Enriching Education: VOOKS

 Singer/Reality TV star Shannon Bex, working with her brother Marshall, have created a brand new category in the digital world - they are the founders of the only streaming platform for animated storybooks, VOOKS. 

Vooks is geared to kids 2-8 with the animated storybooks that feature beloved classics and new releases. A unique aspect to each Vook is that the pacing was created to replicate how a parent reads to their kids. It has read-along text, so the kids can follow along and learn.  A streaming education platform -- with more than 1.2 million users in 175 countries -- VOOKS adds movement and sound to original storybook art allowing kids to watch and read their favorite stories.  When kids aged 2 – 8 sign on at VOOKS.com they open a world of reading and learning online.  Vooks offers a free tier with limited content and a premium tier for $4.99 a month or $49.99 for the year.  For each station conducting interviews, Vooks will provide a special code for a 10 percent listener discount off the yearly subscription.  Vooks is available via Roku, Apple TV, AndroidTV, Amazon Fire TV, Comcast Xfinity, and as linear channels on both Roku TV and Vizio.

Singer and reality TV show star Shannon Bex – widely known for music career with Danity Kane (founded by P. Diddy in the MTV reality TV series Making the Band 4) is the co-founder and Chief Communications Officer of VOOKS.  She is available to talk about how the founders were able to start up the platform which now boasts 1.2 million users in less than two years. She is in charge of all acquisitions and is the one who had to see if this was even a viable option to start. For it to be successful, they had to make sure that the rights holders of the books would be interested and then see if parents and kids would subscribe.  Both have proved to be successes and the business is growing. Bex is available for interviews immediately through Friday, February 26, 2021.  If there is interest, please respond with a preferred date and time for the interview.

100% kid friendly and ad-free, teachers are using Vooks to help teach kids to read and using the lesson plans provided to help kids digest and better understand theses treasured classic stories. The premium tier is available to U.S. educators at no cost for a year to assist during the pandemic.

Vooks titles include "Allegro," "Courageous People who Changed the World," "Cinderella," and the Kate Winslet narrated pandemic book "And the People Stayed Home." And for the holidays, the platform is featuring "T.E.A.M. Rudolph and the Reindeer Games," and "The Nutcracker," among others. But, fans of Curious George will also find some titles there too such as "Curious George Says Thank You" and "Curious George Plants a Tree."

Shannon Bex is a nationally acclaimed performing artist as a singer, dancer, choreographer and a multi-platinum recording artist. She left the entertainment industry to co-found Vooks with her brother, Marshall and friend Russell Hirtzel.  As Chief Communications Officer, Bex creates, develops, and maintains relationships with authors, illustrators and publishers. She believes in bringing the love of reading to children at a young age!