Research done at Temple University showed that paper books provide a more positive parent-child interaction for young children–and that electronic books dampen it. (In other words, a picture book helps a child most when it’s paper–not really any surprise to anyone who loves picture books. You know this but you love to hear it from officialdom.)
Children sitting with a parent reading a digital rather than a physical book aren’t getting as much interaction. “This research does suggest that parents should be aware of some of the limitations of e-book reading. We shouldn’t use e-books to replace traditional books and we shouldn’t expect them that they don’t. They’re not substitutes for a human being.” (More here.)
It seems it comes down to how you interact with a book and how you interact with a device… the difference between, “Careful! Push here! Hold it this way!” and, “I wonder… what do you think will happen next?”
Are we focused on the device or the story?
I’m all for digital books–and the amazing things they can do. But they can’t do everything. They can’t replace a traditional book–or a human being.
It’s not a question solely for children and their books, is it? It sounds like something we need to be asking ourselves every day of our lives. Particularly at the start of a new year.
Are the tools we use enlarging or dampening our own lives, our own stories? What’s our focus–on the new or the essential?
She lives in NYC and enjoys dividing her time between the front and the back of her apartment. She can be found at www.sallylloyd-jones.
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Great example of where “newer” is not always “better.”
I LOVE picture books and good old paper books ( as anyone can tell by the fact we have run out of bookshelves in our house and are trying to figure out where else to put the books we keep bringing home!?!?) however, I do own a kindle and LOVE it too.
My kids are 10 and 12 and it is oh so handy to have living books on my kindle to read whenever we are out and about without having to have lots of heavy books in my handbag any more. Also GREAT for when you are caught out unawares with a major delay in your day that was not planned on and so nothing was brought along for entertainment. The kindle has been a life saver on more than one occasion since I got it two years ago.
I don’t think it will replace but rather add a new dimension to reading with kids! The best of both. 🙂