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Related: Editorials & Other Articles, Issue Forums, Alliance Forums, Region ForumsIf you have Kids or Grandkids...Can you Help me out here?
Are real "reading books with illustrations" DEAD?
I think that Kindle and Nook are really great...and kids love them...as do I...but, I don't know if they can be replaced by "E-Readers."
I know that in our household we love our "Nook" but we miss the "Maps and Illustrations that we could go "back and forth with" with a REAL PAPER BOOK in our hands.
I know that Wall Street and EVERYONE says that "All of US" are just going to the Internet to Read......
But, what are YOU seeing with your own kids and grandkids.
Forgive the "Full Caps".....I'm old school and use it for Emphasis and not to SHOUT at you.
What's going on out there. My kid is grown and there are no Grandkids...just Dogs that they tell me are my "Grandkids" ..........so I feel very out of touch.
What's going on in YOUR WORLD!
Thanks if you can share!
KoKo
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BanzaiBonnie
(3,621 posts)My daughter takes the kidlets to the library once a week and they get ten or so picture books. The kids are 4 and 1.
LadyHawkAZ
(6,199 posts)and my daughter is doing the same. They are effing expen$$$ive but the devices are just too fragile for an infant, and I want her to be able to touch and react to the pictures. I love my Kindle and it's awesome for an adult to carry around, but not so awesome for a child.
KoKo
(84,711 posts)It's a lot of distraction to deal with.
A BOOK just sits and you can pick it up or not ...even if power goes out...and read by flashlight or candle.
I can see a co-existence between both E-Books and Hardback or Paperback books to hold in hand....but, not what Wall Street is pushing that "BOOKS ARE DEAD." (that was a headline on some website a year or two ago...
grasswire
(50,130 posts)...and picture books doubly so!
A weekly trip to the library is an opportunity for all kinds of learning. How will we keep our libraries if we don't teach children to value them and value real books?
And story hour at the library? Priceless!
KoKo
(84,711 posts)That's some of why I did this Post...because I think it's easier to shove a Kindle or Nook Book to your kid or grandkid at bed time...than to take them to the library (my place of choice for browsing and interaction and just the variety in one place.)
lynne
(3,118 posts)- especially for the elementary and pre-school set. Electronic books are coming into favor for the middle-school and older crowd. One reason is that it's less expensive to download a book instead of buying it. Yes, you can go to second hand bookstores and yard sales and hope that they have the book that you are required to read for your assignment. The library won't have enough copies for everyone in your class. With the price of gas, it's far less expensive to download from Amazon than to run all over town looking for it.
Some libraries now allow you to download books for free so there's that extra bonus.
Personally, I like the feel of having a real book in my hands. However, there are some real advantages to e-books that can't be ignored.
Blecht
(3,806 posts)I have real books for the kids and for myself.
I love my screens -- two desktops in our house, a laptop, and a top-of-the-line Android -- but when it comes to reading a work of nonfiction or a novel, only the real thing will do.
Relaxing with a book provides a welcome break from the screens. I couldn't imagine not having a book in my hand at some point in my day. Call me a Luddite, but I certainly will never make the move away from the real thing.
LadyHawkAZ
(6,199 posts)And I still have all my real books, plus more. But I love the ease of transportation that my Kindle gives me. It's light and they even make a glorified Ziploc bag for reading in the bath.
So now I guess I have two expensive habits, instead of one. Worth it though.
KoKo
(84,711 posts)are going that you all have from personal experience. By "kids" I mean the "under 8 year olds."
loli phabay
(5,580 posts)ipad and kindle, much easier for them to cart books around as well instead of a backpack full its one device. The only books that they seem to want tot look at are really old ones and thats just for curiosity, give it 10 years and the next generation will be all paperless.
Fumesucker
(45,851 posts)Grandson really got a kick out of it, he knew the character Calvin but not the actual cartoons.
My nephew, his cousin loved the same book about ten years ago when he too was eight..
R. Daneel Olivaw
(12,606 posts)There's nothing wrong with letting your child absorb technology. At 12 m my baby was able to open my wife's flip phone and text her sister the #23. In a year who knows what she will be able o do.
Books are immediate and tactile. Don't be afraid to let your kids experience the real world before they experience the one made out of touch screens and code.
