GLEN Books vs ExamReadyMath
Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.
GLEN Books
This app offers a collection of illustrated children's storybooks in English and Spanish, featuring synchronized text highlighting and narration. It's designed to support language learning and early reading skills for children, with flexible narration options.
- Children's stories in English and Spanish
- Illustrated with warm narration
- Audio-synced text highlighting
- Flexible auto-narration options
- Adapted classics and original stories
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Being read to is a magical experience for kids, and is a crucial stepping stone for language learning. GLEN Books provides a collection of illustrated children’s story books in English and Spanish, narrated with synchronized text-highlight and the book pages being “turned” on the screen. The stories include popular children's classics, including adaptations of Aesop's fables and Indian folk tales, as well as original stories. Kids don’t need to know how to read in order to enjoy these beautifully illustrated stories by our expert narrators, but the audio-synced text highlighting provides a constant invitation to step into reading. Beginning readers can practice and develop their skills by turning off the narration, or by playing audio for selected phrases in the text. GLEN Books can be used to strengthen language skills for children at homes or in informal preschool environments, as well as a complement to in-class activities in Kindergarten-1st grade school settings. The auto-narration feature allows parents and caregivers to enjoy story-time with their kids regardless of their own level of literacy. Skilled teachers can craft a rich set of reading, comprehension and bilingual activities around GLEN Books. KEY FEATURES * Children’s stories in English and Spanish * Designed to engage kids of all ages with rich illustrations and warm narration * Audio-synced text highlighting is an invitation to reading * Flexible auto-narration: on, off, and phrase-by-phrase * Adapted children’s classics as well as original stories GLEN Books is developed by GLEN World, a nonprofit organization developing research-based learning apps to scale early English literacy. In line with GLEN World’s mission, GLEN Books is available free of cost, with no ads and other distractions, and no in-app purchases. GLEN Books does not require user registration and does not collect any personal information from our learners. ABOUT GLEN WORLD GLEN World is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization on a mission to scale early English literacy so that every child has access to the educational and economic opportunities it unlocks. GLEN Books is also included in GLEN Learn, a research-based personalized learning app for early English literacy, designed to help children develop reading skills via a series of guided exercises, engaging stories and rhymes. Our content design is based on Instructed Second Language Acquisition research, targeting the fundamental skills required for literacy: vocabulary knowledge, recognition of sounds, and recognition of spelling. Our learning modules reinforce each other as they target these fundamental skills. Our team includes seasoned educators, authors, animators, established graphic artists, and engineers. A unique strength is our connection with two premier research universities, University of California, Santa Barbara (UCSB) and Carnegie Mellon University (CMU), with the close involvement of faculty with expertise spanning second language acquisition, education, cognition, engineering, and machine learning. Visit www.glenworld.org for more information. Join us in our mission by making a donation today!
ExamReadyMath
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ExamReady Math is a focused, standards-aligned practice app for Grade 4 students preparing for the New York State math exam. No ads. No data collection. No subscriptions. Just honest practice that actually understands kids' work. WHY IT'S DIFFERENT Most test-prep apps grade "show your work" by keyword-matching kids' explanations. That fails whenever a child gets the right answer in different words. ExamReady uses real multiple-choice reasoning for the "why" steps and numeric equivalence for answers — so 15/8, 1 7/8, and 1.875 all count as the same answer. Kids see exactly what we expected when they miss. VISUAL FRACTIONS YOU CAN SEE Compare 3/5 and 4/10 with shaded bars and a 1/2 benchmark line, not just abstract symbols. The fraction bars use the same strategies the NY State exam expects: benchmark fractions, common denominators, and visual area models. STEP-BY-STEP SCAFFOLDS Multi-credit "Show Your Work" problems break down into clear numeric steps and multiple-choice reasoning. Kids build the full answer one piece at a time, the way Grade 4 teachers actually teach it. FULL TIMED MOCK EXAM A real two-session simulation — Session 1 (15 MC, 25 min) and Session 2 (10 MC + 3 Show-Your-Work, 30 min) with a break screen between. Kids see their score at the end with a per-session and per-domain breakdown. No immediate feedback during the exam, because that's how the real test feels. APPLE PENCIL SCRATCHPAD Pull up a PencilKit canvas on any question to work the problem out by hand. Drawings persist per-question within a session. Works with finger or Apple Pencil. iPAD-OPTIMIZED Two-pane layouts on iPad for "Show Your Work" questions, adaptive fraction bars, and a math keypad that floats with the keyboard. 56 QUESTIONS · 16 DOMAINS · ALL NY STATE STANDARDS Fraction equivalence and comparison (4.NF.1, 4.NF.2), fraction operations (4.NF.3, 4.NF.4), decimals and fractions (4.NF.5–7), place value to 1,000,000 (4.NBT.1–3), multi-digit arithmetic (4.NBT.4–6), multiplicative comparisons (4.OA.1–2), multi-step word problems (4.OA.3), factors and multiples (4.OA.4), number patterns (4.OA.5), measurement conversions (4.MD.1–2), area and perimeter (4.MD.3), line plots (4.MD.4), angles (4.MD.5–7), lines and rays (4.G.1), shape classification (4.G.2), and lines of symmetry (4.G.3). PROGRESS TRACKING FOR PARENTS The Progress tab shows your child's mastery across every domain, their practice streak, and which topics need the most work — so you can focus at-home review time where it helps most. PRIVACY BY DESIGN The app runs 100% offline. Nothing is transmitted anywhere. Progress, scratchpad drawings, and exam history are stored only on your device. No third-party analytics, no advertising SDKs, no account required. Made for ages 9–11. Designed for kids; transparent to parents. ExamReady Math is not affiliated with the New York State Education Department.
Screenshots
Verdict
The clearest difference is update cadence: GLEN Books at daily against ExamReadyMath's every 5 days. GLEN Books also leads on iOS requirement (11.0 vs 17.6). On price, ads, in-app purchases and device support there is nothing between them.
Scored on Price · Rating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings · Update frequency · Ads · In-app purchases · Monetization · Best chart rank · Devices · Requires iOS
Both are free to download. Neither carries in-app purchases, so what you see is what you pay.
GLEN Books ships an update daily, ExamReadyMath every 5 days. The most recent releases landed on October 22, 2026 and October 17, 2026 respectively.
| Parameter | GLEN Books | ExamReadyMath |
|---|---|---|
| Price | Free | Free |
| Rating | 5.0 (3 ratings) — better | — |
| Number of ratings | 3 — better | — |
| Update frequency | Daily — better | Every 5 days |
| Ads | No | No |
| In-app purchases | No | No |
| Monetization | Free | — |
| Devices | iPhone, iPad, iPod — better | iPhone, iPad |
| Requires iOS | 11.0 — better | 17.6 |
| Further details — not scored | ||
| Size | 146 MB | 7 MB |
| Age rating | 4+ | 4+ |
| Developer | GLEN WORLD | Ronnie Reyes |
In-app purchases
GLEN Books
No in-app purchases
ExamReadyMath
No in-app purchases
Questions
Is GLEN Books free?
Is ExamReadyMath free?
Do GLEN Books or ExamReadyMath have ads?
Which is updated more often, GLEN Books or ExamReadyMath?
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