Many among us have added sound effects or silly voices to nightly story time, luring our kids into calm attention or perhaps—for the more gifted storytellers—giggle fits. Thanks to a $3,726 RREF grant and Goldwood teachers Danielle Stuhr and Michael Guscott, such interactive reading experiences are now available to students at Beach, Goldwood and Kensington, through an app called Novel Effect. This dynamic reading app pairs children’s storybooks with speech recognition technology. As books are read aloud, the app adds layers of interactive music and sound effects, transforming story time into an immersive experience.

“Our teachers love how Novel Effect captures students’ attention and sparks their imagination,” said Ms. Stuhr. “At Goldwood, our dedicated Novel Effect section in the library has been a huge success—teachers can easily check out books and speakers to bring stories to life in their classrooms.”

In fact, Ms. Stuhr kindly demonstrated the technology during a RREF Board meeting, reading aloud from The Dot by Peter H. Reynolds. The room full of adults set down their devices and listened in silent attention as Novel Effect sprinkled its extra magic into the story. You too can experience the fun.