Here’s a clever use of technology to promote reading among kids—taking a cue from speed dating to create “Extreme Speed Booking”. The idea is that kids are given two minutes with each book—they can do whatever they like: examine the cover, read the first chapter, skip to the last page—and then rate how interested they would be in reading more (as well as copy down the author and title of those that do interest them). And the great thing about the e-book age is that this sort of thing is easier than ever without needing to have physical copies...

Our founder David Rothman wrote an interesting column on how to use e-books as part of an educational strategy for encouraging children to read. He suggests that parents should aim for a mix of electronic and paper books, using paper books as “gateway drugs” to get kids interested and e-books for times when paper books are not available or appropriate. He also suggests that developers should look into different ways of using e-book content to make it more effective for learning. The effectiveness of the actual books for children is just one issue. As part of...

We’ve seen a number of different types of books turned into e-books, so why not coloring books? That seems to be Crayola’s philosophy. PaidContent reports the company is partnering with interactive storybook app publisher Ruckus Media to publish a series of coloring e-books for iOS and Android. Presumably they will work like its other iPad apps that let kids “color” with their fingers or a stylus. Sounds like fun, but hopefully any parents who use this will first make sure their kids know to use fingers, not crayons or permanent markers. (And when did Crayola start using that creepy-looking...

The New York Times has a lengthy article discussing the relative immunity of children’s books to electronic replacement. Even the most ardent e-book fans insist on print for their children, it reports. There are a number of good reasons, including not wanting to expose expensive electronics to juvenile whims (and assorted substances), not wanting the shiny toy to distract from the literary experience, and wanting children to have the experience of physically manipulating the pages. “I know I’m a Luddite on this, but there’s something very personal about a book and not one of one thousand...

One of the funniest jokes in the “Internet Helpdesk” sketch by Three Dead Trolls in a Baggie comes when the frustrated tech support staffer asks to speak to his client’s 9-year-old daughter, and proceeds to deliver in-depth instructions loaded with IT terminology—which the kid apparently completely understands. It’s a well-known cliché that kids are always more adept at using new technology than their parents, probably dating back to the era when all the cool cavekids were going around on wheels while all the adult cavemen were scratching their heads in confusion over just how those darned round things worked. ...

I received the following email from von Heijne: My name is Nils and I'm contacting you about the launch of uTales, set to revolutionize children's picture books globally. We're a new world of digital picture books for kids, created by a worldwide community of more than 1,000 professional authors and illustrators. uTales is a truly disruptive concept, and I thought it perhaps may be of interest for you and your readers? The uTales community brings parents and children unlimited access to an entire library of digital picture books - a library that just keeps growing and...

From eSchool News: Fifty-two percent of children ages 5-8 use smart phones, video iPods, iPads, or similar devices, and four in 10 2- to 4-year-olds use the same devices, according to a new national study on young children’s use of media. “Zero to Eight: Children’s Media Use in America” documents young children’s use of new digital mediadevices such as iPads or other tablet devices and mobile apps, along with older media platforms such as television, computers, and books. ... Despite the proliferation of new technologies and platforms, television continues to dominate children’s media use. Among all children up to age 8, an average of one...

From the Westport News: … The paper has disappeared since Bergstein launched Scribblit.com -- a website that lets kids write, illustrate and publish their own stories and comic books. "I just thought, there's got to be a better way to do this, to help them out," said Bergstein, the former director of marketing at Mattel Toys. Children can write stories directly into page templates, load their scanned artwork and use a pick-and-click illustration tool if they want more professional-looking art to go along with their text. They can use tools such as Story Starters to help generate ideas and...

This isn't ebook related, but I mention it as a public service since I know that a lot of our readers have Apple equipment.  Here is the description of the app from the App Store: The free FBI Child ID app provides a convenient place to electronically store photos and vital information about your child so that it's literally right at had if your child goes missing.  You can show the pictures and provide physical identifiers such as height and weight to security or police officers on the spot.  Using a special tab on the app, you canals quickly and easily...

Kids will lead the coming surge in ereader adoption, suggests the Boston Globe in an article this weekend: "This is a generation of kids that have learned to communicate, search and purchase on very small devices, like mobile phones," said James McQuivey, Forrester Research media analyst. "This year is a guinea pig year, next year the move will be en masse." In addition to being seen as non-threatening by kids, ereader prices are dropping while their capabilities continue to increase, and publishers are aggressively expanding their children's and YA ebook catalogs. Read the full article at Boston.com. ...

According to The Bookseller: Intellectual property agency 1454 has developed a new interactive children's adventure series that will be published exclusively on the Kindle worldwide. It is thought to be the first time a children's series has been produced solely for digital release. BookSurfers, written by the children's writer David Gatward, is aimed at nine to 12-year-olds and is based on the classic novels Treasure Island and The Wonderful Wizard of Oz. The four Booksurfers, Ryan, Jake, Becca and Harriet use a bespoke digital gadget called The Nautilus to jump into classic adventure stories with the reader able to use hyperlinks to connect to...

I haven't been posting a lot, lately—partly because it takes so much longer to write an article by speech than it does by typing it, and partly because I seem to be sleeping a lot more lately. This broken arm is sapping a lot of my energy. I will be having an operation next Tuesday to put a plate and screw in, and after I recover from that I should be somewhat more active. With that in mind, when I do post something, it's either going to be something that I can write very quickly, or something that I...