Reading bedtime stories without turning a page
24/07/2008
An American company has expanded its services to provide children with MP3 audiobooks to satisfy the growing digital market, a US state website has revealed.
Ohio.com today reported on Audible.com founder Don Katz, who expanded his service to include Audible-Kids.com - a website aimed at providing children with downloadable books to listen to on their portable media players.
The website added that, according to the Audio Publishers Association, popularity of children's audiobooks in the United States has almost doubled in the last three years, a market that may see international growth in the future.
Mr Katz hoped that his venture would help a lot of "reluctant readers" and said: "The interpretation of the reader - that adds layers to it.
"If you ever enjoyed Charlotte's Web, to hear Edmund Wilson read it is a transcendent experience."
Today, the Daily Telegraph reported that reading had been largely dropped by schools and instead children were being "taught to test", taking the fun away from learning and turning kids into "little robots".
