New Barrington Stoke eBooks

Posted by Paul Nisbet on the 2nd November, 2015

Barrington Stoke, who publish excellent books for reluctant, struggling or dyslexic readers, have released Tints, an app that lets you buy digital versions of some of their titles.

Barrington Stoke have not published digital versions of their titles before because they have significant concerns about eReading and children, and especially children with dyslexia.

Tints is designed to preserve the layout of Barrington Stoke books, and they say:

its effectiveness lies almost as much in what it won’t do than what it can.

So it does not run on a smartphone:

Can you imagine a scenario in which a struggling reader was directed towards a book measuring 10cm by 5cm, with type under 8 point and a mechanism that might start ringing or otherwise relaying messages at any moment? We can’t.

You can't increase the font size, because that would impact on the dyslexia friendly design.

Instead, Tints replicates the design of the printed books, let you choose a different background colour to replicate the effects of coloured filters, and provide a reading ruler to help track the text.

The app is free to download and books cost £5.99 each. There is a free sample and advice for parents and teachers.