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Thursday, July 23, 2015

7 Reasons to Love E-readers for Kids!

It's no secret that I am in love with my Kindles. It's also no secret that I am totally pro e-readers for kids, no matter what the form or format. Whether it's an app on a tablet or a dedicated e-reader, I think they're great for children, and here's why.

1.  One device holds an entire library! I have something like 673 books available to me any time I have an internet connection to search my archives. It's a virtual bookcase! I have free classics from The Gutenberg Project and elsewhere. I also have so many books in the device itself I can be happily reading for several weeks even if I don't have the internet. Never a problem finding something to spark interest. Never a problem finding a place to stow it.

2.  Children are intuitively computer literate, as far as I can tell. When I got my first iPad, a young friend, then 5, wanted to play with it. I'd had it about a week. In fifteen minutes, she had it doing things I didn't even know it could. My grandchildren were using full-blown computers when they were younger still. It is amazing to see a little kid make a computer sing. Show them how it turns on and how to log in, and they'll be off and running. (Give them their own log-ons. You  never know.) Using an e-reader or e-reader app enhances their enjoyment of tech and helps make them fantastically computer literate, which will benefit them their entire lives in ways we can't begin to imagine today.

3.  Words, glorious words. When I touch a word on my Kindle Paperwhite, the definition pops up. I've been reading Frazer's The Golden Bough and he uses some words I didn't know. Hovering is so much easier than getting up to consult a dictionary, on-line or otherwise. It's a great vocabulary-building learning tool.

4.  There's a full-service English-language bookstore everywhere! It's horrible to be stuck in a country where they don't speak any language you do often enough to have a bookstore! I can jump into a bookstore anywhere I can get the internet and buy new books, if I am seriously desperate or there's something I just have to read right now.

5.  Libraries are great. I love my local library. My library is my portal through which I can get all kinds of information from around the world, including books, as well as borrow any paper book it only stocks in that format. However, no library can possibly be as comprehensive as the internet, not even the great print libraries of the world. But if you're going about it electronically, you can visit those, too, courtesy of your local library. Without going out in the rain.

6.  Books are expensive! The greatest thing about the library is that it's a free community service. Free books are fabulous. Readers can get plenty of books, both classics and new releases, free for their devices on-line, too. Paper books are really expensive!  E-books from "major houses" have recently gone way up in price, but they're still less than half the price of a hard-backed paper book. Use your library and use other internet resources, and you get a lot more bang for your buck, book-wise.

7.  Yes, the illustrations, maps and diagrams come through. At least on my devices and apps.


Obviously, I am an Apple Fan-girrl and a Kindle devotee. I haven't tried other devices, and they may be just as great or even better. You won't know until you look.

The Toki-Girl and the Sparrow-Boy and The Toki-Girl and the Sparrow-Boy Book Two, Chasing Dreams are both available on line at Amazon in both hard and Kindle format, and available at Smashwords in ALL e-formats.  They’ll be available at all retail outlets very soon!




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