# Reading Train Starter Books — user reviews > 73 indexed App Store user reviews of Reading Train Starter Books by The Learning Station, LLC, rated 4.10/5 from 28 ratings. - Source: https://appshunter.io/ios/app/reading-train-starter-books/id702227884/reviews - App overview in markdown: https://appshunter.io/ios/app/reading-train-starter-books/id702227884.md - Rating breakdown: 5★ 19 · 4★ 2 · 3★ 2 · 2★ 2 · 1★ 3 ## What do users think of Reading Train Starter Books? Overall sentiment: mixed **Pros** - 👍 Engaging for kids - 💡 Interactive learning - 🚀 Builds reading fluency - 🎵 Fun songs and rewards - 🗣️ Recording feature valuable - 📚 Wide variety of books - 🎯 Good for struggling readers - 👨‍👩‍👧‍👦 Family sharing appreciated - ✅ Easy to use - 🌟 High quality app - 💡 Vocabulary builder - 🎧 Clear narration - 💯 Great for early learners - 💰 Good value (flat fee) - 📈 Tracks progress - 🤩 Kids love it - 👍 Great support - 💡 Innovative features - 💯 Highly recommended - 👍 Works for special needs kids - 💡 Focus on learning - 💯 Excellent for beginners - 💡 Repetition aids learning - 💯 Fun and educational - 💡 Offers definitions - 💯 Motivating incentives **Cons** - 🐛 No sound issue - 💸 Charged after trial - ❌ Cannot unsubscribe easily - 💰 Expensive subscription - 👨‍👩‍👧‍👦 Subscription not shareable - 👎 Irritating narrator voice - 🤷‍♀️ Content not for all ages - 📉 Kids lose interest quickly - 🚫 App won't open/crashes - 🤔 Subscription required for preview - 💸 In-app purchases needed - 😠 Greedy app perception - 👎 Boring stories - 😔 Not impressed with app **Commonly reported bugs** - App has no sound - App does not open/crashes - Charged after trial period - Cannot unsubscribe after trial - Error with earning coins for songs **Most requested features** - Higher level books - More songs - Update progress across devices - Dark mode option - Option to buy content outright (no subscription) ## Newest reviews (15 of 73) ### 5/5 — Best reading app on App Store!! *2016-04-10* We love this app!!!! ❤️ My son started working on the Reading Train after I discovered he was beginning to read at just age 2. The Reading Train app was the PERFECT tool to peak his interest even further!!! The books are written with such great illustrations. The smile on his face is PRICELESS as he plays and sings along to the fun and educational songs. Libby and Evan Curry have created and provided kids of all ages with a TREASURE for learning to read!!! Please download NOW and let your child begin their journey on the Reading Train!!! You will be amazed at how fast they will progress!! At age 5 now, my son never tires or gets bored from the app because it offers new books and songs to keep him wanting to play it everyday!! ### 5/5 — A lot of content *2016-04-02, version 1.3* This is really amazing how much content has this FREE app. Very very entertaining for kids. Strong 5! ### 5/5 — Awesome learning format *2016-01-09, version 1.1.1* This is by far the best app I have downloaded for my kids. It's entertaining, engaging and fun. The kids don't even realise they are learning while they read and play. The repetition makes it easy for the kids to get familiar with the words and the possibility to play a song at the end keeps them coming back for more reading. It's a game and a book rolled into one and even my 6yr old still enjoys it. Highly recommend. ### 5/5 — Phonics, fluency, vocabulary and comprehension for beginning readers *2015-10-14* I'm so impressed with the books in this app. The books are written so there is a gradual release of responsibility to the reader. I bought this app and love it. It is money well spent. I can also keep track of who is reading what level and how they are progressing. Check it out. ### 5/5 — Wonderful app! *2015-10-07* I love this app and so does my son. My son has ASD and most ASD kids have sensory issues. Many of the apps he has tried are too busy. Too many animations and other distractions that cause him to focus on the sounds and animations and not the actual content. This app has just the right balance to keep him interested and focused. He likes earning the coins for the songs. Good job! ### 5/5 — Lovely app for the curious young reader *2015-08-28* The magic of this app is that it uses focus to great effect. This app was created by people who understand education! It presents the user with a non-distracting, *focused* view into language. Does your young learner get confused by pictures, words and other “junk” cluttering up what they're supposed to learn? I think everyone does, and this app is the answer. A focused view on the word, pronunciations and definitions. None of the other junk. Also, there are trains and vehicles and original books. Seems hard to go wrong with this app. ### 5/5 — Great reading app for my kindergartner *2015-06-12* My daughter loves this app and uses it everyday to read on her own. Her reading and word recognition has improved dramatically since she started using this app two weeks ago. With a large array of books covering stories, animals, and planets, among others, this app is just what I was looking for. Thank you Libby for creating this innovative app. ### 5/5 — Sight words and reading *2015-04-04, version 1.0.13* I'm a kindergarten teacher and I love the many sight words used within the story line! Plus the vocabulary words with definitions is perfect for language acquisition for toddlers, pre-schoolers, and kinder's! Thank you! ### 5/5 — Excellent LIteracy app *2015-03-30, version 1.0.13* The Reading Train is an engaging app for beginning readers. The children can choose from many different stories and activities to help them practice and increase their reading skills. The little games at the end of each book help the kids review the words and practice even