Apple’s read-aloud function for iBooks on mobile devices provides a fun and educational way for young readers to follow along with children’s stories as a real narrator reads the words aloud. Each word is highlighted as it’s read, and pages turn automatically to keep the session flowing smoothly.

Here’s the skinny on getting the most out of Animusia’s read-aloud ebooks for children. Or skip to the video below.

1. If you don’t have iBooks app installed on your device, download and install it.

2. Download the book and open it in iBooks. If you loaded it in iBooks previously, it will appear in the default Collection titled Books. Tap the cover image thumbnail to open.

3. Navigation elements briefly appear at the top and foot of the screen when the book opens (tap the foot of the screen to bring them back any time they vanish).

At the top of your screen a black bar displays the following controls (L-R):

  • Library selector (tap to view Books/PDFs/Custom collections)
  • Page selector (tap to reveal thumbnails in a lightbox display)
  • Book title
  • Audio/visual controls (see 5 below)

At the foot of the screen a scrub bar shows tiny page thumbnails to indicate your place in the book. The scrub bar and the control bar at the top disappear after a few seconds of reading.

5. The audio control (loudspeaker icon) is at the left of the last block of icons. Tap it to reveal (top to bottom):

  • Volume control
  • Page turn function (Automatic/Manual)
  • Start/Stop reading

To start reading, select pages to turn Automatically (the default setting) and tap Start Reading. The narration begins and pages advance to the next when read. The text is highlighted word by word.

6. To pause reading at any point, tap the foot of the screen to reveal the controls, then tap Stop Reading. To advance or return narration to any point in the text, tap the word where you want to continue.

Please enjoy our fun, educational ebooks, and let us know what you think!


The publication shown in this video is our read-aloud edition of The Pied Piper of Hamelin, by Robert Browning, with illustrations by Kate Greenaway, narrated by Stella Arman.

Another very cool e-book with narration and music is our Maximus Musicus Visits the Orchestra. Check it out!