Digital Bedtime Stories

One of the joys of parenting is the time you get to spend with your child.  For many parents, this quality time centers around reading books at bedtime.  However, there are times when you can’t be with your child because of obligations such as meetings or travel.  A Story Before Bed is a wonderful application of audio and video recoding technology that allows you to make that time easier for the child as it allows you to prerecord a storybook for them to watch on a computer or iOS device. 

Signing Up

Signing up is as simple as visiting the A Story Before Bed website and entering your name and e-mail address.  You then enter a password and confirm your e-mail.  At that point, you can browse the books to determine which you would like to record.  There are a variety of free books available – typically songs or nursery rhymes – and many pay books.  The price structure is difficult (either paying by the book or for a monthly period), but working with a couple of free books can be a joy for the recorder and the viewer.

Recording

Recording a book is as simple as selecting the book you wish to record and reading it.  The site works with Flash, so it must be installed in your browser.  You also need to give it permission to utilize your webcam and microphone.  Once you confirm the webcam is working and the audio levels are where you want them, you begin recording. 

While recording, you can pause and return.  However, there is not the ability to re-record individual pages which might leave you re-recording an entire book (or settling for a few missed words – or added words in my case).  Much like reading a story to a child, as long as you are invested in the recording and connecting with them, the precision of the recording isn’t crucial. 

At the conclusion of the recording, you can review the recording, re-do the recording, or save (and possibly pay for) the recording.  Once you have saved the recording, it will open in the window and you will have the URL available to copy and send.

Playback

You can view your books from the Recordings bookshelf from your account.  Additionally, you can send a URL to a book you’ve recorded to share it with friends and family – much the same way you would send a YouTube URL.  However, the most enjoyable way to access the recordings is by downloading the free iOS app.  Once you’ve downloaded the app, you can log in with your credentials from the site.  You then have the ability to download (great for offline viewing) the different books you’ve recorded to enjoy on that device.

Overall, A Story Before Bed is a very enjoyable experience to both record and view storybooks.  The fee structure is expensive, but a couple of free recordings should suffice for times when you are away from your children, but want to continue the tradition of sharing a story.

My sample book - enjoy!