Kids and eBook Readers

Xanthe · 03-13-2010, 02:44 PM

Contrary to my better sense, I have let both my 4½ year old niece and my 20-month old nephew play with my Libre. The little guy is totally fascinated with the "book", plugs in the earphone, tries out all the buttons (and has even figured out how to turn it on) and studies the screen as if he was reading it. My niece, who is beginning to read, is also intrigued by it and has already asked me if I would get her one. I gave her the "when you are a little older" line, mainly because I want her to practice her reading on "real" books where there are pictures, colors and different font types and book sizes.

But it made me realize how easily both adapt to the technology and how both of them have no problem figuring out how to work the devices, which speaks well for the design of the reader.

So what about the rest of you, have you allowed children to use your Libres or Jetbooks?

uRwhatUr · 03-13-2010, 03:49 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Xanthe

So what about the rest of you, have you allowed children to use your Libres or Jetbooks?

Yes! My 14 year old has always hated to read. I asked him to use it for his required school reading and he finds it more enjoyable. So I let him use it often. My 10 year old loves to read like myself. He rarely uses my Libre but CONSTANTLY uses my Zune!

Berylmary · 03-13-2010, 04:03 PM

My grandaughter ,age 7 , adores my iPod Touch. I have The Cat in the Hat and ABC Dr Seuss on it and she reads all the words she can and just touches the screen to hear it read when she gets stuck. She was not terribly interested in books on the eReaders because of the lack of colour and no sound.

Kris777 · 03-13-2010, 10:29 PM

Good topic!
My 2.5 years son loves jetBook and jetBook-Lite, read ABC illustrated books in ePub format, change fonts, rotate the screen and even set auto page mode in the setting menu

. He may spend 20-30 minutes playing with jetBooks and enjoy it very much.

Xanthe · 03-15-2010, 02:34 AM

I'll have to look into children's books for the youngest one. I've been setting the Libre to full zoom and point out the different letters to him.

Kris777 · 03-15-2010, 08:23 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Xanthe

I'll have to look into children's books for the youngest one. I've been setting the Libre to full zoom and point out the different letters to him.

I downloaded all these picture books in ePub format and my son likes it very much:
http://www.snee.com/epubkidsbooks/

ficbot · 03-15-2010, 12:29 PM

Not a Jetbook, but a Sony, yes. I turned it loose on the five-year-olds at school. Th biggest problem that I see with little kids is how touchy-touchy they are when they read. They point at every word. So if you have a non-touchscreen reader they are going to get it very smudgy and if you have a touchscreen reader it could be a disaster because they might accidentally turn the pages every time they touch a word. If I had kids, I would happily get them their own reader once they hit the chapter book stage but I would not buy one for a little kid.

However, I do think kiddies tend to emulate their parents. Most of us who are heavy readers probably were read to as a child and had books in our homes. Monkey see, monkey do, right? The kids want to be like their parents. So if I had a child and I had an ebook reader I would certainly expect the child to be curious about it and I would read on it with the child, even before the point of getting them their own. Then they would want one and it would be a very special day for them when they finally get their own and get to come to the family computer with Mom or Dad and load it up with books.

Xanthe · 03-16-2010, 01:32 AM

Thanks for that link, Kris777.

ficbot - I know what you mean about the screen getting smudged. There's always fingerprints all over it (and usually some undefined kid ooze - lol). My nephew, of course, tried to taste it once.

You're right about the monkey-see-monkey-do, at least in my own case. We had bookcases of books in our living room when I was growing up, so of course I had to explore them. And my parents got those Time-Life science and nature series books that had lots and lots of pictures in them, so they were well-worn by the time the last sibling came along. One of the greatest days in my life was when I got my first library card. My niece now takes out one library book a week and she's in seventh heaven about it.

ficbot · 03-16-2010, 02:05 AM

Heh, my dad had the time-life 'mysteries' series---I forget if that was really what it was called, but the books were all about stuff like UFOs and the pyramids and such. My sister and I were very into them.

I think that my world will always be a mix of print and ebook because I already have a lot of books, love the library, buy certain kinds of books (including children's books) in paper over e etc. So if I ever do have kids, I am sure they will be bookworms, and I am sure they will be surrounded by paper books and have early e-experience. My experience as a teacher has been that the kids understand very well when is the appropriate time for technology. When we are all reading something together and I run a Powerpoint version on my netbook for them, that's great. And when I say now we will all pull out our books and read, that's great too. They seem to have no problems with both things being books, both things being reading and both things being just fine depending on the situation. The ones who have seen my ebook reader up close are the ones who stay for after-school care a few days a week, which I supervise. And I think they just assume that I have so many books to carry around with me that I would not be able to carry them all unless I had a computer for it. Which is true

03-13-2010, 02:44 PM	#1
Xanthe Plan B Is Now In Force Posts: 1,894 Karma: 8086979 Join Date: Jan 2010 Location: Surebleak Device: Aluratek,Sony 350/T1,Pandigital,eBM 911,Nook HD/HD+,Fire HDX 7/8.9,PW2	Kids and eBook Readers Contrary to my better sense, I have let both my 4½ year old niece and my 20-month old nephew play with my Libre. The little guy is totally fascinated with the "book", plugs in the earphone, tries out all the buttons (and has even figured out how to turn it on) and studies the screen as if he was reading it. My niece, who is beginning to read, is also intrigued by it and has already asked me if I would get her one. I gave her the "when you are a little older" line, mainly because I want her to practice her reading on "real" books where there are pictures, colors and different font types and book sizes. But it made me realize how easily both adapt to the technology and how both of them have no problem figuring out how to work the devices, which speaks well for the design of the reader. So what about the rest of you, have you allowed children to use your Libres or Jetbooks?

