A female elementary student wearing headphones smiles while working with her teacher on a classroom digital tablet.

Subscribe to our newsletter!

Get weekly updates on the latest media and tech trends for educators.

12 TOOLS

Best Apps for Creating Books and Storybooks

Digital storytelling and book making can help students express themselves and demonstrate learning. These great digital book creation apps and websites take traditional books and storybooks a step further, combining text with visual and audio elements to make students' publications truly multimodal. Students can write down their thoughts and assemble a collection of original or curated content ranging from photos, drawings, and images to audio and video clips -- in some cases, even animated text.

And while storytelling could conjure images of autobiographical presentations or fantastical tales -- which are certainly options -- it's also important to think beyond personal narratives to how students might share the "stories" of their learning on any topic. And beyond student presentations and publications, plenty of teachers are jumping on board, creating dynamic books and presentations that serve as instructional tools.

Tell About This

Photo and word prompts inspire storytelling; app records the results

Bottom Line: Versatile tool can be used as a pre-writing or publishing activity.

Grades: Pre-K–1
Price:
Free to try, Paid

My Story School eBook Maker

Sleek platform is a great artistic tool, intro to digital storytelling

Bottom Line: This is a good, accessible way to get kids creating, but teachers will need to create wraparound lessons on story structure.

Grades: K–5
Price:
Paid

Writing A-Z

Abundant, thorough resources help both teachers and students

Bottom Line: This full-service program can help teachers easily weave writing into their curriculum.

Grades: K–6
Price:
Free to try

Book Creator

Magically easy way to create and publish digital books and multimedia

Bottom Line: This is a top-quality creation tool that lets students of many ages and abilities publish their own digital books.

Grades: K–12
Price:
Free to try

Storybird

Social storytelling site helps kids create, publish storybooks

Bottom Line: A great fit for teachers looking to develop students' writing and digital citizenship skills through storybook creation.

Grades: K–12
Price:
Free to try

Elementari

Storybook creation tool offers cool blend of ELA, art, and coding

Bottom Line: This is a great storytelling tool for younger kids that also offers an entry point into coding and computational thinking.

Grades: 1–5
Price:
Free, Paid

My Story Book Maker

Super-easy way to introduce digital book creation to kids

Bottom Line: Practical, experiential learning gets kids started on digital book creation.

Grades: 1–5
Price:
Free

Pictello

Fabulous tool can help kids create social stories

Bottom Line: Pictello is a great way for kids to create social stories that can help them find their unique voice and prepare for internal and external struggles.

Grades: 1–5
Price:
Paid

CAST UDL Book Builder

Sensitively designed so any student can write and share books

Bottom Line: CAST UDL Book Builder is an excellent resource to get kids started on digital content creation; it's simple and straightforward and caters to a variety of learning styles.

Grades: 1–7
Price:
Free

StoryJumper

Free storybook creation site has great support for classrooms

Bottom Line: Reliable storytelling tool gives students solid tools to create, collaborate, and share work including real, printed books.

Grades: 1–8
Price:
Free

Me: A Kid's Diary

Unique take on self-exploration relies on prompts to guide reflection

Bottom Line: With plenty of ways to express and document their thoughts and more, this app can help students learn something new about themselves.

Grades: 2–5
Price:
Paid

Sway

Create dynamic visual presentations on flexible storytelling platform

Bottom Line: A seamless transition from design to presentation makes Sway a great fit for presenting carefully curated content.

Grades: 6–12
Price:
Free

Related Content

Video
Supporting English Language Learners With Digital Storytelling
Resource
Cheat Sheet: Amplify Your ELLs' Voices
Article
App Smash Your Classroom into Digital Storytelling
Article
4 Best Storytelling Apps for Building Social Skills
Curated List
Lessons and Tools for Teaching About Artificial Intelligence
Curated List
Media Literacy Games, Tools, and Lessons
Curated List
Websites for Reading, Literacy, and Math Games