Watch Kids' Reviews of
BOOKBOX STORIES FROM AROUND THE WORLD

Enjoyed them a lot. "I liked the characters because they are very funny." Kids stayed engaged while watching the stories and, since they were unfamiliar with the stories, were curious to find out what happened at the ending. "It was funny how they planted a piece of ice and thought it was a water seed and funny when they dug a hole to look for it and woke up the next morning to find a well full of water. It was also funny when the elephant ate all the ice cream and kicked the coconut." "My friends would like the elephant." "It made me think about what the elephant would do when she gets out of her cage." All the kids liked the elephant story best.

Unique and moving. The stories have nice messages and are simple and well-told. Kids can enjoy them just as they would a short bedtime book. These are re-enactments of stories from other countries. They are done in a literary style, showing pictures like drawings in a book. They are easy to follow and bring us closer to understanding people from other places in the world by sharing their lessons with us. For example, the elephant story helps children see why animals don't like to live in cages and how to treat the ones we love well. The well story tells about optimism and hope. They are suitable for a wide range of children though the younger ones won't be able to read along and the older ones might not like the slow pace. They are respectful of animals and other people. The king treats his warriors well; the zookeeper treats his animals well.

Gold Award, KIDS FIRST! Best 2009. Conceived by child literacy expert Dr. Brij Kothari and his team, at Stanford University, BookBox Stories entertain children and improve their reading skills at the same time. Using scientifically tested SLS (same language subtitling), children will improve their listening comprehension, reading skills and foreign language skills by watching these fascinating 'Stories from Around the World' that bring cultural and educational values to children. BookBox uses Same Language Subtitling (SLS) synchronizing the text, audio and visual components of a story shown on screen or 'reading Karaoke style.' SLS is the simple idea of subtitling music videos, film, television and DVDs in the same language as the audio. Word for word, what is heard is what will be read on screen. BookBox Stories from Around the World is a compilation of five short animated films which has been proven to aid early readers in developing their reading skills. Stories included are:: The First Well - A magical tale from a kingdom far, far away about how the very first well was created. The Boo in the Shoe - Meet playful Boo creatures who hide under beds at night and come out to play during the day. The Whispering Palms - A charming tale about Mori, who lives with her parents in a coconut grove and helps her father who goes fishing every morning. A random dream changes their lives forever and they decide to live in harmony with nature and find alternative methods of earning their living. The Little Pianist - Azul loves to play the piano and practices regularly. His piano teacher confuses him one day when she asks him to play from his heart for the upcoming recital. How can you play piano with your heart and not your fingers? Azul nervously begins to play at the recital and magically his fingers move by themselves, thus finding the true meaning of playing from the heart. Elephant Goes to the City - Rosa, a baby elephant is terribly unhappy as she lives all alone in her cage at the zoo. A chance escape gives her the freedom to explore the city and raise a bit of havoc! When the zoo keeper finds her, he realizes she would be best living with other elephants in the freedom of a forest reserve. Stories From Around the World is available in English only, English/Spanish, English/French, English/German, English/Italian, English/Mandarin Chinese, English/Hindi, English/Gujarati, English/Russian and English/Portuguese.