KoKo
(84,711 posts)but it was asking if the "old books of paper" are co-existing with the New Technology.
That's what I was asking.
loli phabay
(5,580 posts)my kids love the fact that they have hundreds of books and games and other stuff to hand, it sure makes long journeys much more fun and the ease with which they use technology really astounds me. My son who is 7 has already wondered why he needs to go to school when the teacher could just send him the stuff to do via email, i think in him i am seeing the future of both books and education.
KoKo
(84,711 posts)Thanks...!
Certainly much learning can be done "out there" rather than sitting in school...
loli phabay
(5,580 posts)waiting for his next task, and he says if the teacher just emailed him stuff he could use that down time to cut the grass or build lego or something, thank god school starts this week and hopefully he will stop plotting, but probuably by the time my kids are parents education will be all done via electronics.
KoKo
(84,711 posts)R. Daneel Olivaw
(12,606 posts)grasswire
(50,130 posts)At the Bismarck Public Library, Traci Juhala, head of Children's Services, has not seen declining interest in picture books.
In 2010, about 3,500 picture books and 2,000 chapter books were checked out each month. In 2009, about 3,000 picture books and 1,700 chapter books were checked out each month.
Not only has the use of picture books been on the rise through the Bismarck library, the use of all children's books has been rising. Picture books are about 20 percent of all of the children's materials at the library.
“When we renovated the Children's Library, we intentionally moved picture books to front and center because parents and children love to come in the library to browse through the books, the new ones and the old favorites. We wanted to make them more accessible," Juhala said.
KoKo
(84,711 posts)thanks for this post. I've seen some Charities begging for "Picture Books."
I guess that's because the kids they serve might not have equipment or access to do the "E-Readers."
I hope they can all co-exist. But, I do have a bias for some reading for Illustration, Maps and such...that will take awile before some of the best literary stuff can get out there.
Nothing bad about reading the "CLASSICS" witout Illustrations on E-Readers, though!
HopeHoops
(47,675 posts)
riverbendviewgal
(4,396 posts)and when they were ready they picked out books at the library.. It was a fun thing. Every night we read to them.
When they were not tired enough I allowed them to be awake and take some books with them to bed.
My little ones loved reading and would catch me if I missed a page. LOL.
When there was very little money with my first baby boy we would go downtown on the TTC street car and do some shopping at Eatons and Simpsons...just looking, but my son always got a book...a little tell a tale book which was 29 cents in 1970.
When he emigrated to England last year he had to take his books. No way was he leaving them behind.
I think I would still go for the books even with little ones today. Kindle is nice but I think the paper book is so real.
KoKo
(84,711 posts)Get them into the "E-Readers" later on when they have access and the Textbooks...Definitely.
Except...that reference maps and some other stuff is still in "infant stage" with the "E-Readers."
I think they will fix that problem, going forward, though.
riverbendviewgal
(4,396 posts)One was the library would have toddler play sessions that were about an hour and half with the librarians. There would be reading or painting or singing. One day the librarian had a session where the kids finger painted with chocolate pudding. Then she hung their paintings on the walls of the library for all to see...Well, my friend's little girl's painting had a little dot on it, as she ate all the chocolate pudding but it did get hung up. 
Another outing was a moms and tots sing along in a circle. Here we all are singing away when my two year old turns around and covers my mouth....That was the true honesty of my little son...He let me know there was no way in hell I was a singer. I could not carry a tune. He was very musically inclined and he had "the ear".. 
KoKo
(84,711 posts)the wisdom of they young...it doesn't fail much. :grin:
alcibiades_mystery
(36,437 posts)Both read paper books. A lot of them. Well, the three year old doesn't read, but he loves paper hold-in-your-hand books. Listen, I'm not Mr. Nostalgia. I like the changing medium of the book, and I like the possibilities it opens up. I like the Internet, and what we can do with it, and I find much of the bemoaning of the "death of books" to be reactionary claptrap. But I like books. I think you can do things with a long paper novel - that such a piece of communication forces particular modes of thought - that you can't do with the internet, the e-readers, or any of that stuff. Not because of its "tangibility" or anything so trivial, but because it is a particular encounter with a particular material medium that inflects the forms of language and communication that can be accomplished through it. There's value in the long paper book. There's value in the short teevee interview. There's value in the hypertext novel, or the - dare I say it - internet forum posting, or tweet, or whatever. They are merely different forms of expression that constrain and make possible different kinds of acts of writing and reading and speaking and playing and drawing and whatever. Neither bad nor good, but different.
