By Edward Nawotka
Let’s be honest, no one really likes the idea of their child spending a lot of time in front of a television (unless it’s on an airplane keeping them quiet). So is a computer screen all that different?
In today’s lead story, Jeanne Mosure, Senior Vice President, Group Publisher, Disney Publishing Worldwide, discusses her company’s move into digital e-books with the launch of Disney Digital Books.
The product is robust, absorbing, and comes from a trusted brand. One of the elements Mosure emphasizes in her discussion is that the site is “safe” — presumably from unwanted intruders, such as advertisers and others. This is perhaps a first step towards indoctrinating parents into introducing their children to e-books.
I’ve written about my own reticence over introducing my daughter to e-books and, in particular, the lost sense of closeness I get when we sit reading together. That seems, to me, to be something impossible to achieve on a computer. Of course, she’s still very young and I’m no Luddite. The likelihood is that she’ll be just as familiar with digital books as print ones.
So, the question is: When are e-books appropriate for children? At what age are children ready for them? Do you currently use Disney Digital Books or any other children’s sites?
Let us know your experience and what you think in the comments below or via Twitter using hashtag #ppbonus.
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Disney’s Digital Future
8 months ago
[...] DISCUSS: When are E-books Appropriate for Children? [...]
Pete Nikolai
8 months ago
Good question! As a parent of four teenagers, I can attest to the natural attraction kids experience towards all things digital. I miss the days of reading to my kids. While I would hate to see anything replace that connection between parent and child, I believe that replacing the hours most kids spend each week passively watching television or videos with an equal number of hours spent interacting with words would be a welcome and positive change…
Vix
8 months ago
I am a parent and a new author of children’s books and I have to admit to not wanting my daughter to be infront of the PC and becoming addicted to it until she was at least 5. I quickly came to realise that computers are the basis of their world and since she was 2, I have taught my daughter how to use one, but I do limit her time to an hour and the majority of what she looked at was educational and fun.
I now think that all children should be introduced to computers from an early age – otherwise they are going to be behind in school – but also because it can be educationally fun! ‘Leapfrog’(TM) produce an interactive book system for young children and I think that ebooks are a natural progression from that!
I read to my daughter every night and she loves reading books and listening to CD stories and loves anything that is interactive with words. SHe is a fast learner and is reading well herself now. I think as soon as they can read – they should do so in whatever format they find best…. but for everyone, ebooks, as with anything that requires close eye focusing, should be done for short periods at a time otherwise you risk eyestrain!
David K. Park
8 months ago
As a parent, I love to read to my children and nothing will replace that experience. However, I was frustrated that there wasn’t another option between static books and DVD/TV that I could offer my children. Therefore, I decided to start a company, called MeeGenius!, focused on enhanced and personalized children’s books. Enhanced, meaning all the books have audio playback and word highlighting and personalized meaning that all the enhanced books can be personalized by the parent and child. We offer three types of personalization: (1) full – completely rewrite the story and then add your voice (2) auto – quickly answer a few questions and presto the story is rewritten for you and then add your voice and (3) audio only – just add your voice to an existing story. We’re currently in private beta. We have a long way to go to improve the user experience but if you’re interested in trying the site, here’s an invite link to the private beta:
http://www.meegenius.com/?inviteCode=2_XFaUebL0QXiq1P9ehwZRFA
David Maybury | Blog » The week that was… publishing
8 months ago
[...] Jeanne Mosure (Senior Vice President, Disney Publishing Worldwide) talk e-books in the lead up to Disney’s Digital Book releases. [...]
Jeanette McLeod
6 months ago
Hi Edward. I was intrigued by your title as when wouldn’t ebooks be appropriate for children? It is well documented that 20% of elementary/primary school kids do not meet the required standards in literacy both in US and UK. Of course increasing literacy activities leads to an increase in literacy skills. I do not belive [IMHO] that ebooks are meant as a replacement for sitting and sharing a book with a child. They are meant as a way of increasing a child’s exposure to reading using a different and engaging format. They can also be wonderful for engaging reluctant readers. We have to face it that kids love technology so why don’t we use this to our advantage and turn screen time into something educational?
Like David I was inspired to create engaging and interactive ebooks for children at http://www.wizz-e.com where the magic of books come to life. Kids can read along to the audio and follow as the words highlight to model fluency or chose to read themselves and click on any unfamiliar words to hear them spoken. Feedback from parents and teachers alike has been very positive.
We certainly do not want to replace the utter joy of sharing a book with your child but we do believe that increasing the ways that we can encourage our kids to read more has to be a good thing.