the only downside I see to Reading Rainbow's Skybrary.

I think Reading Rainbow is a great choice for early learners, pre-readers, and reluctant readers. I think that's always been the magic of Reading Rainbow and, honestly, it's no surprise that the app brings the same enjoyment of reading that you and I remember from the show. I greatly enjoy the adventure and discovery that comes with a good book. I'm no reading expert but I do find that some kids have a difficult time enjoying their reading because they struggle to decode the text. Sometimes we all need a little motivation... And I think that is the niche of Reading Rainbow. The app provides scaffolding for early and struggling readers and really great graphics and interactives that all will enjoy. As far as classroom use, I think the Reading Rainbow app would work really well in a learning center. You may also consider pairing the app with Apple TV for a high-tech read aloud session. :)

I think this is a great teaching tool for students. I like that it was interactive and engaging. It allowed students to explore different genres and text in a fun way. I liked that they could read to themselves or have a story read to them.

Great resource for getting kids to read more! The ability to set up your own backpack with your own choice of books, collection of stickers for finishing books, games that can be played after (or during) the reading, and the video clips all keep students motivated and engaged. There is also a "parent" page that teachers could use that lets you know what and how students are doing with their reading. The app really is designed for individual reading, not classroom use. It would be great to share with parents to support reading at home.

Reading Rainbow is a part of our collective childhood experience.

I think Reading Rainbow is a great product. Everything on the website is bright and colorful and catches the students attention. I cannot wait to further explore using video field trips.

Overall the product is very entertaining for my students. The app keeps them actively engaged while I'm teaching guided reading to small groups. The children were able to navigate without constant redirection. I'm using the free version and wish there were more nonfiction books included. I have not seen the subscription version.

I think that this is an ok app for instruction. However, the prices and complexity of designing and building a classroom set of books is inadequate and lacks polish for most classroom instruction. I would not use this again as a 'full-class' resource, as it is built for families primarily with one or two children. It is evident by the app's design that they did not have classrooms in mind when designing the layout and start-up of this app. If you want individual kids to read during a 'centers' time, great. If you want a whole class to use this as a reading literacy resource, I would pick something else.