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Dr. Seuss Apps Can Now Record Parents Reading Books Aloud

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The Dr. Seuss iOS apps -- digital, interactive versions of childhood classics like The Cat in the Hat and Green Eggs and Ham -- have been updated with a terrific new feature for parents and kids.

Users can now record themselves reading the Dr. Seuss story, and then share the recording with family and friends that also own the digital book. If Mom or Dad are away from home on a business trip or deployed in the military, the app allows parents to virtually read their children a bedtime story. The reverse works as well, with a parent or grandparent receiving an audio file of their child or grandchild reading Green Eggs and Ham to them.
"We've brought story time to a whole new level," said Susan Brandt, President of Dr. Seuss Enterprises. "Whether reading one page or the entire story, readers instantly become the narrator of their own Dr. Seuss book and can share the fun with others."
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The digital books with the new recording feature are all available as universal apps for $3.99.

- The Cat in the Hat [Direct Link]
- Green Eggs and Ham [Direct Link]
- Dr. Seuss's ABC [Direct Link]

Article Link: Dr. Seuss Apps Can Now Record Parents Reading Books Aloud
 
Article Link
https://www.macrumors.com/2012/09/26/dr-seuss-apps-can-now-record-parents-reading-books-aloud/
D

Dcuellar

macrumors regular
Feb 24, 2010
245
6
So, not only do you have to pay 3 bucks but you also have to put in the work and read the book yourself?

Just kidding. This is pretty cool.
 
I

ibnsina

macrumors newbie
Dec 8, 2011
7
0
it's been done

It's been done already - copied from Hiku (a kids book in the app store)
 
M

Mundty

macrumors member
May 7, 2012
97
10
This is excellent news, I'm always looking for ways to neglect my children.
 
A

AlvinNguyen

macrumors 6502a
Jun 23, 2010
820
3
Mundty said:
This is excellent news, I'm always looking for ways to neglect my children.
Click to expand...

My first thought exactly. But the military parents will benefit from this. I just hope it's not an excuse for people to work late and see it as a way to half ass bed time stories.
 
A

alex00100

macrumors 6502
Mar 17, 2011
469
1,227
Moscow, Russia
i dont like it. world is getting too digital. i mean parents HAVE to find time to real books in real life. or at least through skype or facetime with video.
 
J

jll62

macrumors regular
Sep 2, 2009
117
2
Minneapolis, MN
alex00100 said:
i dont like it. world is getting too digital. i mean parents HAVE to find time to real books in real life. or at least through skype or facetime with video.
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My four-year old loves book time, but we cannot sit and read to him for hours at a time (we already do books for at least a half hour before bed). This is perfect for him to be able to have us "read to him" outside of the normal time.

Quit being so jaded and realize that families might actually find this useful as more than a replacement parent.
 
J

jasonbterry

macrumors newbie
Sep 19, 2012
6
0
my .02

its really shocking to me how many have already posted, equating these apps with people who don't give their kids enough love and attention... i'm quite sure that the vast majority of people who use things like this will be those with grandparents who live out of town, military families (who realize that on any given day one of these books could provide the last words a kid ever hears from mom or dad), people who love their kids dearly and also happen to be highly talented and in great demand that finds them on the road regularly (idk, anyone ever watch a football/baseball/basketball game?), or people like me who are dreading the soon-approaching day when they will leave to go to Africa for ten days to work in a medical clinic in a remote village and have to leave their growing-up-way-too-fast little boy behind. just my thoughts...
 
balamw

balamw

Moderator emeritus
Aug 16, 2005
19,366
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New England
MOD NOTE: If you wish to take this thread in a direction that belongs in our Politics, Religion, Social Issues forum, please make a new thread there rather than derail this one please.

B
 
Kaibelf

Kaibelf

Suspended
Apr 29, 2009
2,445
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Silicon Valley, CA
mrgraff said:
Challenge accepted :)

I guess the OP didn't watch the video, because the kid is being recorded not the parents. This is a teaching tool, not a substitute parent (thankfully).
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Rebuttal. I would be DELIGHTED to have a recording of my child trying to read to me or showing me how much he or she has learned.
 
DrMotownMac

DrMotownMac

Contributor
Jul 11, 2008
383
207
Michigan
Mundty said:
This is excellent news, I'm always looking for ways to neglect my children.
Click to expand...

Actually, for my 5 year old daughter who is still an early reader, it is very entertaining (and educational) for her to record herself reading these books, and then to listen to herself (while following along) reading the books. So, with parental guidance, this is actually a GREAT tool for encouraging kids to read and making it more fun.

In contrast, if you just sit and read the books to them yourself, in old fashioned paper book format, your child is just sitting and passively listening to you read. So what's better? Teach your kids how to record themselves reading the books (thereby teaching them how to read while also teaching them how to operate the iPad in a productive way), or you just reading to them while they fall asleep on your lap? Either way, story time always involves me and/or my wife, since I would NEVER just hand my $700 new iPad to my 5-year-old so she could just drop it on the hardwood floor.

