Open Read the Book and you will see one page at a time, with the page number, title, and story line underneath. Move forward and back with the arrow buttons below the picture, the arrow keys on your keyboard, or a swipe left or right on a phone or tablet. The counter between the arrows (it starts at "1 / 100") shows where you are.
The controls
- Arrow buttons: the left arrow goes back a page, the right arrow goes forward.
- Keyboard: → or ↓ goes forward, ← or ↑ goes back. Home jumps to page 1 and End jumps to page 100.
- Swipe: on a touch screen, swipe left for the next page and right for the previous one.
- Chapter buttons: "Ch. 1" through "Ch. 6" above the page jump straight to the start of that chapter. The button for the chapter you are in stays highlighted.
- Fullscreen: the button with four corners, to the right of the arrows, fills the screen with the page. Press it again, or press Esc, to exit.
Coming back to the same page
As you flip, the web address changes to end in something like #page-24. If you bookmark the reader or copy that address, it opens on the same page next time. You can also type it yourself: /book/#page-61 opens straight to page 61, Data Rain.
Reading it with your child
I built the reader for story time. Fullscreen on a tablet works well for little hands, and a swipe feels like turning a real page. Try reading the whole of Chapter 1 aloud before you print anything, so your child knows the story they are about to color.
The reader shows the artwork and the story line only. For the grown-up notes and the "Talk about it while you color" questions, open that page's own web page, such as page 24.
If the reader doesn't flip
The page-flip reader needs JavaScript. If JavaScript is off or blocked, the same address shows a gallery of all 100 pages instead, and you can tap any picture to open that page. Screen readers announce each page number and caption as you move. More on that is in Is the site accessible for kids and parents with disabilities?