E Reader for a 9 year old

[omk3]

It is true that if you are interested only in an english to english dictionary, the prs-600 (and the prs-900 I suppose) is excellent.

[rebarnmom]

Originally Posted by zsmomma

Hope it's okay to tag on this thread. If not, my apologies.

I'm also looking for a reader for my son (5th grade reading level). He's not that interested in reading the classics yet, and his bookcase is already full of current DTB. And while there are tons of books for adults in many formats, I'm finding that only B&N and Amazon have a good selection of age-appropriate books and are competively priced. Am I correct?

Of primary importance (besides being able to find books that he'll read), is a good dictionary.

Which would you recommend? And I would definitely consider readers that aren't nook or Kindle, iff there are books available and a dictionary. Thanks!

BTW... Welcome to MobileRead! You are definitely in the right place to get your questions answered, recommendations, free ebooks and so much more!

[NNolan]

Jazzpiano - you've gotten some bad info here. "Gregor and the Prophecy of Bane" is not available in eBook format, either at Barnes & Noble or any other online bookstore that legally sells ebooks. The operative word here being "legally".

[rebarnmom]

Originally Posted by rebarnmom

Welcome to MobileRead jazzpiano! Your grandson is a lucky boy! And you are a generous & thoughtful grandpa!
Personally, I love my Sony, though Kindle may be reigning king of ebook choices and they do offer a lot of free ebooks. The Nook looks pretty cool! But, I haven't tried either though. Sorry, not much to offer by way of suggestions. but again- Welcome! You're in the right place! I'm sure you'll get some more well-informed answers! So I leave it to the experts!

BTW- are you going to get yourself one too?

Originally Posted by omk3

It is true that if you are interested only in an english to english dictionary, the prs-600 (and the prs-900 I suppose) is excellent.

Originally Posted by Worldwalker

Personally, I have a Sony PRS-505 that I wouldn't trade for any other reading device out there, but it's discontinued; you might want to look at the PRS-300.

After re-reading this thread, I think that eliminating Sony from your search possibilities (by not being one of the "top two"??) would be a shame. Sony may not BE a bookstore, but they make some awesome e-reading devices! And their readers will read several common formats, so books can be found on many different sites, as the bookstore they do have continues to grow and expand. Just something to consider.

[zsmomma]

Originally Posted by rebarnmom

After re-reading this thread, I think that eliminating Sony from your search possibilities (by not being one of the "top two"??) would be a shame. Sony may not BE a bookstore, but they make some awesome e-reading devices! And their readers will read several common formats, so books can be found on many different sites, as the bookstore they do have continues to grow and expand. Just something to consider.

I agree. I looked at the Sony products. However, PRS300 doesn't have a dictionary. I was reading there were glare issues w/ the PRS600? And PRS900 is too pricey to be (my) kid's ereader.

And while books can be found on many sites, they aren't children's books. I might wait and see what books Borders will have in it's new ebook store. However, if Borders has the same books as Kobo (lists a mere 500 children books), unfortunately, we'll have to go w/ the "top 2".

[KingOfMyWorld]

Now when thinking of a 9 year old boy, and going between Kindle or Nook I would definitely go Kindle because of the warranty.

The reasoning behind this is that the Nook's warranty doesn't replace it in the event of accidental dropping unless you buy the extended 2 year warranty at $70.

Where from personal experience with a Kindle in the first year if anything happens to it, Amazon will do whatever they can to replace the broken item as fast as possible. After tripping over a cord on the floor and dropping the Kindle on the kitchen floor, shattering the screen, we had a brand new Kindle arrive next day from Amazon after calling them and telling them what happened, then we boxed up the broken one and sent it back all within 48 hours. I am also led to believe that they now offer a 3 year warranty with this exceptional service for something like $60.

I had the Sony Reader PRS-700 and it did have glare, but it wasn't exceptionally noticeable to me, I wouldn't mark those devices out either, I loved mine mostly because it allowed me to put books in groups, and I could have all the Harry Potter or Percy Jackson books in order without having to worry about which one was which if I didn't already know. So that was a nice feature the other's didn't have.

[Worldwalker]

Originally Posted by zsmomma

And while books can be found on many sites, they aren't children's books. I might wait and see what books Borders will have in it's new ebook store. However, if Borders has the same books as Kobo (lists a mere 500 children books), unfortunately, we'll have to go w/ the "top 2".

That depends on what you consider "children's books". If you mean commercially produced series books published in the past few years, you're probably right. If you would consider older books -- including commercially produced series books published in the early 1900s -- then you'll be practically swimming in them.