seabeyond
(110,159 posts)at the coffee shop and has been picking up books. they have over 300 books in their closets, lots of shelves. i GOTTA clean out before school starts. tons i have already boxed from when they were little kids that i have kept either for other little ones i know, or their kids.
at their age i do not mind them having ereaders. young kids i am all the way for books, and would not allow ereader.
hubby and i have a kindle and i have a fire. if i run into a free teen book i think my youngest would like, i get it and put into his file.
i still have to have my books. i still go to the library. i have over 800 books on my kindle and have read about 250. went to the library today and got three, had three more from the other day and order two more, lol. love my books. still buy them if it is part of the series and see them cheap.
for kids, especially when little, i would only have books. so important. reading together. EVERY night, our down time before bed. with the cuddling and love of story and always interaction thru a story and discussion with pictures. stopping and listening to the kids when they had something to say. SOOOOOO important.
loli phabay
(5,580 posts)but i disagree on the real books thing, thats fine if you have the space to put them, and i do have lots of books but for the kids they prefer their vtech things, the ipads and kindles for reading. I like the idea that no matter where they go they have lots of reading materials and their math games etc etc. Hope you are well.
seabeyond
(110,159 posts)kids could sit up. especially my oldest spent lots of time with the kids encyclopedia with lots of pictures. he is the oddball, and could not sleep a lot at night. would look at his books, well before he could read. he would spend hours in the middle of night with a book. so much in the pictures and so much time spent in living with the illustrations. i do not know how much of that is in the kid books in readers.
i love the book itself. i dont ever want them to go away. i do like my kindle though. i refused it for quite a while. hubby finally got it for me for christmas and i could not give it back. love it now.
i go kicking and screaming into the new and improved tech world. love/hate relationship for me.
KoKo
(84,711 posts)that's what I did or would do today if I had the "little ones."
Thanks fpr your perspective.
southernyankeebelle
(11,304 posts)I tell you where you can get some great used books for all ages. You won't be sorry either. I buy 2nd hand books in great shape. Some are hard book covers. Used but great condition. I give my grandkids books at christmas and they don't even notice. Great selection plus good for the environment. You won't be sorry.
Go to BETTER WORLD BOOKS.COM
KoKo
(84,711 posts)"old" books and get credits for new ones. (sort of a "trade" situation for credit) We use our Nook for much stuff......but, we are still using the "Used Book Stores" to buy and trade in and it works well for us.
There have been some articles that folks who have Kindle or Nook actually read MORE and they STILL BUY...Books..(used or new).
Given the dire times we live in...and the Mainstream Media boredom...maybe this is a Good Sign for Humanity going forward!
We read more from Electronic and Tactile.....than watch Wolf Blitzer or listen to Rush Limbaugh!
Hopefully....we are Evolving... 
southernyankeebelle
(11,304 posts)go to the doctor's office while am waiting around.
KoKo
(84,711 posts)at night. So there are some advantages for Nook/Kindle for older eyes at night and definitely waiting in Doctors Offices and Car Repair!
southernyankeebelle
(11,304 posts)LadyHawkAZ
(6,199 posts)Abebooks has been useful for finding the hard-to-find books and comparing pricing, too.
southernyankeebelle
(11,304 posts)LadyHawkAZ
(6,199 posts)(if the local used bookstores don't have what I'm looking for) but when they don't have the book I want I go to Abebooks and shop around. They have never failed me. They show stock from bookstores around the world.
southernyankeebelle
(11,304 posts)
PD Turk
(1,289 posts)She loves real books with pictures and she reads very well. Her and mom make a weekly trip to the public library to check out books 
KoKo
(84,711 posts)thanks for sharing that!
SheilaT
(23,156 posts)I find it hard to believe that a relatively small electronic device can begin to match the quality of an actual picture book. Especially if you want to read to more than one child at a time.
There are any number of things about the prediction that soon we will all be doing all of our reading on little devices. One is, that if the electricity goes or if the battery wears out, you can't read the thing. As long as there's some kind of light source, real books are still readable.
