Amazon Announces New Rapids App

(AMZN) - Today, Amazon announced a new app that offers a playful approach to children's reading. Amazon Rapids offers illustrated short stories written in a unique chat style that brings stories to life, one message at a time. Stories on Amazon Rapids are told through the lens of characters chatting with each other, from an alien texting about invading Earth to two chickens debating if they should cross the street. The app is available for iOS, Android and Amazon Fire devices, and offers hundreds of original stories, with dozens of new ones added monthly. Parents who sign up now can subscribe at a special introductory rate of $2.99 per month to give their kids unlimited access to short stories. Parents can start a free two week trial at http://rapids.amazon.com.

"Many kids already love using phones to chat with friends and family," said Rohit Agarwal, General Manager of Amazon K-12 Education. "We wanted to see what authors and illustrators could create with an app that made it easy to tell stories that way. We're excited to share Amazon Rapids with parents and their kids."

With Amazon Rapids, kids can choose from many types of stories including adventure, fantasy, humor, mystery, science fiction and sports. Stories feature a variety of topics, from a grandma invading her granddaughter's group chat to a duck taking over a rooster's duties on a farm. Additionally, with age-appropriate content and key features like the built-in glossary and "read to me" mode, kids can feel confident and read independently. Whether a kid is on her way to soccer practice and has 10 minutes in the car, or waiting with friends for the school bus to arrive, she can quickly immerse herself in a hilarious adventure and enjoy the simple pleasure of a great story.

Amazon Rapids Includes:

• Unique chat style - Stories are told through the lens of characters chatting with each other, letting stories come to life one message at a time.
• Hundreds of original stories - Kids can explore a large and growing library that's filled with original stories spanning adventure, fantasy, humor, mystery, science fiction and sports.
• Age-appropriate content - All content is thoughtfully edited to be appropriate for kids ages 7-12.
• Built-in glossary - Kids can easily look up the definition and pronunciation of words to help build their reading confidence. Each time they look up a word, it is automatically added to their personal glossary for easy reference.
• "Read to me" -Kids can have stories read aloud to them while they follow along with the text.

"Having been a teacher for over a decade, I've learned to write stories in a way that compels kids to dive in and the Amazon Rapids format is a perfect way to make that happen," said Raymond Bean, best-selling children's author. "In my first Amazon Rapids story, Alien Invasion, a boy named Gordon and an alien connect via a misdirected text message and hilarity ensues as they discuss the aliens' plans to land on earth."

Parents can visit http://rapids.amazon.com to download Amazon Rapids today.

About Amazon

Amazon is guided by four principles: customer obsession rather than competitor focus, passion for invention, commitment to operational excellence, and long-term thinking. Customer reviews, 1-Click shopping, personalized recommendations, Prime, Fulfillment by Amazon, AWS, Kindle Direct Publishing, Kindle, Fire tablets, Fire TV, Amazon Echo, and Alexa are some of the products and services pioneered by Amazon. For more information, visit www.amazon.com/about.

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