[queentess]

Does the child rely on other cues to try and tell the story? Do they play-read, for example, by describing to you the illustrations? Do they reach the final page in the book and announce ‘the end’ thus demonstrating that they understand how to determine their place in the text? They need the visual cues for this. And you need to see them interact with the physical object so that you can assess whether they are using these cues!

Eventually, at some point in the future, pbooks will likely be very rare and ebooks will become the norm. Do you think children will cease learning how to read?

I honestly don't think this is as big of a deal that everyone else seems to think it is. Humans are very adaptable, and just because it's not what you know and not how you learned doesn't mean that children can't pick up on it.

I'll quote myself from another thread:

My great grandma probably couldn't imagine me growing up without a horse and buggy, but I did.

My parents couldn't imagine me growing up with a computer and the internet, but I did. (They can't imagine me not having a house phone either, but I don't.)

I can't imagine my daughter growing up with a mobile phone, but she will.

Technology is in constant flux, but I think kids adapt to it without a problem. That said, of course very young children love to look at colorful pictures (which the 'typical' ereader doesn't yet support) and they love to physically manipulate objects (like turning pages and holding the book).

Part of assessing the reading readiness of a small child involves observing them interacting with the book as a physical object. I have done reading readiness assessments on preschoolers before, and trust me, they literally start with ‘is the child holding the book right side up?’ and go from there.

I don't think that holding a book upside down is inherently different from holding an ereader upside down. And turning pages forward/backward isn't different from knowing that the page forward button advances the story and the page backward button does not.