My youngest child started kindergarten this year, and now he’s bringing home easy readers in a royal blue book sack each night. The books work on high frequency words and read like this: Look at the horse; Look at the cow; Look at the pig.
“We need to read tonight, Mommy,” my son says with pride. He can’t wait to be like his older siblings.
Our fall schedule has us constantly running, but I make sure I carve out time to sit down with my youngest and open a book or two. He crawls into my lap. We discuss the pictures, and he touches the words as he says them.
It just wouldn’t be the same with an e-book.
Parents and Kids Prefer Reading Print Books Together
At DigitalBookWorld.com you can read about a study recently done by the Joan Ganz Cooney Center in New York that found that 75% of iPad owners still preferred to read print books with their kids. Fifty percent of the kids surveyed said they preferred print books when reading with parents. There’s just something about sitting together and actually turning pages that appeals to us, and here are some reasons why:
- Reading together is quality one on one time for parents and kids
- Reading print books continues a tradition: I read print books to my kids because I remember my parents reading with me; hopefully my children will have fond memories of reading with me and will also choose to read print books to their kids
- It’s easy to give print books to children as gifts
- E-books have distracting content, like games, that pull children out of the act of reading
But e-books are gaining popularity
I realize that publishing is going through big changes. Digital media is here to stay, and e-books have their benefits.
- New reading apps are coming out for iPad
- Companies are offering new digital reading platforms with fewer distracting games
- E-books are more convenient to carry when traveling
- Busy parents like giving their kid an e-book to read, especially since many have a “sound out the word” feature
But I still prefer print, and here’s why
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| Do you know which book that is? |
Part of learning to read is learning about the books themselves- the binding, pages, and slick covers. Young readers need these tangible cues for the complete experience. They also need large, vibrant pictures to go along with text. I want them to see Eric Carle’s vibrant collages or Mo Willems’ mix of photos and illustrations in full size, on a printed page.
I admit, I have to make a conscious effort to put that royal blue sack in the van before I take the kids to piano lessons. It would be much more convenient to pull up a book on my iPhone.
But parenting isn’t about convenience. It’s about choosing to be present to our children when they need us. Making the effort, turning the pages, carrying the blue sack. (Click to tweet if you agree)
So, go get a print book and read to a child. I think you’ll both enjoy it.
Which book format do you prefer to read with children and why? Thanks for adding to the discussion.
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Julia
I love reading aloud to my kids, and I never even considered e-books as an option! When I read for myself, it’s always print books. There’s just something about flipping the pages, seeing how many are left until the end of the next chapter, looking back to refresh my memory on a certain point…I don’t see that being done as easily on a Kindle. And you’re completely right about the illustrations! Some of these marvelous picture books have full-color spreads across 2 pages that are simply too stunning to have condensed on a tiny screen. For our family, print books are the only option! (Spoken like a true technological dinosaur!)
That’s okay- you’ve gotta go with what works! Although, it’s much easier to take a Kindle on vacation…
This is a fabulous post. I completely agree; I have an iPhone and an e-reader, but it’s never occurred to me to pull one of them out instead of a print book when I’m reading with my son. Half the fun for him is turning and feeling the pages at this age!
Exactly! Thanks.
I don’t have any kids, so I’ve never thought much about this, but you make some great points. I also prefer to read non-fiction in print form because it has more pictures and diagrams that just don’t look as nice on my e-reader, and it’s easier for me to find specific things in a non-fiction print text. (With fiction, since I am just reading from beginning to end, I find it doesn’t matter as much and my e-reader is great.)
Thanks for sharing your insight. (Also, your son sounds like such a cutie pie. Enjoy reading with him!)
Great points about non-fiction- thanks for adding to the discussion.
Love this! “But parenting isn’t about convenience. It’s about choosing to be present to our children when they need us. Making the effort, turning the pages, carrying the blue sack.” If I was a tweeter, I’d tweet it. Totally agree. p.s. I LOVE the word perspicacious too.
I know you do- I saw it under “Words I love” in your sidebar and knew I had met another word nerd! Thanks!