There is also that factor of being able to easily switch back and forth between different parts of a physical book, especially if you want to keep referring to a map or a chart or a picture or anything that is not the text directly in front of you.
Another is the sheer cost. The devices cost several hundred dollars up front. And then, the cost of many books is greater than many real books. Plus, you can't exactly share a book you've just finished, other than by passing your little device to another person, and then what are you going to read? It is that infinite (or nearly infinite) share-ability of real books that I treasure.
And god forbid we ever have an EMP.
This is not to say no one should have a little electronic book thingy. I can certainly see the value of them in many circumstances. But they will never replace the real thing. They will simply exist alongside them.
KoKo
(84,711 posts)and that's was my hope.
I've been so glad to read the replies here from folks who seem to see VALUE in both forms...and that "Books aren't Dead."
Makes me feel better about our future.
aikoaiko
(34,214 posts)Plenty of books out there. We use both paper books and kindle.
He's entering 1st grade and his school is issuing him an iPad.
KoKo
(84,711 posts)It will be fascinating to see how he uses it...and is it for assignments, or what?
It seems a little "young" to me...but, it's still interesting as to how your school is focusing going forward.
grasswire
(50,130 posts)I learned to read with Dick and Jane a long time ago.
aikoaiko
(34,214 posts)
mrmpa
(4,033 posts)my niece is assistant head librarian and runs most of these programs. She started one called "lap time" for newborns to 2 years old. Lots of being read to and lap games.
SheilaT
(23,156 posts)I started taking my first kid to such things when he was maybe two years old. We went to library programs in three or four different states. They were always wonderful. And my second son took his first steps by himself at a library!
mrmpa
(4,033 posts)about the adult reader. My nieces's library has a summer reading program for all ages. My 82 year old mother and I both joined the club. You are able to log in on line, the books you have read, review them for other readers and in the end, if you met your goal, me 7 books, mom 4 you get a free book.
All my nieces and nephews read. My 27 year old nephew, who is working on his MBA and working full time, borrowed a book from me, saying "it's a great bus book." Meaning it's perfect for his commute. I remember being on buses when I was a kid, and everyone was reading, books, magazines & the newspaper.
SheilaT
(23,156 posts)Recent changes in my life mean that I almost never purchase books anymore. The truly wonderful thing about that is that I've rediscovered the joys of the local library. I think what I like best about the library is that they simply have a different mix of books than a bookstore does. Also, my library, like most of them these days, allows me to renew and reserve books on-line, so the convenience factor is very high.
2pooped2pop
(5,420 posts)No or few books. Teacher can talk to them on the IPADS, they do the work on the IPADS, Teacher emails them. Homework on Ipads.
Next year they start with my younger grandson in 2nd grade.
I don't like it. I do like that they don't have to carry the backpack with a break load of books. But otherwise I see it as an early salvo to get rid of the actual physical schools because the repiglican rich don't want to pay for the poor to go to school anymore. They want to sell them the software to "teach ur own kid".
Besides, the kids and their parents have a real good chance of ending up in the republican privately bought and controlled prison system. Why would they need books or an education. Wow, bitter aren't I?
I think a certain level of learning is going to be missed in the next generation. Will they be able to write with a pen? Do math without a calculator? It's not good, I don't think.
grasswire
(50,130 posts)That sounds awful.
2pooped2pop
(5,420 posts)There's just something about holding the book in your hand and flipping through the pages that can't be gained with the digital books. I think the Ipad or computer is a good thing to teach them, I just don't think they should go all out with it like that.
They have to pay 100 a year to rent it. They are very fragile looking.
I would have liked them to put a set of books in the classrooms for the kids to use as they come into each class, leave it there and have their own set of books at home. No lugging books back and forth.
Frustratedlady
(16,254 posts)They have all stressed the importance of reading to the kids from the time they were babies to the time they could read their own books and it has really made a difference in their educational abilities in the classroom.
The grandkids and greats all love reading and all have huge libraries ranging from their baby books to their teenage books to mostly non-fiction as adults.
Each birthday and Christmas I make sure to give each of them special books. I never hear any complaints. They love their books.
NikolaC
(1,276 posts)but have become very addicted to my Kindle. My husband and son also like the Kindle but they prefer to read books. You just can't beat the smell, the illustrations and holding a good book.
