Neighborhood-Kids All Local. All for Kids. All the Time.

Library Offers Families Online Stories

by Bellingham Public Library10/17/2008 12:53:42 PM

Parents looking for safe, literacy-based content on the Internet for their children can now access TumbleBooks via the Bellingham Public Library website at the Bellingham Children's Library.

Check out TumbleBooks online.

TumbleBookLibrary is an online collection of 130 animated, talking picture books and a selection of talking chapter books for older children. Children browse a selection of titles, click on the book they want, and view it online. The words change color as the narrator reads them so children can follow along.

Children have the option of turning off the audio and reading the text themselves.  The pages can be set to turn manually or automatically, to accommodate children who may need more time to process the words as they learn to read.

Scott Blume, Head of Children’s Services, said “E-books are now for kids too.  We hope parents will check out the collections with their children.”

Each TumbleBooks title includes information about reading level, time needed to play the book, and Accelerated Reader level.

Additionally, the TumbleBooks website offers educational games, quizzes, and book report outlines as well as a selection of audiobooks without pictures and foreign language titles for children.

“As a parent of a third grader and a first grader, I’m thrilled I can point my kids to a website that I trust, allow them the Internet time they crave, and have it be something that develops their reading skills,” said Christine Perkins, Assistant Library Director.

Families can access TumbleBooks through their home Internet access or at the Central Branch, Fairhaven Branch, or Barkley Branch Libraries.