I have on my 505, right now ... lemme count ... 329 books in the early 20th century boys' series that I collect (an ebook collection which has, thankfully, far outstripped my pbook collection, to the great relief of my already overloaded bookshelves). I also have 146 books by Horatio Alger and similar writers, 30 tagged "Boys' Adventure", 75 books and stories by Edgar Rice Burroughs, 102 by Robert E. Howard, 11 of John Blaine's "Rick Brant" adventures ... you get the picture. There's Arthur Conan Doyle and Robert Louis Stevenson, H. P. Lovecraft and H. Beam Piper. There's Sherlock Holmes and Ashton-Kirk, Robin Hood and Tom Swift, the Three Musketeers and the Scarlet Pimpernel. And they're all good stuff. (I'd have had more sleep last night if I hadn't been finishing "Ashton-Kirk Investigator")

For people who think a child should never be faced with an unfamiliar word or concept, and should be limited to what little he already knows, yeah, those might not be the books they'd want their kids to read. But if not, there are thousands of books -- all both gratis and libre -- waiting for them. There's a lot to be said for the books written for the kids who grew up to be our parents, grandparents, great-grandparents ... and, thanks to my discovery of a treasure trove of old books in my uncle's trunk, one grew up to be me.

[rebarnmom]

Originally Posted by zsmomma

I agree. I looked at the Sony products. However, PRS300 doesn't have a dictionary. I was reading there were glare issues w/ the PRS600? And PRS900 is too pricey to be (my) kid's ereader.

And while books can be found on many sites, they aren't children's books. I might wait and see what books Borders will have in it's new ebook store. However, if Borders has the same books as Kobo (lists a mere 500 children books), unfortunately, we'll have to go w/ the "top 2".

I was thinking about the 300 for a child, but forgot that it didn't have a touchscreen and no dictionary.

As far as glare issues, I have the 700 (the worst of the bunch for screen clarity) and I have no trouble reading on it, never had and I have much older eyes!

[Worldwalker]

Paper books have neither touchscreens nor dictionaries, and yet children have been able to use them for centuries. I'm not sure that should be a deal-killer.

[jazzpiano]

This has been a great experience for me - what a wealth of good ideas and diverse input!

So everyone knows, I let my grandson look at the pros and cons (not only of Kindle and Nook but also Sony and Kobo) and make his own decision - which turned out to be the Kindle, and which I ordered via Amazon even though they are now apparently being sold by Target Stores nationally (Amazon offers it for the same price with two day free shipping and no tax).

After he has had it and used it for a while (assuming that he shares it with me), I will come back to this thread and relay his experience anecdotally for others interested in a 9 year old's perspective.

Jazzpiano

[rebarnmom]

Originally Posted by jazzpiano

This has been a great experience for me - what a wealth of good ideas and diverse input!

So everyone knows, I let my grandson look at the pros and cons (not only of Kindle and Nook but also Sony and Kobo) and make his own decision - which turned out to be the Kindle, and which I ordered via Amazon even though they are now apparently being sold by Target Stores nationally (Amazon offers it for the same price with two day free shipping and no tax).

After he has had it and used it for a while (assuming that he shares it with me), I will come back to this thread and relay his experience anecdotally for others interested in a 9 year old's perspective.

Jazzpiano

Thanks for sharing the results! I hope he enjoys it as much as I enjoy mine! Looking forward to hearing more!

[AnemicOak]

Originally Posted by jazzpiano

This has been a great experience for me - what a wealth of good ideas and diverse input!

So everyone knows, I let my grandson look at the pros and cons (not only of Kindle and Nook but also Sony and Kobo) and make his own decision - which turned out to be the Kindle, and which I ordered via Amazon even though they are now apparently being sold by Target Stores nationally (Amazon offers it for the same price with two day free shipping and no tax).

After he has had it and used it for a while (assuming that he shares it with me), I will come back to this thread and relay his experience anecdotally for others interested in a 9 year old's perspective.

Jazzpiano

I look forward to hearing what he thinks. I've given my 8 year old (9 next month) nephew my Sony 505 and he absolutely loves it so far (he calls it his Sony Kindle ).

[zsmomma]

Originally Posted by AnemicOak

I look forward to hearing what he thinks. I've given my 8 year old (9 next month) nephew my Sony 505 and he absolutely loves it so far (he calls it his Sony Kindle ).

May I ask what he's reading on the PRS505? Is he reading classics (which my son has zero interest in right now, sorry previous poster) or is he getting ebooks from the Sony store? or other stores?

We went to check out Nook and Kindle, and he wasn't impressed by Nook. He liked the iPad, but it seemed too heavy for him to hold while we were at Best Buy. We'll wait and see what August brings as far as Kindle goes. If there's a new version, great -- we can get either a new one or perhaps a refurb or older model for less.

[AnemicOak]

Well so far he's been reading some kids books I got from the library (Junie B Jones, Magic Treehouse, Encyclopedia Brown), Alice in Wonderland (and the sequel), Peter Pan and I bought him a copy of The Lion The Witch and the Wardrobe. It's still a pretty recent experiment so I don't know what will be next.