Books on audiotape or videotape can be used in schools to provide independent reading experiences to beginning readers with limited preschool exposure to print. In addition, enabling children to hear stories while they look at the book may provide another support for literacy development in children at risk for reading difficulty. The efficacy of providing such prereading experiences to at-risk children was tested with 63 kindergarten and first-grade students in north-central West Virginia, who were identified as at-risk because of academic need, low income, learning disabilities, or visual or auditory impairments that might affect reading ability. Students were divided into two groups. One group heard audiotape recordings of books while they followed along in their own copies of the book; the other group watched and listened to videotapes of the pages of the book. Pretests and posttests covered listening comprehension, story retelling ability, and concepts about print. Results indicate that the audiotape condition was more beneficial than the videotape condition for developing children's concepts about print. Several children in the audiotape group spontaneously retold the story after the tape was over. The books on videotape seemed to encourage discussion among the children about concepts and vocabulary presented in the stories. The children did not give the videotapes their undivided attention and seemed to watch the videos the same way that they watch television at home, that is, in conjunction with social interaction and other activities. Contains 15 references. (SV)