economical ereader for a kid?

[Logseman]

Originally Posted by HarryT

Harry Potter is not legally available as an ebook.

An even better reason to have her read it

[Ea]

Originally Posted by beppe

@ Ea: hi there, excellent suggestions.

I read those (in Danish, of course ) at that age, and Greek and Norse mythology, and bible stories - and had it read aloud - my father thought it was better for us than most modern writing

[HarryT]

Originally Posted by Logseman

An even better reason to have her read it

I don't follow you. Why is it an even better reason?

[fjtorres]

Originally Posted by HarryT

I don't follow you. Why is it an even better reason?

As in the forbidden fruit being sweeter? That *was* a winkie there...

Or maybe its the old "getting away with something" thing.

Its not like its a secret that the entire Harry potter collection is floating out there in a pristine pdf collection; it's even been reported in the mainstream media here and there.

Of course, it is in PDF which limits the usability; if it were in epub or mobi the copyright police would be knocking down doors in an instant...

But that's a whole 'nother thread, no?

[Logseman]

^^ Nothing so ellaborate. It would be mainly a lesson for the child to understand that unquestioning obedience to what the media and the government tell us is wrong.

Only Madame de Staël is entitled to give lessons about the beauty of the sinful things. She won that when she declared, after enjoying a dessert: "What a delightful sorbet! It is indeed a shame that it is not considered a sin of itself".

[beppe]

Originally Posted by Ea

I read those (in Danish, of course ) at that age, and Greek and Norse mythology, and bible stories - and had it read aloud - my father thought it was better for us than most modern writing

An eight year old can read anything she/he fancies. Except those that contain sex, violence, horror and similar subjects that we adult indulge with. With a small kid in the house, those books should be kept under key.

I grew up in a book worms environment so books were everywhere, of every sort. I bought myself all the Salgari books, with the little money I could gather from little jobs or from the munificence of aunts and uncles (I had many of those). My father tended to curb my reading, for the eyes, he said. So I read under the blankets with an electric torch. And I still have 20/20.

@ daisies. 300 pages a day is quite a good rate. Congratulations. This is a blessing. Try to give her all she wants.

[beppe]

Originally Posted by Logseman

^^ Nothing so ellaborate. It would be mainly a lesson for the child to understand that unquestioning obedience to what the media and the government tell us is wrong.

Only Madame de Staël is entitled to give lessons about the beauty of the sinful things. She won that when she declared, after enjoying a dessert: "What a delightful sorbet! It is indeed a shame that it is not considered a sin of itself".

Come on Logseman. Let's not play with kids' mind. I am sorry that I brought up the Harry Potter caper. daisies can always buy (or perform a people appropriation if she likes) the pocket pbook of the first one and if the kid likes it she buys them all, and the problem of what to read in a month is solved. Harry the Potter is quite dense. Nice too.

In any case this is a parents' choice. Quite important also.

[daisies]

This got quite philosophical. I have most of the Harry Potter books but I'm saving them to give her just a little later. She's not quite there yet.

The suggestions are awesome -- gives me a great start.

[discourse]

My 8 year old daughter takes good care of my wife or my Cybooks when she borrows them. I would recommend the Cybook Opus. It's a bit smaller and lighter than the Gen 3.

[Logseman]

Originally Posted by beppe

Come on Logseman. Let's not play with kids' mind. I am sorry that I brought up the Harry Potter caper.

As a personal input, when I was 8 the first PC came home, an old Pentium, 100 Mhz. I was playing with games like Indiana Jones and the Fate of Atlantis, pirated in 6 diskettes. And none of my parents have ever said anything against pirating (my mother herself does read only pirated books in her reader). Maybe my circumstances are weird, I guess.

Nevertheless, I consider that the Harry Potter books are not suited for 8 year olds. The saga grows darker and edgier in every tome, and it would be pointless to allow the kid to read the first one, and then see that the fifth of the sixth are deemed unsuitable for the kid.

You might like to try Michael Ende's books. I recall seeing Momo and A Neverending Story on sale as ePubs, albeit in German. And if you can find his collections of little stories, please have the kid read them at once. She'll thank you forever.

[fjtorres]

Originally Posted by Logseman

Nevertheless, I consider that the Harry Potter books are not suited for 8 year olds. The saga grows darker and edgier in every tome, and it would be pointless to allow the kid to read the first one, and then see that the fifth of the sixth are deemed unsuitable for the kid.

Actually, one of the features of the Harry Potter series is that the books *are* by design age-appropriate... to Harry's Age. The idea is for kids to read them one per year (which is why each book except the last covers one school year) starting at age 10. Which is why the prose and the subject matter gets progressively more mature and darker.

An ambitious undertaking for any author to attempt to say nothing of a previously-unpublished writer. It'll be interestingg where her follow-ups go; back to the young reader market or straight adult.

[Ea]

Originally Posted by beppe

An eight year old can read anything she/he fancies. Except those that contain sex, violence, horror and similar subjects that we adult indulge with. With a small kid in the house, those books should be kept under key.

I grew up in a book worms environment so books were everywhere, of every sort. I bought myself all the Salgari books, with the little money I could gather from little jobs or from the munificence of aunts and uncles (I had many of those). My father tended to curb my reading, for the eyes, he said. So I read under the blankets with an electric torch. And I still have 20/20.

Ah, but we lived in a village and I was allowed to go to the library on my own from I was 7-8 - and no-one told me what I could or couldn't read. I just knew my father disapproved of comics and such Never stopped me reading them

[beppe]

Originally Posted by Ea

Ah, but we lived in a village and I was allowed to go to the library on my own from I was 7-8 - and no-one told me what I could or couldn't read. I just knew my father disapproved of comics and such Never stopped me reading them

exactly, the way it should be. I got access to a public library when, after the war, we rejoined my father in Milano. And from a table of 14 we had one of 4. Big change. Instead of a room for myself I slept on a chair-bed in the dining room. My mother was able to give us all the love we might have missed from the big family that was not there anymore. Finally my father was very happy. We all were very happy. I read all the books. It was a small library of course, the one of the church. I still remember some of them. I used to go to the market with my mother and if I had been a good boy she would buy me a comic book.Do you know Prince Valiant ? The Ghost? Mandrake?

Then, in high school, the mother of my chum owned a bookstore. She liked me and let me read what I wanted, if I did not ruin the book. Bonanza!

[Ea]

Originally Posted by beppe

... Do you know Prince Valiant ? The Ghost? Mandrake?

I was in love with Prince Valiant (and Aleta I think) when I was a little older. The other two I don't know, but American comics (except Donald Duck) weren't (aren't...?) very big in Scandinavia. We grew up with Belgian/French comics. Perhaps because that's what the library had - and they're still my favourites.

[beppe]

I saw that there is a thread on Graphic Novels.

Here are the Phantom (not the Ghost) and Mandrake in reverse order. I have them in print. Lovely.