Our Mission:

Our mission is to instill in children a love of reading and creative thinking by providing an interactive alternative to TV viewing and video gaming that makes reading fun.  Our free online book library is not designed to take away from traditional reading, rather it is to replace the time kids are spending watching TV and playing video games.

Our History:

Story Time For Me is the creation of Andrew Gitt, a self-made entrepreneur and father of four.  As parents of young children, Andrew and his wife were startled by the fact that the average child watches TV four hours per day, and will have witnessed 8,000 murders and 200,000 violent acts by their teens.  And the fact that TV viewing, video gaming, and net surfing outplace reading as a “fun” activity among young children is what motivated Andrew to develop an alternative form of children’s entertainment that would also be educational.  He assembled a team of children’s literary experts and multi-media specialists and the result was the formation of Story Time For Me.

Our purpose is to provide a unique and fun learning experience for toddlers all the way up through 2^nd grade school aged children.  We want kids to see that reading can be just as fun (if not more!) than watching TV and playing video games.  We believe that by providing superior stories with award winning illustrations, unique animation, and professional narration enhanced with music and sound effects, Story Time For Me will bring back the magic in reading.

Our goal is not simply to turn kids onto reading, but to stimulate their imagination and creativity through the unique activities that accompany each story.  Our stories were developed to teach wholesome values through positive, moral themes.  All the Story Time For Me stories focus on socially relevant and family oriented issues, and the post-story prompts promote discussion between child and parent.

Andrew hopes to bring Story Time For Me into every household, school and library across the globe in all countries where English is spoken or taught.

Andrew's parents, Jeff and Susan Gitt, have also joined Story Time For Me to help spread children's literacy on a global scale.

To contact Andrew, feel free to email him at Andrew [at] storytimeforme.com. If you have a "linked in" account, Andrew would be delighted to connect with you.  His profile is http://www.linkedin.com/in/andrewgitt.

About the Writer:

The writer who created the Ben, Fern and Flame stories is Marya Jansen-Gruber.  In addition to writing the adventures for these three characters, Marya has plans to write other series that she is sure Story Time For Me e-readers will enjoy.

Marya is also the publisher and editor of Through the Looking Glass Book Review, a monthly online children’s book magazine.  In her capacity as the editor and publisher, she has reviewed thousands of books and interviewed many men and women who write and illustrate books for younger readers.  Marya also evaluates manuscripts as well as helping people who hope to have their own children’s books published.  She finds helping up-and-coming writers incredibly rewarding and fulfilling.

Before entering the world of children’s literature, Marya studied zoology at Oxford University and worked for environmental organizations in Washington D.C.  Although she left this field, she still cares deeply about the environment.

The daughter of journalists and authors, Marya has traveled throughout the world, and she feels that her travels and experiences have given her a unique perspective on life.  Marya enjoys finding ways to help children widen their horizons.  By exploring the written word, children can travel to faraway places, many of which they might not be able to visit physically.  With the help of books, children can take endless trips to distant lands and imaginary worlds while learning about history, science, and people.

When Marya is not writing, editing, or reading she enjoys hiking, running, skiing, visiting other countries, knitting and gardening.  She lives in Oregon with her husband, daughter, three dogs, three cats, and two guinea pigs.

Our Spokesperson:

We’re excited to have Alana Ethridge as Story Time For Me’s national spokesperson. Alana is 13 years old, lives in California, and is always looking to help others.  You may remember her as one of the 5 students on “Are You Smarter Than A 5th Grader”, on the 2006/2007 TV season. Her goal is to help kids achieve their dreams & set positive goals in their life; and to promote the importance of a good education and a healthy lifestyle. You can learn more about Alana at http://www.alanaethridge.net.