more. I love the individual alphabets books and the theme books! I highly recommend this app. ### 5/5 — I am an SLP and love this app! *2015-03-29* I am a speech language pathologist (SLP) always looking for ways to make literacy activities fun for the young kiddos and this app totally rocks! Unlocking new books and earning coins to hear or sign along/record songs is going to be a big hit with my clients. I've already had so much fun with this app. So incredible to see there are quality apps out there these days! ### 5/5 — Fun and engaging app! *2015-03-21, version 1.0.13* I've tried many apps with my children over the last couple years and I've finally found one that my children really enjoy! They stay on task while reading since there's no distraction while reading. They get excited to do the activities after, they feel it's a reward but it reinforces what they have learned in the book and helps them remember there sight words. ### 5/5 — Learn while playing *2015-03-16, version 1.0.13* I am a Chinese mum.my 7- year - old son loves this app very much and is using it everyday to learn English. Reading a book, finishing the quiz and earning coins for songs are not only fun to him, but also give him a sense of achievement! "You learn while you play." That's his comments. I love it,too,especially for it offers the pronunciation of each single word,which makes English learning much easier for us. Thanks! ### 5/5 — Reading Train *2015-02-20, version 1.0.12* Extremely well organized and easy to use. The sequence of stories, activities and vocabulary is perfect for beginning readers. We love the recording option! Our child loves to record the stories and play them for everybody. ### 4/5 — Mrs *2015-01-05* Great concept and fun game at the end which my pre-school children love. ### 5/5 — Love this app!!! *2014-12-22* What a wonderful app. Thank you that there is plenty to do while we grow into it. I will absolutely be subscribing when my son is just a little bit older. I love the slow pace of the app, it's so NOT overwhelming which is so pleasant. Perfect, perfect app. Well done. Great stories, great singing, great job all around. Am a blogger and will be recommending for sure. ## Most critical reviews (10 lowest-rated) ### 1/5 — The app has no sound *2021-05-05, version 3.6* I just purchased this because the starter app suddenly has no sound. I thought it was a trick for customers to purchase the full version. My son love this app so I made the purchase but this does not have a sound as well. I have tried turning off then on my son’s iPad as well as deleting and reinstalling the app but nothing works. Is it only me who’s experiencing this? Mind you, this is an expensive App. Please help me resolve this. ### 1/5 — How to delete and not get charged *2020-04-16, version 3.5* I deleted this from my phone before the end of the trial period but I still got charged. I can’t find how to unsubscribe after the free trial. Please help. ### 1/5 — Subscription Required?!? *2019-09-02* And the subscription cannot be shared! So I need to pay a monthly fee on my iPhone, on my kid’s iPad, and on my husband’s phone?! Unfortunately, I’m going to need to unsubscribe. :( **Developer response:** Hello, The subscription can be shared on any device that you own. You just need to go into the parent settings and click on Restore. If you have any further difficulties, please contact libby@readingtrain.org. ### 1/5 — Horrible service *2019-07-30* I have tried on numerous times to cancel my subscription and I’ve been charged ! I have not received a email back smh! **Developer response:** So sorry that you had difficulty cancelling your subscription. We respond right away to emails sent through our website or sent to support@readingtrain.org. Cancellations are handled through Apple as we do not have your billing information. If you are still having problems, please contact us and we will try to help. ### 1/5 — Subscription required from the start *2017-11-10* Stupid greedy app- can’t even preview it without a subscription. There’s literally one baby book and everything single other book and level requires you to pay. I’m not signing up for an ongoing payment for an app that might be useless. **Developer response:** Hello. I am so sorry you found the experience frustrating. We take customer feedback very seriously so have decided to unlock much more free content and offer a 30 day free trial. With any subscription, you can have access to all the books and songs for 30 days without any charge. Our latest update also provides a huge number of free books and songs without the need to sign up for a subscription. The first book in each unit is unlocked, along with all the songs and the 450+ word dictionary. I hope you will consider trying the Reading Train again. Please contact us at support@readingtrain.org if you have other concerns or questions. ### 1/5 — Irritating *2014-10-26* The whole thing is voiced by a highly irritating nasal American teenager, who says sayings like, 'Wooo, you rooock!' when you get something right; and 'Bummerrrr' when you get it wrong. Not really appropriate for a 3 year old really. Don't get me started on the Glee-esque title track, it makes me want to snap the iPad over my knee. ### 1/5 — Will not open *2014-10-23, version 1.0.11* Just downloaded the app after seeing good things written about it. However, it does not open. Just says loading and then force closes. Operating iOS 8.1 on iPad 2. Needless to say I deleted the app. ### 1/5 — Useless *2014-10-05, version 1.0.10* Thank goodness it was free because it doesn't open. It claims to have loaded onto my ipad, but it's not there and it won't open when I tell it to in the ap store. ### 1/5 — Broken *2014-10-04, version 1.0.10* The app does