Digital storytime

When we first heard about the Reading Rainbow app, details were pretty limited, but now this sucker has hit (virtual) stores. According to CNN, the free app contains 150 books and 16 video field trips, but the "full experience" will cost parents $9.99 per month.

While I certainly enjoyed watching Reading Rainbow as a kid, I can't see interacting with an iPad as the same thing as reading or listening to a story. I think of it as more of an intermediate step; one that might offer more instant gratification for kids with short attention spans than slogging through words on a page.