Jennicut
(25,415 posts)I think most elementary school kids have a lot of paper books. A Kindle is more for an older child or teenager. My girls would lose that or leave it outside in the rain in about one minute. My daughters also like the books I saved from my childhood like the Sweet Valley Twins and The Babysitters Club. They are getting out of illustrated books and into longer chapter books because of their age.
It's not an "either" "or" thing.
DonRedwood
(4,359 posts)and the library has been packed the last couple times i've been there...
Prometheus Bound
(3,489 posts)If we can't play with her she walks over the the bookcase and takes out a handful of books, sits down and goes through them, one after another, page by page.
She likes the ABC's and nursery rhymes on YouTube, but also loves to have us read them to her. Books are still number 1 for her, and every month she likes the books more, while her interest in the screen stays about the same.
xxqqqzme
(14,887 posts)to the bookshelf I keep for him. Gets his current favorite, hands me the book, clmbs up in the big chair and wiggles in to get comfy. His current fav is One Fish, Two Fish.
He plays songs & listens to short stories on his mother's iphone. But he loves to cuddle and have a book read to him. He gets to try out new words, ask 'whaz at?' when he sees something new. I read him Good Night Moon so many times,he 'reads' it to me. Well, I understand what he's 'reading' anyway.
blueamy66
(6,795 posts)and read numerous REAL books to the kiddos....including the Bible....
Screw Nook and Kindle and the like.....kids need real books.....to hold and smell and turn the pages....it was FUN!
Lugnut
(9,791 posts)My eight-year-old granddaughter loves to sit and read a book. The other kids are younger and just starting to read.
marlakay
(13,282 posts)Both of my girls in their early 30's, me, and my grandkids read both regular books and ebooks.
Some of us have iPads, some have kindle fire..we all still go to libraries and check out regular books too.
The ebooks are great because you can have them read out loud if the kids are small and you are busy.
I personally like to read on my iPad but not everything is on the library ereader list.
I am just happy everyone is reading and can thank the vampire movies that got my older daughter who used to hate reading doing so, and now she is hooked and it relieves her stress from her management job.
chloes1
(88 posts)I helped teach my now 5 yr old to read using paper books. Now that he has the hang of it, I let him share my Nook books with me.
I really believe that at first nothing replaces the tactile pleasure of a sturdy paper book, with the bright colorful drawings! Certainly my son adored them... Also as you said the back and forth of a map and drawings really helps children to learn as well.
Sadly, I see that falling by the wayside as technology becomes less costly.
vaberella
(24,634 posts)E-Readers seem more dominated by adults and parents who have the money to give that to their kids. However, the good old printing press with ink on paper is still the way to go and personally the only way I work. If I like a book I read through E-Reader I buy the copy of it, re-read it and keep it in the house. That's why I only use the app version on my laptop and phone--since I only read samples.
Maine-ah
(9,902 posts)I don't want her to grow up with books. Books were my savior. My fantasy, my imagination, where I ran away to. The feel of a book, the pages, the smell...the weight of a book. No e-readers, not yet.
I do have books on my kindle app. on my lap top, but I still read books, and I look forward to the day that I get to pass on my Mother's original Nancy Drew books (that I blew through by the time I was 7), to my peanut. Right now, she has all the books from when I was a kid - and I am so grateful that my Mom saved them. Classics.
When I was a kid, I would hide under the covers with a flash light and read till I fell asleep. I let her have a small flash light, and hide books under her pillow for her to read when she can't fall asleep. It's wonderful to hear her over the monitor at night - hiding, and reading (out loud, as five year olds do).
Kennah
(14,578 posts)We have an 11 year old boy, a 7 year old girl, and a 3 year old boy. I think real books encourages one to read often and always, rather than just while on a device.
That said, I am considering an E-reader for the 11 year old. He will read ANYTHING, and I think an E-reader would get him reading more. A few minutes ago, he was reading the ingredients on the label of a bottle of hand lotion. He has a dictionary and thesaurus that he reads. He will read brochures in stores, offices, etc.
gollygee
(22,336 posts)The older one reads mainly chapter books without illustrations now. The younger one still loves the big pictures and the tactile relationship with the books, turning the pages, etc., so she uses real books. When she's older, I'll probably get her an e-reader too.
My husband and I use e-readers.