Audio Books: Tales2Go

Thank you, Marc, for inviting me to write a guest post about Tales2Go on your Daddy Dewberry blog. Let me start with a story…

Once upon a time there was a mom who liked to play audio stories for her kids. She would jump through hoops to get them…at the library, at the bookstore, downloading them (actually she never really figured out downloading and syncing… too darn expensive and time-consuming!). One day as she was holding her iPhone, she said, “There’s got to be a better way! Can’t someone just figure out how to get stories on my phone when and where I want them?!” And, low and behold, she waved her little magic wand… and just like that, it happened.

She crowned herself “Chief Mom of Tales2Go.”

Ok, well, there’s a little more to the tale than that, but let’s not let the facts get in the way of a good story! Suffice it to say, the big idea was to do for individual stories what iTunes and services like Pandora have done for individual songs (i.e. allow moms and dads to immediately access great stories, one-at-a-time, on the go). Also, while my kids are allowed plenty of TV and Wii, Tales2Go is both entertaining (i.e. my kids ask for it) and a good “screen-time” balancer. It’s true what they say, that reading or listening to a story sparks a kids’ imagination in ways video games and TV cannot.

In a nutshell, Tales2Go is a brand-spanking new app that streams the best in kids’ audio books and stories to the iPhone or iTouch. Streaming, by the way, is a fancy word for “it just shows up on your phone when you want it,” and works wherever you have a signal (from AT&T or WiFi). People using the app have called Tales2Go everything from “brilliant” to “so fun” to “a game changer.”

Perfect for kids ages 3 to 11 (up to preteen) and the whole family, the Tales2Go library has a huge number of titles (over 1,000 and growing) including stories from award-winning storytellers such as Bill Harley and Jim Weiss, and best selling kids’ books like Dairy of a Wimpy Kid, Judy Moody and Junie B. Jones. Not to mention favorites such as Clifford, Henry and Mudge, Clementine; and classics like Sylvester and the Magic Pebble, Make Way for Ducklings and Alice in Wonderland. The list goes on…

The app is very intuitive and easy to use. You can search by various criteria, including most popular stories, age, characters and series, and more. There’s even a way to bookmark a story so that you can return to it at a later time, as well as a “favorites” area – similar to your iPod “play list.”

Stories range from minutes to 6 hours and are perfect for the car (short trips around town, road trips, etc.) or at home (e.g., during meal time, bath time and just before bed – after you’ve read to your kids!). We say storytime, anytime – at home, in the car, on the go…

The best part: Tales2Go has a free 30-day free trial: HERE.

After the trial, subscribe for $24.99 for an entire year, which is great value. Just think if you had to buy even a couple dozen stories individually!

Well, that may be more than you wanted know. In any case, we hope you’ll listen to stories with your kids and maybe even try Tales2Go.

For more information, visit www.tales2go.com.

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Tracey Weil is a dedicated mom who is always looking for great products and experiences for her three kids. Nothing makes Tracey happier than a car full of kids, all sitting quietly, captivated by a good story. She lives in Washington, DC with her husband, William – who is also co-founder of the company – and their kids. When she’s not playing Tales2Go, Tracey likes to travel, read, eat ice cream and sleep.

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