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Google and Disney want to add some magic to your kid’s story time

Google and Disney want to add some magic to your kid’s story time
Patrick Devaney

Patrick Devaney

  • Updated:

It is fair to say that today children live in a different world to the one kids were living in only a few years ago. This is thanks to mobile devices like smartphones, tablets, iPads and Nintendo Switches. There are now so many digital distractions for little ones to deal with, parents can be forgiven for worrying about whether their kids will be able to concentrate on more simple yet rewarding activities. Activities like reading, which will actually aid their development rather than just keep them occupied. Step forward Google Assistant and Disney.

Google Home will now add sound effects and musical elements to Disney’s Little Golden Books

Disney Google Home Little Golden Books

Story time is a magical time for kids, but with more and more vivid experiences available elsewhere, it has become much harder to get young children to focus on the simple task of reading words from a page. To combat this Google and Disney have teamed up.  The biggest name in tech and the biggest name in children’s entertainment have come together to try and turn the simple practice of reading into something that can compete with today’s multiple types of interactive entertainment.

Disney’s Little Golden Books include titles like “Toy Story 3,” “Coco,” “Alice in Wonderland,” “Peter Pan,” and many other classics and favorites. To make these titles more special, Google Home now has a brand-new skill that allows it to add relevant sound effects and music to go along with the story as it is being read aloud. All Google Home users have to do to activate the new skill is say, “Hey Google, let’s read along with Disney.” After that, the Google Home device will listen to the words of the story and know which sound effects and music it needs to play to bring the story to life.

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Impressively, the system works on the words of the story alone, meaning should your little one want to skip to his or her favorite part of the story the Google Home will automatically catch up. In a blog post announcing the new skill Google said, “We wanted to reflect the way families actually read, so if you skip ahead in the book, Google Home will recognize that change and adjust to match the story. If you pause (because we all know kids love to chime in during story time), ambient music will play until you begin reading again.”

The Little Golden Books are already available up and down the country in the book sections of Walmart, Target, and Barnes & Noble. To get your hands on a Google Home click the link below.

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Patrick Devaney

Patrick Devaney

Patrick Devaney is a news reporter for Softonic, keeping readers up to date on everything affecting their favorite apps and programs. His beat includes social media apps and sites like Facebook, Instagram, Reddit, Twitter, YouTube, and Snapchat. Patrick also covers antivirus and security issues, web browsers, the full Google suite of apps and programs, and operating systems like Windows, iOS, and Android.

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