It’s Sunday afternoon. You’re planning Monday’s read-aloud on kindness—but you’re stuck between three books. Before the Sunday Scaries set in, you open the Novel Effect app, tap BROWSE, and type “kindness.” In seconds, you see familiar titles you and your students love. Decision made. Lesson planned.
BROWSE takes the guesswork out of planning and helps you move from searching to reading—fast. Here’s how to use it strategically.
It’s Sunday afternoon. You’re planning Monday’s read-aloud on kindness—but you’re stuck between three books. Before the Sunday Scaries set in, you open the Novel Effect app, tap BROWSE, and type “kindness.” In seconds, you see familiar titles you and your students love. Decision made. Lesson planned.
BROWSE takes the guesswork out of planning and helps you move from searching to reading—fast. Here’s how to use it strategically.
Whether you’re planning a character education unit, building background knowledge for a science lesson, or reinforcing a monthly theme, BROWSE helps you align your read-alouds with your instructional goals.
Families can use it the same way—searching by topic or interest to match what their child is learning or curious about at home.
Try all of this out with a topic like “dog.” You’ll be delighted by what appears on your screen!
Searching for the perfect story has never been easier. Follow these three simple steps to unveil read-aloud wonders awaiting you!
Tap BROWSE 🔎 at the bottom of your Novel Effect app.
Type the author, title, or topic you’re searching for in the SEARCH bar. As you type, you’ll notice a list of suggested titles, series, and other search options. If you don’t see what you’re looking for, tap SEARCH in your keyboard for an entire list of possibilities!
Now that you’ve completed your first search, you’ve got some great sorting and filtering options available!
With BROWSE, you can: 
Scroll through the populated list as is or tap SEE MORE to find even more immersive soundscapes!
Tap the 3 lines at the top left of your screen for the sort menu.
From there, you can sort A-Z or Z-A; a superb option if your books are organized alphabetically.
If you need some inspo or want to make sure you’re not missing on the hottest reads, just tap POPULAR.
You can even tap NEWLY ADDED to see the latest and greatest soundscapes that meet your read-aloud needs.
You can further refine results by tapping FILTER in the upper right of your screen.
Just tap your preferences: English or Spanish, Fiction or Nonfiction, and even age range! Select as many as you need, then tap APPLY.
You can continue to adjust the filter to fine-tune your search.
Try all of this out with a topic like “dog.” You’ll be delighted by what appears on your screen!
Seasonal & Thematic Searches
Right below the search bar, you’ll find rotating seasonal and evergreen topics like Back to School, Award Winners, or Fairy Tales. These are especially helpful when you’re planning around holidays, monthly themes, or schoolwide initiatives. Tap a topic to instantly generate a curated list, then sort and filter to match your grade level or instructional focus.
Families can use these the same way; quickly finding books that align with what their child is learning or celebrating.
Browse by Category
The larger category buttons on the BROWSE screen help you start broad and narrow down. Whether you’re looking for nonfiction, character-building stories, or high-interest favorites, categories help you move from idea to aligned read-aloud quickly.
For educators, this is an easy way to support:
Pair Books with Activity Plans
For those moments you need to extend learning, look no further than our educator-created activities.
The Activity Plans section (top left of the BROWSE screen) allows you to pair read-alouds with ready-to-use companion activities.
Instead of planning from scratch, you can:
It’s a simple way to turn a great read-aloud into a purposeful lesson.
Explore Unlimited Reads
If you’re not a Premium Subscriber, tap UNLIMITED within BROWSE to see the titles available for repeated reading. Families especially appreciate having a flexible selection ready to go at any time—perfect for building consistent reading routines at home.
The journey to finding the perfect read-aloud becomes a delightful process of finding books, all thanks to BROWSE.
When planning time is limited but expectations are high, BROWSE helps you find the right story—faster. Whether you’re teaching a lesson, building a routine at home, or discovering something new, it turns searching into simple, focused planning.
Download the Novel Effect app to bring stories to life with music and sound that respond to your voice.
