Do you have a kid who needs some extra reading practice this summer? Then you’ll definitely want to check out Sidekick, a new offering that’s part of the Amazon Kids+ subscription (previously FreeTime) that’s designed to help kids practice their reading skills. Or for parents like me who love reading with my four-year-old son, but can only stand Goodnight, Darth Vader so many times a day. (Tell me I’m not the only one).
Related: 11 awesome reading apps for preschoolers and little kids
Once your child identifies the book they want to read, they can choose exactly how much help they want from Alexa. I tried it out myself, and whenever I paused, Alexa filled in the next word on the page. Your child can also choose to alternate paragraphs with Alexa, which I think is a good way to help build up reading confidence, even for kids who have been reading for a couple of years.
I will say that while Sidekick is designed to work with both physical books you already own and ebooks on the app, Alexa had a very hard time recognizing the books I pulled off the shelf when I said the title aloud to her. If your kid wants to try out Sidekick, I’d start with the books on the Amazon Kids+ dashboard and have them read them on a device while Amazon works these small kinks out.
