I’ve been trying out the new family Fiction Express from Boolino with my very own Boo.
Previously available for schools, Fiction Express is now available for families to read at home and we can vouch that it really is a lovely, innovative way to get your kids to read more.
I chose Boo for the subscripton to Fiction Express because she’s not the best of readers. She does love reading but she struggles a little more than the other two. Star has always got a book on the go and reads independently. The Little Man, at just 6 years old, is a superb reader, well above his age level, he reads everything with real expression. Boo, however, loves to read but seems less inclined to pick up a book by herself. Her teacher at school has asked us to try and encourage her to read more because the best way to learn is to just keep reading.
The Fiction Express is an excellent way to encourage children to read. It’s an online, interactive book with features that keep the child wanting to come back to read more.
So how does it work?
It’s really quite simple, you sign up, log in and read a chapter of your book every week. Then you get to choose what you would like to happen next in the story from a selection of examples. The following week you get to know what happens and if it works out the way you expected. You can also pop over to the blog and talk to the author by leaving messages. It’s interactive and exciting and the child can’t wait to get on with the next chapter.
Subscription to Fiction express gives you access to 6 books every year, so you get a new book every two months. It costs £6.99 every two months at the moment.
We’ve been reading The Warrior Princess by Savouir Pirotta which was the chosen book for Boo’s age. The age ranges available are 6+ years, 8+ years and 10+ years.
The book is exciting with quite a few cliff hangers. Boo found that the book was just the right level for her, it wasn’t easy but it wasn’t too difficult either. Some of the more difficult words are highlighted so you can click on them and find out what they mean.
The Warrior Princess is actually the young Queen Boudica who rose up against the Romans. This story looks at her fiery but regal life as a young girl as she tracks down her stolen brooch.
Boo, really enjoyed reading each chapter to me and then voting on what happened next. She was really excited when the author wrote her choice. Each week she’d be keen to log on and read, it was very inspiring. After reading and choosing what happens next we’d visit the authors blog to see what they had to say and ask questions.
The website is really easy to use. You just log on and go to your book and the chapter you are reading. You can start with a reminder of what happened by starting at the end of the last chapter if you wish, or you can just skip this.
I’m a big lover of books and it has taken me a long time to get my head around reading anything on a screen rather that the regular paper pages of a book. However, it is the way forward and of course you have so much more space to keep so many digital books. My children love their books too but Boo has particularly enjoyed this experience of reading to me online each week and we will look foward to starting a new story like this.
What do you think? Is Fiction Express something you’d like to try?
Disclosure: We were given a trial of Fiction Express for the purpose of this review, all thoughts and opinions are my own.
This sounds like an innovative approach to reading. I have a reluctant reader who is 11 years old and this may appeal to her. #BloggerClubUK
Looks like a great way to keep kids engaged and interested in the reading!
This would have really appealed to my older son who loved reading and writing stories. It's a great way to make your kids become creative thinkers.
Like you, I am a lover of real books but I invested in e-readers for my older boys in an effort to encourage them to read by using their beloved technology. Fiction Express does sound like a good idea and £6.99 is a reasonable price to pay for two books.
This sounds like a fantastic way to encourage children to read. What a great idea x
I love that digital books means you can have loads and not take up any space! My love of books in the past has meant very heavy bookcases!
Oh this reminds me of those books you had a child where you picked what happened next and moved on to a different page!
I used to love those books! Fiction Express is similar but you do have to wait a few days for the next instalment to go live.
Anything that gets kids reading is a good thing in my eyes x x
It sounds like a great idea if you have e-readers. We still read books at the moment though
I like that you can click on difficult words and see what they mean, that's a handy feature as reading is one thing understanding another, I like it combines both x