What is an online storybook?
An online storybook is somewhere between a micro website and an ebook. If you were thinking about creating a printed storybook from some of the images you’ve been taking then this is a great way to help you plan.
We created our online storybook using Adobe Spark Page which is an easy to use micro website building software.
This whole project was created using the iPhone app but there is also a desktop version of the software.
We looked as various online ebook publishing tools but found that Adobe Spark got the job job a lot quicker and easier.
Why would you create an online storybook?
People often ask us what can they do with all these images they are creating. Normally our answer would be to print them either as a book or from an inkjet printer.
It’s always nice to have something physical to keep but occasionally a digital output is called for.
We wanted to easily share our story with friends and family so creating a digital storybook seemed a good option.
Creating our story
We began by choosing a theme. We went back to our toy tigers featured in the Tiger Photoshoot and kept the same scenery.
As we had already had experience photographing the tigers in the garden setting it helped us focus on creating a story.
If you were doing this with an older child than 5 I would recommend planning your story and shots before you begin.
That would be the correct way of doing it, but where’s the fun in that?
The far more exciting way to tell a story would be to let it happen organically.
The strategy was to play with the toy tigers whilst taking photos along the way as important things happened. We took rough notes of the story as it happened.
All the images were taken on an iPhone with no additional editing.
Creating the online storybook
The beauty of having the Adobe Spark Page on the same devise as the images is that it makes it really easy to create.
Adobe Spark syncs up with all your devices so if you choose to begin your story on your phone and the move to a desktop you can.
We simply dropped in the images one by one and added text in between them.
My daughter began by typing some of the text but when she got bored of that she dictated and I typed.
Sharing your online storybook
Once you have finished your book it’s easy preview and publish. The link can be shared via social media, text or email straight from the app.
If you need to make changes then all you need to do is update the storybook.
Your child’s new favourite bedtime story
You can view our finished book here
We have this saved as a bookmark on an iPad so that my daughter can read her very own bedtime story that she created.
