Novel Effect: Read Aloud Books Reviews

by Houdiniafams

My son is 2 years old and visually impaired. When I found NovelEffect, I was so excited that I could bring books “to life” for him since he can’t get the enjoyment out of the pages. The first couple of times using it was wonderful, but for the last couple weeks, when I open NovelEffect , it crashes within 10 seconds. I’ve tried deleting and redownloading and nothing works! Hoping you guys resolve this issue because this is such an amazing opportunity to give a little bit of inclusion to special needs kiddos.

by Sandraleelee

I love NovelEffect but the volume from my phone is not good at all. I don’t have any other issues with sound using my phone except with NovelEffect. I’ve tried going into NovelEffect settings and adjusting audio boost all the way up but it is still to faint to hear sounds over my voice reading. If I use a Bluetooth speaker then there is too much of a lag in the sounds and I will have to pause constantly while reading for the sound to catch up. Any suggestions for a fix to this? I would really prefer for the sound to be better coming through my phone.

by Jenna Laird

When I downloaded NovelEffect it night they were on shark tank and at that time I was disappointed but they have updated NovelEffect at least twice since then and it gets better every time with added sounds and better voice recognition! I will keep using it because my child stays engaged in the books with novel effect and they are improving all the time it seems! Way to go!!!

by Merry Shannon

I really don’t have the words for how phenomenal NovelEffect is. I am a huge fan of the read along vinyl/storybook sets of the seventies and eighties—I had a massive collection and spent hours listening to them as a kid. This is the only modern experience I’ve found that lets me replicate the feeling for my child. They’ve included so many truly GOOD kids’ books, and clearly have put a lot of passion and talent into creating these background effects. I already own a dozen of the books featured and now I will be collecting most of the rest. I will support NovelEffect with all my heart, I hope it continues to grow and becomes HUGELY successful. Thank you thank you to the brilliant minds making this possible!!!

by Koki5

NovelEffect is amazing! I work as a Special Education/Resource Room teacher for 2nd and 3rd grade and NovelEffect helps bring books to life and encourage my students to read and get interested in books. I also use NovelEffect to read with my 4 year old nephew. He already loved the book “Drummer Hoff”, but now with NovelEffect he gets even more excited to read it.

by MstLvDgs

Not sure who is more excited, the 4.5 yr old or mom & dad! We’ve always enjoyed reading before bed, but finding NovelEffect has enhanced that experience! We find our little one asking for another book and instead of saying no, we’re just as excited to hear another one too!

by Lisa5676

NovelEffect makes read alouds so engaging for my students, even for older kids who mistakenly think they’ve outgrown picture books. Whenever I have teachers or aides in the library they’re mesmerized as well! It even makes older classic books like “Where the Wild Things Are” new again. I’ve had a couple minor technical issues and my emails to customer support have been answered within hours or minutes with a prompt resolution. I am a huge fan of NovelEffect and the dedicated people behind it!

by Barry 12

LOVE NOVEL EFFECT! I am a librarian at an intermediate school. I use novel effect every week. I was reading The Gruffalo to a class of 5 th graders using NovelEffect . After the book a girl raised her hand and said “ I have read this book, I’ve had this book read to me, and I have the video. That presentation was the best version I’ve ever heard. “. She loved it...I love it.....Homerun novel effect. You are tops in my book. ( and I have a lot of books)

by MrSaltham

This is one of the best apps I have found in a while. I have read two stories to my K-5 library students. It was absolutely magical. I love using this a few times a year with classes. I am excited to download this to our class iPads so kids can use Novel Effect with their book buddies.

I heard you’ll soon be able to make your own NE recordings. That’s exciting stuff!

by Cozy Library

Our students absolutely love hearing sound effects when we read them books. They are so captivated and eager to hear what happens next! Keep adding more books as we are promoting this to all our schools in our district. We would love to see the Washington Children’s Choice Books added every year as most schools across the state use them as part of their curriculum.

by Clarie16

NovelEffect provides music and sound effects at the perfect time based on what you are reading. I’ve done it with my 2 year old daughter twice and it has worked beautifully! I know this will also help me with reluctant and low level readers in my class this upcoming school year! Thank you for creating something so useful and fun!

by Msbenn321

We have discovered new books to read and I am excited about the wide variety of stories on NovelEffect ! My son is a huge fan of the sound effects and likes how much that adds to our story time. Definitely recommending this to other parents with small kids!