not launch. Uninstalling. ### 1/5 — Error *2014-06-18, version 1.0.8* No matter how many books me and my niece read we still can't listen to any songs! I pay the monthly fee. This needs to be fixed! I have read so many books and it still says I need to read books to get coins. ## Most praised reviews (10 highest-rated) ### 5/5 — Love it! Wish it had higher level books *2024-03-27* My kids absolutely LOVE this app! The only thing I wish is that it had books at higher levels available. ### 5/5 — My three boys love this *2019-06-04, version 3.4* I have had this app for over five years as my kids learn to read (youngest is just getting into it; oldest hasnt used it for 3 years). This is a terrific app for the the stages from “knows letters but cannot read” to “reading and adding to word base...about grade 2). Here’s what I love: - pay one flat fee: Like everything, the kids pick this up and cant get enough then drop it for a month and return again. With the one time pay, I dont have to guess whether they will play lots in the next time period. - family share: who is using which electronic device is like a game of hot potatoes at my house. Love family share! - works for all three kids: one liked the music section; one didnt. One liked recording himself reading; one didnt. This app worked for all three which is rather unusual for us. - Great support: I tend to contact companies. I like ones that respond quickly and politely. Top marks for borh with these guys. Improvements: -Would love to see the app update the kids progress across different devices but it hasn’t bothered the kids. - CHECK which version you are buying. The subscription app is the same as the flat rate app. The cost for 1 year is the same as purchasing outright. All in all, great app that I highly recommend. ### 5/5 — Great for struggling readers! *2018-06-20* I have an 11 year old with autism and he has struggled with reading from the beginning. He started the school year at a kindergarten level and by the end of the year he was at a first grade third month. I believe with the help of this app he was able to be so successful. I love how if he does not know a word he can hold his finger on it and then he can hear what the word is. I like the different categories and levels. I would suggest this app for struggling readers! Now if the programmer can create one with the next levels that would be great! ### 5/5 — Best reading app for beginners *2017-11-25* Love the new books. I like that kids can read anywhere and anytime even when you are not connected to WiFi. The Reading Train is hands-down the favorite of my 5 to 7 year old students. This app has everything they need to develop from pre-readers to self confident, independent readers. Kids can get started right away with reading real books. The books are very simple, fun and informative with lots of interesting topics to choose from. There are 3 beginning reading levels so it is easy to find just right books for every child. Kids love to record themselves reading which is a great way for me to assess their reading progress. Every word can be touched to hear it spoken and I love the built in dictionary where kids can hear and see definitions of hundreds of words and build their background knowledge. The train game lets kids practice phonics, spelling and even tests comprehension as kids have to pick items for a category related to the book they just read. My kids love earning coins to spend in the music shop where they can sing along with familiar and new children's songs. I subscribed for a year for just 9.99 which is incredible value as I know we will be using this app every day! , ### 5/5 — Victoria *2016-08-25* This has to be the best app I have found for teaching children to read and spell. After trying so many we found this one and love it. My son with special needs says "I like it because you work hard to get rewards!" He was on this for 3 hours the first time we used it. It has great incentives like earning coins to play songs. You can even record your voice while reading and singing! ### 5/5 — Absolutely love the guy's voice *2016-07-25, version 1.5* This app has a lot going for it! We love the narrator's positive feedback ("Nice!"). Level options are great and my kids love anything where they get to record and play back their voices. The sing along is terrific! We love it. ### 5/5 — So many books to read! *2016-07-21, version 1.5* I love the colourful pictures and the clearly presented books. There are lots of books available via subscription in this app, making it a brilliant way to keep the kids reading. Books on all sort fo subjects, make this perfect for any young reader. ### 5/5 — This app is loaded! *2016-07-20, version 1.5* There are so much to do and descover in this app. It will keep the kids busy for weeks! They ask to go back to the books again and again. ### 5/5 — WOW!!! *2016-06-07, version 1.5* really really nice reading app for kids. comes with several free books on various subjects with more to unlock, as well as fun games to quiz kids' reading skills. adorable music and great narration. really a cut above a lot of free apps, great for kids who love reading. highly recommended!! ### 5/5 — One of the BEST reading apps for emerging readers. *2016-04-22, version 1.4* I am a first grade teacher and a mother of two young boys. All of my kids LOVE the reading train!!! It is amazing for building fluency. The kids can't wait to listen to, read, record and playback recordings of themselves reading. Worth every cent! --- *Data collected daily from the US App Store and indexed by [AppsHunter](https://appshunter.io/). User reviews are verbatim App Store reviews. Ratings, prices and chart positions refresh continuously; this snapshot is from 2026-08-27.*