Educational technology developers at Imagine Learning have released an expanded version of Bookster, the company’s free interactive storybook app for kids, writes Taylor Rose at prweb.com.

The new version of Bookster adds a new bookshelf feature, more books and a facility to preview books before downloading. The new version is available for iPad, iPhone and iPod touch.

Bookster is a read-along storytelling app that records and plays back the children’s voices, whilst teaching vocabulary. With turnable pages, a read-along mode that highlights words as they’re read aloud, and an easy-to-use interface, Bookster is designed to make reading fun and easy for even the youngest of learners, writes Rose.

“Kids naturally love to explore picture books, but today’s mobile devices invite an even higher level of engagement,” said Clydie Wakefield, executive director of curriculum development.

“With Bookster, kids can touch the words on the screen and hear them read again, turn pages, listen to a narrator and even become narrators themselves by recording their own voices. In the process, they learn print concepts, expand their vocabulary and develop a love of reading.”

The app was designed with both children and educators in mind, said Derek Dobson, director of product management at Imagine Learning.

“Bookster is a wonderful app for both home and school use,” said Dobson. “More and more classrooms are implementing mobile devices like iPads and iPods as part of the curriculum, and we are working to meet schools’ technology needs by supplying them with quality content that is both educational and engaging.”

In a review on iPad Curriculum, a website that spotlights top educational iPad applications and practices, Edublog award-winner Kelly Tenkely identified Bookster as a valuable tool for helping students develop fluency.

Tenkely noted that giving students feedback on proper pronunciation and enunciation can be a challenge. Bookster helps teachers provide better feedback by enabling students to:  “play back their recording and compare what they recorded with the prerecorded narration, hearing the difference for themselves,” Tenkely wrote.