by Diddlina22

I tried some free ebooks and it got me a lot of surprises from the sound effects and music. I love when they become real! The videos I watched are so cool! I thought an idea that maybe can add some kids tv shows like blues clues and/or Dora the explorer to get them have some fun being part of the show. For older people, can turn boring school books like science, history, etc... more exciting and fun

by Kelsncat

This really got my child excited about reading, and honestly motivates me to read more to them as well. It’s so much fun finding new books to read now. Thank you to the developers of NovelEffect, you have helped so many children get excited about reading. This brings so much magic to books again; I can read them over and over and not be bored by them!!

by Storczon1

My K-5 kids love novel effect stories I read to them. They are still trying to figure out how it works. They get to experience literature at a deeper level with the soundscapes, which adds mood to the story. They are absolutely pin drop quiet during these times and I get to ham up the characters. P.S. I’m not a bit embarrassed doing these productions for them! It’s a miracle these days getting 25-30 kids at a time engaged in a great story!

by Jamie Hunsdale

NovelEffect is amazing. I love that it brings sound to the world of reading. The fact that you can just turn it on and set it aside while you read is so unique and not just another reason for kids to stare at a screen. I work with audio everyday and the quality of the sounds and music that Novel Effect uses is excellent. I have already shared NovelEffect with other friends that have kids or nieces and nephews like myself. They are loving it.

by AdrienneBTN

NovelEffect is so, so good and I hope it stays around. My family loves it. We have so many of the books that Novel Effect has sound effects for and I love that they keep adding! We probably already owned about 20 books they have in their library! So much fun! And the technology works incredibly well. We’ve been using it for about 2 months and never had a glitch! It can read my voice so well! Thank you to the creators.

by Oo7slice

This is one of those apps that brings a little magic into your life. I was introduced to it by a school librarian when I was visiting my son in kindergarten. She let me read a book to the class using Novel Effect and the kids (and I) loved it.

My son now really likes to try to read the books himself in order to get he sound effects going, and hopes that means re books continue being added to the library.

Looking forward to seeing what comes to NovelEffect .

by AmesIrene

We are avid readers and have read over 500 different books to our 2 year old, and we are always looking for screen-free options for her and this fits the bill perfectly! Love the sounds and music and so does she! We can’t wait for more books to be released! Also, a way to favorite or save books in one folder would be nice, so we could save the books we own in one area and reference which books are compatible easily. For now, I’m just going to do it the non-tech way and put all of the books that work with NovelEffect in a basket together :)

by Grgsalefromhome

I am so glad that NovelEffect exists it truly makes reading a lot more engaging and makes the story books come alive with the sound effects. My kids love it when we read along with novel effect. I just noticed recently even if you don’t have the book they have an ebook option and you can still read along with the sound effects. So awesome! 🤗✨

by Alie66

I was so excited about the idea of this book. It has really been great to see the kids getting into the stories and listening so closely for the sound effects. I was hoping for a little more interaction and sound effects within the stories! Ringing phones, walking shoes, talking etc.
But over all I think it’s a fantastic an interactive idea for children.

by Jo-9990

Novel Effect has created an app which will clearly bring delight to children. Each book has music and sound effects, which were well thought out and suited to the themes of each title. There were times when I thought some books could use a few more sound effects. Overall, bravo to an amazing app.

by Liz721

I just saw this on Shark Tank and downloaded NovelEffect immediately. Such an amazing idea! When I first showed my kids (9 & 7 year old boys, and 3 year old little girl) they all cuddled around me for 3-4 books! So much fun!

I am also a preschool teacher, and we used this in our classroom today and kids were in awe! Our three year old room were all so entranced into our stories, just precious!

It was a little buggy, sometimes it would start and I would have to re-do but I know all the little kinks will be worked out.

So impressed!!! Going to the library soon to get a ton of the books listed that we don’t have.

Love love love. 💙

by Katdea19

I am a elementary school teacher and I use NovelEffect while reading to my class. The first time I did it, I didn’t let them know what I was doing and the were mind blown! Now they ask me to read using NovelEffect all the time! I think this is a great was to motivate reluctant readers. I would love to see more math and science books added as well!

by MrsJayMoh

The fact that this makes book come to life in a whole new way for young readers is the absolute best thing. I’m not sure of all that NovelEffect can do but I love it so far. My kids are digging up all their books so I can read to them.