Print Books vs E-Readers

(pic from Digital Book Reader)
"Men have become the tools of their tools." - Henry David Thoreau 

   While on vacation, I looked around the pool, serene bench areas, hammocks, etc., and saw a lot of books and a lot of e-readers. I know one day, we'll all have interactive hologram interfaces not unlike the super futuristic interfaces of say Minority Report or The Matrix. Right now, though, we're in an epic battle between tradition and the future.
   A Pew Research Center study said that "the number of traditional readers dropped from 72% to 67% from last year, while digital bookworms jumped from 16% to 23%." I read this on Mashable.com and it made me wonder it I'd ever get there. Sure, our family has a tablet, but I'm still an ink and paper guy. The children show more adaptability and can switch between the two seamlessly. I however, have noticed my eyesight changing for the worse. It makes me feel like I should be peering over my bifocals on my front porch at the kids in my neighborhood screaming, "Get off my lawn!"
   So the question is, who are you? Ink and paper, or digi-print? As eye look to get my eye checked and then fitted for my glasses, I think I'll be a hybrid of the two. I've played with the digital version a bit and I'll still be enjoying the smell of the traditional pages for some time. And hey, they make great table stabilizers in a pinch, especially if it wasn't that good of a book. So chime in and let me know what you're using!

J.
  
Next comes the question posed on Cnet: Tablet or E-Reader?

Horton Hears A Who - Pop-up Book

"A person's a person, no matter how small." - Horton Hears A Who, Dr. Seuss.

 

   Most kids enjoy being read to, no matter the book. I will say that it's a whole lot of fun when you find one that the REALLY enjoy. We'd been through a number of different topics, looks, feels, and such with our 'Lil Man. He'd enjoyed the different themes, colors, topics, illustration styles and all. Then he remembered the book that was given to his big sis. Dr. Seuss's Horton Hears A Who Pop-Up! 

 

   We can all recall our own personal experience with Dr. Seuss and his wonderful books. Whether our love encompassed a floral colored pork and egg dish, or the tale of a rotten beastie that tried to hijack our most beloved holiday season, there's was a time we all embraced "the Seuss". We love the rhyming structure and tempo. We enjoy the wildly odd names of the characters, places, and exclamations. They're all wonderful, and here's one we love a ton.

 

  Dr. Seuss's Horton Hears A Who Pop-Up! is a great addition to your library. The story is just a great as it's ever been, but the pop-ups by David A. Carter take it to another level. The pop-up portion brings the already amazing and fun illustrations forward and engages the reader (and read to) like never before. The added dimension allows for even more imagination. There's a handful of pull tabs that add a little bit of action to the experience. Remember though, it's a pop-up book. Small hands WILL destroy it if allowed!

Enjoy,

J. 

Boy And Girl Baby Names

Avi: Should I call you Bullet? Tooth? 

Bullet Tooth Tony: You can call me Susan if it makes you happy. 

 - Snatch, 2000

   Baby names used to be a conventional thing. One would name a boy or girl using the traditional designation within their own culture, quite often for a symbolic figure within that culture or a particular family member. These days,...it's ALL over the place. Mostly here in America. Popular fruits, emotions, etc.,  have become the new personal label. There was recently a family that gave a Twitter inspired name. 

   For our part, the wife and I used as a base these two books:

Beyond Ava & Adien - published in 2009, it served us well for our '09 boy and even helped start the process with our '12 girl.

Best Baby Name Book In The Whole World - published in 1984, this was our first book and was a great launch to the search for our first, and kept us from "naming block" for our second and third.

   There is much to consider when naming in the early 21st century. Will my child be bullied? How many other boys or girls will have the same name? Will the company I'm in love with send me endorsement checks for showing this kind of loyalty? I realize that some parents feel the need to be unique, oblivious to the torture that "Bernice" or "Apple" will be subject to over the years. Others are thoughtful and will always adhere to the traditional naming convention of their culture.

   Never discount where you might find the name you are looking for. The books above gave some great suggestions that rolled over into other ideas. For our part:
- Our first child was a name within our extended family that fit and we never looked back.
- Our second was a name we heard on a television show that trumped all ideas we had instantly.
- Our third was a "similar names to..." suggestion upon looking at the website ParentsConnect.

   After my suggestions of "The Amazing" or "Artist Formerly Known As", I'm very happy with out names, even if friends or family wrinkled their noses at them at first. Our children are now branded, and no other names would have been more perfect. So happy hunting and let me know what you came up with. I'm curious.

J.

Short Stories For Short People

     Outside of a dog, a book is man's best friend. Inside of a dog it's too dark to read. ~Groucho Marx

     We spent an evening at Barnes & Noble, and besides the child wrangling event that it was, we had a good time. My five year old LOVES the Kid's Nook that they have at each store, usually spending ALL of her time there with a stack of books next to her. There is a new app on iTunes for the iPad by Barnes & Noble Kids called Nook for Kids holding one of the largest collections of ebooks for kids.

     Our kids favorites around the 6-18 month range are the Touch and Feel books. They have an excellent blend of engaging images and interesting textures for the kids to mess with. My son (1 year old as of this post) is near impossible to keep still. He's a statue when we pull these books out.
     My 5 year old girl has a number of short story favorites. Below are our top 5 right now:

Olivia (series by Ian Falconer)
Fancy Nancy (series by Jane O'Conner and Robin Preiss Glasser)
Disney Step Into Reading (series 1 mostly by Random House Disney)
Do Princesses... (series by Carmela LaVigna Coyle)
My Little Pony: I Can Read (series 1 by various authors)

     So get on down to the book store, keep an eye on those kids, and pick out some good ones. We've established story time at night with our daughter (son to follow), and she threatens revolution when we don't deliver. I hear that establishing reading habits now with your kids will increase their love of books and reading later. Have fun!

J.