Digital Publishers Who Are Leading The Book Game

We may earn money or products from the companies mentioned in this review or post, but all opinions are our own.

Weigl Publishers has got living books down to a science, if fact we reviewed Glaciers, their interactive book for our homeschool science and my kids loved it.

 

What do I mean by a living book?

Weigl calls them Media Enhanced Books or A², for Added Value and Audio Visual. We reviewed the digital format book, but I would love to get my hands on a physical copy.

The Glacier book was packed with information. There were maps, charts graphs, and tons of full page photography. The photo quality was akin to a National Geographic layout, but on every page.

The book alone would offer full coverage on a subject, and kept my kids turning pages, but you can use the code on your book to unlock access to the interactive site and open up so much more.

Weigl uses a platform called Lightbox for the interactive portion. Here you and your child has access to all of the Lightbox Standard Features such as…

• Audio Files
• Video Clips
• Activity Pages
• Weblinks of Related Material geared for children
• Slideshows
• Transparency Interactive Pages
• Google Maps
• Quiz that are self-grading
• Key Words for Comprehension

All of these are enhancements to the book you are reading. There are also great additional   homeschooling resources in the Supplemental Resources. Here you will find additional activities that allow you to make a complete unit study.

Not sure how to expand on the material?

No problem. You can click the interactive Curriculum for a list of books for a more complete unit.

Video That Makes Reading Come to Life

We watched an amazing clip of a Glacier calving that was unreal. No matter how many times we might have read about the sheer mass of glaciers breaking up, we could have never have imagined the intensity and size that we got out of the video clip. It was amazing.

My Kids Love Digital Goodies

I love the idea of a book that captures the digital fascination of this age. I want my kids to love books, but there is a whole generation of children that are pretty comfortable with an electronic in their hand. I love that instead of shaking their heads, or scolding kids for loving digital content Weigl has taken the plundge and given kids the tools thay want to learn with.

Literacy is a cause near and dear to my heart. Kids need to read, and be read to if we are going to keep reading scores from dropping. This goes beyond homeschooling. I love seeing a company willing to innovate and change with current trends. Weigl is not turning out low literacy, high game function books. On the contrary, these books are high literacy and high output, but the material is so engaging my kids want to keep reading and keep coming back for more.

 

Kids Aren’t Easily Fooled

The platform is professional looking and has the sleek feel of a video game. I for one am sick of childrens tools that look like a person created it in Microsoft Paint in their free time. If you try pawning that off on a kid with a playstation addiction and you might as well just leave it at the front door. These books will get digital loving kids to interact and read. If this is your goal and you are looking for a tool to get your kid back into books, Weigl Publishing is a team you can partner up with.

OpenLightBox.com has put the money, time and research in their product and it shows. The proof is that my kids keep coming back for more.

We were able to review a coule of other titles as well. A Lions World for my 1st and 2nd grade kids and a very funny Cowboy take on the old woman who swallowed a spider story called, There Once Was a Cowpoke Who Swallowed an Ant. When read with a cowboy twang is an irresistable bed time story. One every Dad should read out loud in front of the whole family for sure.

 

To find out more about the other titles and how other homeschoolers are using Weigl Publisher books click the box to see more reviews by other crew reviewers.