Our Passion is Reading
Statistics show that reading to children daily is declining, and the rapid pace of our society creates more challenges and fewer opportunities for parents to read to their children.
Maggie Tales™ offers instant Storytime™ For Kids. Our Storytimes can stream directly to your computer or iPhone or be downloaded to multimedia devices and taken just about anywhere. and unlike many passive pastimes, Maggie Tales offers kids a positive learning and personal Storytime experience!
Maggie Tales are digital stories for kids – appropriate for age 2 and up. Maggie Tales are different from an eBook, a cartoon or an audiobook. Developed and produced by early-reading specialists, Maggie Tales takes existing children’s picture books and then adds professional voice narration, original music, page-turn tones and page-turn animations.
How We Got Started
Mark Smith, who founded Maggie Tales, noticed that:
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kids often became restless, fidgety and bored while waiting in lines, flying on long flights, sitting in restaurants or waiting for mom or dad on the phone. |
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parents would tell their kids, “Sorry, I forgot to bring ‘that’ with me for you to play with. Just sit there and be quiet.” |
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At the same time, family members who were experts in early childhood development told him that reading to kids was on the decline. Mark also knew from personal experience that reading to his son regularly required a conscious effort.
Then, a visit to the airport brought it all together. While waiting to board a delayed flight, Mark noticed that a dad gave his cell phone to his 3-year-old son, who watched that cell phone for 49 minutes before the mom took the phone away and read a picture book to her son. The boy was “watching” a financial news program. As the father explained: as long as there was action on the screen and sound, his son was entertained.
What if, Mark wondered, the picture book the mom was reading was on the cell phone – or any portable device? After all, most families have at least one portable multimedia device. This would allow kids to enjoy a story at times other than bedtime or at school.
If adults could listen to audio books “on the go,” why couldn’t do the same with picture books.
How We Got Our Name
Mark knew that the kids at his wife, Lois’, elementary school loved when she brought their dog Maggie (a black and white Havanese) for a visit. Maggie would also sit and listen while his wife read to their son. And at the end of a book, Maggie would give a little bark. So Maggie and her little bark became the mascot for Maggie Tales.
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