03-15-2010, 12:29 PM	#7
ficbot Wizard Posts: 2,409 Karma: 4132096 Join Date: Sep 2008 Device: Kindle Paperwhite/iOS Kindle App	Not a Jetbook, but a Sony, yes. I turned it loose on the five-year-olds at school. Th biggest problem that I see with little kids is how touchy-touchy they are when they read. They point at every word. So if you have a non-touchscreen reader they are going to get it very smudgy and if you have a touchscreen reader it could be a disaster because they might accidentally turn the pages every time they touch a word. If I had kids, I would happily get them their own reader once they hit the chapter book stage but I would not buy one for a little kid. However, I do think kiddies tend to emulate their parents. Most of us who are heavy readers probably were read to as a child and had books in our homes. Monkey see, monkey do, right? The kids want to be like their parents. So if I had a child and I had an ebook reader I would certainly expect the child to be curious about it and I would read on it with the child, even before the point of getting them their own. Then they would want one and it would be a very special day for them when they finally get their own and get to come to the family computer with Mom or Dad and load it up with books. Last edited by ficbot; 03-16-2010 at 02:00 AM.

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03-13-2010, 04:03 PM	#3
Berylmary Enthusiast Posts: 25 Karma: 10 Join Date: Jan 2010 Location: Bury St Edmunds Suffolk Device: Cybook Opus, iPod Touch 3G, Sony PRS600, iPhone 3Gs	My grandaughter ,age 7 , adores my iPod Touch. I have The Cat in the Hat and ABC Dr Seuss on it and she reads all the words she can and just touches the screen to hear it read when she gets stuck. She was not terribly interested in books on the eReaders because of the lack of colour and no sound.

03-13-2010, 10:29 PM	#4
Kris777 Banned Posts: 1,767 Karma: 2520493 Join Date: Oct 2008 Device: Nexus 7, jetBook-Lite, jetBook mini, Toshiba Thrive, JETBOOK COLOR	Good topic! My 2.5 years son loves jetBook and jetBook-Lite, read ABC illustrated books in ePub format, change fonts, rotate the screen and even set auto page mode in the setting menu . He may spend 20-30 minutes playing with jetBooks and enjoy it very much.

03-15-2010, 02:34 AM	#5
Xanthe Plan B Is Now In Force Posts: 1,894 Karma: 8086979 Join Date: Jan 2010 Location: Surebleak Device: Aluratek,Sony 350/T1,Pandigital,eBM 911,Nook HD/HD+,Fire HDX 7/8.9,PW2	I'll have to look into children's books for the youngest one. I've been setting the Libre to full zoom and point out the different letters to him.

03-16-2010, 01:32 AM	#8
Xanthe Plan B Is Now In Force Posts: 1,894 Karma: 8086979 Join Date: Jan 2010 Location: Surebleak Device: Aluratek,Sony 350/T1,Pandigital,eBM 911,Nook HD/HD+,Fire HDX 7/8.9,PW2	Thanks for that link, Kris777. ficbot - I know what you mean about the screen getting smudged. There's always fingerprints all over it (and usually some undefined kid ooze - lol). My nephew, of course, tried to taste it once. You're right about the monkey-see-monkey-do, at least in my own case. We had bookcases of books in our living room when I was growing up, so of course I had to explore them. And my parents got those Time-Life science and nature series books that had lots and lots of pictures in them, so they were well-worn by the time the last sibling came along. One of the greatest days in my life was when I got my first library card. My niece now takes out one library book a week and she's in seventh heaven about it.

03-16-2010, 02:05 AM	#9
ficbot Wizard Posts: 2,409 Karma: 4132096 Join Date: Sep 2008 Device: Kindle Paperwhite/iOS Kindle App	Heh, my dad had the time-life 'mysteries' series---I forget if that was really what it was called, but the books were all about stuff like UFOs and the pyramids and such. My sister and I were very into them. I think that my world will always be a mix of print and ebook because I already have a lot of books, love the library, buy certain kinds of books (including children's books) in paper over e etc. So if I ever do have kids, I am sure they will be bookworms, and I am sure they will be surrounded by paper books and have early e-experience. My experience as a teacher has been that the kids understand very well when is the appropriate time for technology. When we are all reading something together and I run a Powerpoint version on my netbook for them, that's great. And when I say now we will all pull out our books and read, that's great too. They seem to have no problems with both things being books, both things being reading and both things being just fine depending on the situation. The ones who have seen my ebook reader up close are the ones who stay for after-school care a few days a week, which I supervise. And I think they just assume that I have so many books to carry around with me that I would not be able to carry them all unless I had a computer for it. Which is true