I have to believe you just impulsively made that comment without thinking it through. Of course, any parent who looks to utilize the iPad as an educational tool would be able to greatly benefit from this feature. Only a lazy fool of a parent would use it as an electronic babysitter. And don't those dummies already have TV sets? Do you really think they'd use the iPad and Dr. Seuss for that purpose?
 
mrgraff

mrgraff

macrumors 65816
Apr 18, 2010
1,089
837
Albuquerque
Kaibelf said:
Rebuttal. I would be DELIGHTED to have a recording of my child trying to read to me or showing me how much he or she has learned.
Click to expand...

Rebuttal? We're on the same side, I pretty much said the same thing :) I was just going out of my way to find something "not to love."
 
thefourthpope

thefourthpope

Contributor
Sep 8, 2007
1,391
738
DelMarVa
I participated in a service project that brought children's books into prisons. We offered incarcerated parents a chance to read the book into a tape recorder. Then we gave the book and tape recorder (with tape of course) to the parent's child for the holidays. The reactions were were exactly what you would expect as parents and children realized what was happening: the children could read a book with their parents.

Even without getting into the actual educational potential, this is wonderful.
 
M

Mundty

macrumors member
May 7, 2012
97
10
DrMotownMac said:
Actually, for my 5 year old daughter who is still an early reader, it is very entertaining (and educational) for her to record herself reading these books, and then to listen to herself (while following along) reading the books. So, with parental guidance, this is actually a GREAT tool for encouraging kids to read and making it more fun.

In contrast, if you just sit and read the books to them yourself, in old fashioned paper book format, your child is just sitting and passively listening to you read. So what's better? Teach your kids how to record themselves reading the books (thereby teaching them how to read while also teaching them how to operate the iPad in a productive way), or you just reading to them while they fall asleep on your lap? Either way, story time always involves me and/or my wife, since I would NEVER just hand my $700 new iPad to my 5-year-old so she could just drop it on the hardwood floor.

I have to believe you just impulsively made that comment without thinking it through. Of course, any parent who looks to utilize the iPad as an educational tool would be able to greatly benefit from this feature. Only a lazy fool of a parent would use it as an electronic babysitter. And don't those dummies already have TV sets? Do you really think they'd use the iPad and Dr. Seuss for that purpose?
Click to expand...

It was a joke, I don't think I could have made the sarcastic tone of my post any clearer.

This is excellent news, I'm always looking for ways to neglect my children.
Click to expand...
If that statement doesn't convey sarcasm to you, then you might consider taking your own advise and thinking it over for a while.

You misinterpreted what I said and ran with it, lighten up already.
 
Last edited:
DrMotownMac

DrMotownMac

Contributor
Jul 11, 2008
383
207
Michigan
Mundty said:
It was a joke, I don't think I could have made the sarcastic tone of my post any clearer.

If that statement doesn't convey sarcasm to you, then you might consider taking your own advise and thinking it over for a while.

You misinterpreted what I said and ran with it, lighten up already.
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Yeah, so...um...funny "joke." :rolleyes:

I guess if I actually laughed when I read it I would have realized it was a joke. Sorry, my mistake. :confused:
 
charlituna

charlituna

macrumors G3
Jun 11, 2008
9,636
816
Los Angeles, CA
ibnsina said:
It's been done already - copied from Hiku (a kids book in the app store)
Click to expand...

No one said they thought up the idea. Geesh

----------
alex00100 said:
i dont like it. world is getting too digital. i mean parents HAVE to find time to real books in real life. or at least through skype or facetime with video.
Click to expand...

If you don't like it, don't do it. Don't let your kids watch tv, play on your iPhone etc either. Kids have to do all their playing outside with real toys. That is when they arent helping you tend to the family garden or milking the family cow (how else will you be certain there are no pesticides or hormones in their food)

Pat yourself on the back for being the perfect parent.

And shut the **** up. I'm the parent of my kids. As long as I'm not beating them or such I, and only I, have the right to parent them. Not you. So if I want to record myself reading a book for my kid that wants to read it over and over or whatever. That's my choice.
 
mrgraff

mrgraff

macrumors 65816
Apr 18, 2010
1,089
837
Albuquerque
DrMotownMac said:
Yeah, so...um...funny "joke." :rolleyes:

I guess if I actually laughed when I read it I would have realized it was a joke. Sorry, my mistake. :confused:
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Not every joke is funny to every person. It's called "sense of humor" because you're able to sense the humor and understand why somebody else might find it funny, even if you don't.
 
C

curmudgeon32

macrumors regular
Aug 28, 2012
240
1
DrMotownMac said:
In contrast, if you just sit and read the books to them yourself, in old fashioned paper book format, your child is just sitting and passively listening to you read. So what's better?
Click to expand...

A lot is happening when a kid is "just" sitting listening to a parent reading an "old fashioned paper book format". Kids learn by imitating what their parents do. You want to teach your kid to interact with machines? Buy some gadgets and leave them with them. You want to teach them to interact with people? Read to them. Be there to see their reactions. Maybe (gasp) make up your own story. Kids aren't just craving "being read to", they're craving attention.

Only a lazy fool of a parent would use it as an electronic babysitter. And don't those dummies already have TV sets? Do you really think they'd use the iPad and Dr. Seuss for that purpose?
Click to expand...

Phew. Good thing there aren't any ******, lazy parents out there in America. Oh wait.
 
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