Behind the scenes at Storybook Anytime we’ve been busy developing many surprises for you and your young reader. Our software team has been busy creating a new and improved Storybook interface that we believe you will be very pleased with. We also have games and activities in development as well as over 30 more books in production, just for our Storybook Anytime readers. We are thrilled with our new direction; stay tuned for more details later this week.

This weeks free story is called “My Weekend with Daddy”. It’s a cute story of a child’s first weekend with her Daddy after her parents’ divorce, and the wonderful memories she takes home with her. It is written by Linda Bell, Illustrated by Mariano Vidal and read by Kate Selwyn.

Also, please note that after this week we will be changing our free stories to once every month. Thank you to all of those who have given us your feedback!

This weeks free story is There’s a Fish in My Bathtub! It’s a funny little story that shows you how using your imagination can make anything possible… even a fish in your bathtub! It is written by Linda Bell, Illustrated by Mariano Vidal and read by Kate Selwyn. Enjoy the story and we’d love to hear your comments and feedback.

“Why don’t I have brothers or sisters?”  “Why doesn’t Daddy live with us any longer?”  These are questions from children trying to understand why their family or situation is different.  If you’ve read the blog from Storybook Jane, you know this site was created not only to entertain and educate, but to help children deal with perplexing situations in their lives.  Do you believe reading about other children in the same situation is a constructive way to help children cope with difficult problems? Is there a particular issue your child is grappling with that you would like our writers to tackle?

This weeks free story is called “The Tortoise Came Toward Us”. It’s a poem about a walk through the woods and the creatures encountered along the way; all the while being trailed by a slow moving tortoise. It is written by Linda Bell, Illustrated by Mariano Vidal and read by Doug Williams. Enjoy!

Welcome to Storybook Anytime! We thought you might be interested in some details on how this site was born and a little about the Storybook Anytime values.

Our President, Angie Johnston, has a young daughter who is an only child with a wild imagination and a penchant for books. When her daughter starting asking about why she didn’t have any brothers or sisters like her friends and cousins, Angie’s explanation didn’t seem to satisfy. So, Angie began a search for a book that might help her daughter understand the great advantages of being an only child. She was able to find plenty of books for herself, so she could explain it to her daughter, but only two for her child. They were both inaccessible!

In discussing the problem with her husband, who is a computer programmer, they decided to explore the possibilities of soliciting original stories for a children’s internet book site. Stories that would not only entertain children, but help them understand some of the difficult situations they face in their little lives.

Not all of our stories will tackle issues; some are just plain fun and full of silliness. But, our goal is to weave some stories into the site that will educate and build an understanding for children that everyone has problems or unusual circumstances of some kind at one time or another. Knowing you’re not alone out there, and seeing how other children deal with unusual issues, lends a sense of comfort. We are very interested in knowing what difficult or unusual situation your child is trying to cope with at the present time, divorce, death, physical handicap, absent parent, multicultural family, bullies, etc.

We hope you and your children will become avid users of our site and share your needs and comments with us so that, together, we can build a children’s book site that will entertain, educate and lead to a better understanding for all who enter. We look forward to hearing back from you.

Hello Storybook fans! We have a great new story for you this week. It’s called “Finley, the Dog That Couldn’t See”. Finley is a very funny little dog that has one big problem… he can’t see. Find out about all of his adventures and how they help him solve his one big problem. The story was written by Justine Albree, Illustrated by Mariano Vidal and features the voice talent of Doug Williams. We hope you enjoy!

We are very excited to announce the launch of our full site available to the public today! We have been working for the past year to bring this site to fruition and it has truly been a labor of love. Our goal is to provide an entertaining and safe place for children to discover and learn more about the world of reading.

In addition, we are happy to note that this represents our official first blog post. This is a milestone for us as we wish to keep everyone informed of our progress and start an open dialogue with you, our customers. 

We would like to thank those of you who registered during our beta phase for your support and invaluable feedback. We listened to what you had to say and have worked hard to build the site to meet your standards. We will continue to make improvements and modifications as we go forward, so please continue to send feedback if you have it. Thank you!