My three youngest children: Miranda, Mason and Mitchell, love their new Planet 316 Story Bible and the companion Planet 316 Story Bible App. We got it free in exchange for an honest product review from Planet 316 and WorthyKids/Ideal. Here are all the review details…

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[ctt template=”4″ link=”c22ra” via=”yes” ]The Planet 316 Story Bible and Story Bible App is a hardcover children's story Bible that has an app with augmented reality and comes to life through your device with sound and animation. Here are our thoughts..[/ctt]

Product Review of Planet 316 Story Bible and App

About Planet 316 Story Bible and the companion Planet 316 Story Bible App

The Planet 316 Story Bible and Story Bible App is a hardcover children's story Bible book that that works with a free downloadable app you put on your electronic device.  The story comes to life with sound and animation, in what they call “augmented reality”. Here is a short video of the product…

How we used it:

We were so curious when we received it! It arrived quickly and in excellent condition and was packaged well for shipping and I should know because I am an Etsy and eBay shipper myself!

I downloaded this app onto my smartphone since I knew I would be doing this review with my 5 and 7 year olds and I figured it would be easier for each child to hold a small device and the book at the same time, not our great big heavy iPad. I do think this was a wise decision, but I did notice that my phone battery would get used up faster and my phone would sometimes be hot to the touch after using it.  I really think this is just my device because it does that when I am placing an order online too. I do recommend a smaller device for little hands so they can easily manage both items.

How the app works is you just find the photo icon on your device and click on it. Then it tells you to get your book. Next, you push “Start”. In good lighting, you hover over the animated characters on the pages. Sometimes you need to hover higher or lower to get it to start. When it starts working, you will hear sound, like birds singing, waves crashing, wind blowing, some sort of sound. Then the characters will show up in a very realistic animated way on your screen.  You click on the one you want to say or do something. That person may talk or move their hands or something.  It doesn't read the story for you. It just adds to the story.  What is interesting is that looking through the screen, it looks like the characters go a little outside of the page into the air.  I really can't describe it fully, you just have to try it to see what I mean.

[ctt template=”4″ link=”quV9Z” via=”yes” ]It is truly amazing to me and I have no idea how Planet 316 and WorthyKids/Ideal did this, but I feel like there is an animated character in the room with me which helps to make the Bible more real and exciting to my children.[/ctt]

In our times of reading this book together and using the app with it, we had not gotten this far in the book yet.  In the photo above, I caught Miranda trying to read these pages on her own.  She can't read all the words yet, but I could tell she was really trying to figure this one out. I really was thinking that they just liked the cool app, but I was amazed to see that my kids enjoy the book and illustrations just as much.

As you can see, the illustrations are amazing! They are so well-drawn and brightly colored, and make Miranda, who can't read all the words yet, want to know what is happening in this story with the baby chasing the other baby! She read as many words as she could and tried to figure it out, but did ask me to read it.  Even if I am very busy, since the stories are so short, it is easy for me to sit down for a few minutes and read those pages and maybe a few more too. Then I get the smartphone and app ready for her and leave her to explore the book with the app while I get back to handwashing dishes since our 2nd dishwasher for the year broke. (In our large family of 9, we probably need two dishwashers or a really tough industrial one! We are just too hard on a single one with so many loads/day!)

We went on vacation and I told the children they could each pack two books, the Planet 316 Story Bible was the first chosen book! This confirms for me that this is their favorite book of all the books in my house! Miranda (age 7) has no problem holding the phone and the book at the same time, but my 5 year old, Mason, likes to have someone help hold it, and Miranda is very willing! Mitchell (19 months) really enjoys watching, but I don't let him hold the phone or book yet. In the photo below, we are at our rented vacation room and this is storytime after baths and before bed so they are all in pajamas.

I hold up the book in front of them and read the story to them all, then let Miranda and Mason take turns with the phone on the book.

I had no idea how much we would love this book and app! On St. Patrick's Day, I had each of the kids invite friends over and just had a big hang out day at our house. All six of my oldest kids each had a friend come over, some had more! We had a total of 21 kids here to eat green pancakes with us! Anyways, Miranda got the book and my phone out and showed her friends how to use it. I walked in on the scene of a crowd around the book and phone in the living room after putting away the food. It was the hit of the party, everyone in the room wanted a turn! I had one parent call and ask me about what it was called and how to get it a few days later.

Miranda's Opinion

I really like this book because it has funny pictures and sometimes it makes me laugh when the characters use those silly voices. Sometimes when you watch the video on the phone, the people are off of the page!  I like to read just the book and I like to use Mom's phone with it too both the same. I want my friend Georgia and my cousin Lydia to get this book too! I think they would like it.

Mason's Opinion

I really like it. I just like to use it with the phone. I like to have somebody hold the book. You have to have the lights on good for it to work. I don't like to wait for my turn. I want to just use it by myself, but Miranda always wants a turn.

My Opinion

It is truly amazing to me and I have no idea how Planet 316 and WorthyKids/Ideal did this, but I feel like there is an animated character in the room with me which helps to make the Bible more real and exciting to my children.

I am really impressed with the sound.  They have music, sound effects, all the voices sound like they have different voice actors for different characters. The women sound like women, the men sound like men, etc. The illustrations and animation are amazing and I keep asking myself, “how did they do this to make the pictures go beyond the page?” Some really smart people invented this for God's glory. What a great way to use their spiritual gifts. I feel so blessed to have this in my home.

The price is low enough to buy for children's friends' birthdays as gifts or for nieces and nephews for Christmas gifts. I had never ever heard of this before this review and now I feel like every home with children should have one.

This got me thinking, okay, if these wise people can make a book like this for kids, I bet they can for adults too. Did they already? I went to their website and found that yes, they are in the process of making something called the Fusion Bible, check out this snippet from their website:

Sadly, it is not yet available for sale, but it won't be long! It's expected to be available Fall 2018!

About Planet 316 and WorthyKids/Ideals:

How To Find Them:

• Website: http://planet316.com/
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/Planet316/
• Twitter:  https://www.twitter.com/planet_316

The Old Schoolhouse Homeschool Review Crew has a great team of people that have also used and reviewed Planet 316 Story Bible and the companion Planet 316 Story Bible App so click the banner below to see all the reviews:

Thanks for stopping by! I look forward to sharing more great curriculum reviews throughout the coming year.

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