Kids Read for Fun -- The Scholastic Report

Last week Scholastic, the global children's publishing, education and media company, released a study on Kids and reading.  The report is a classic good news/bad news story.

 

The good news:

• 68% of children think reading for pleasure is extremely important.
• *2% of kids 5-8 "love to read.
• 90% say that reading is important if you want to get into a good college.
• 66% of tweens and teens (9-17) have extended their reading experience via the internet.
• 79% of kids age 5-17 are going online; 33% go on line each day
• Fully two in three children believe that within the next 10 years, most books which are read for fun will be read digitally – either on a computer or on another kind of electronic device.

The bad news:

• Reading frequency declines after age 8.
• Parents under-estimate the degree to which kids have trouble finding books they like and enjoy.
• By age 17 only 21% of kids think that reading is fun or important.
• Only 40% of parent with older teens think it is important for their kids to read "for fun".
• 62% of parents say they have a hard time finding information about books their kids would enjoy reading.

The thing I find the most interesting about the study is the portion about kids, reading and technology.   As they look to the future most kids see technology as inevitable.  Two-thirds say that they think that most of the books they will read in ten years will be electronic.  And they are enthusiastic about being able to tag and share favorite parts of books with others. 

And yet two-thirds of the kids surveyed say that no matter what they can do online they will always was to read books printed on paper.

This seems to be a contradictory statement -- they know they will be reading and sharing books electronically but they will always want to read on paper. 

Somehow this doesn't stack up.  Makes me wonder where the disconnect is happening.  Is it a case of kids repeating what they hear from parents and teachers?  Is it a case of a woefully backward education system?  Is this finding a result of skewed survey results -- the report was written by the biggest children's publisher in the world?

I suspect there is no way to answer these questions.  I suppose that in the end, these results are a reflection of our entire society's attitudes about technology and reading.  It will be fascinating to watch how attitudes and ideas evolve over the coming years. 

del.icio.us Tags: electronic reading,literacy,kids and reading,ebooks about kids

One Laptop Per Child - Version 1.5

Nicholas Negroponte had a good idea: a cheap laptop for the poor children of the world loaded with software and connected to the Internet.

With this in mind, he (along with a few friends) formed a nonprofit group.  They called it OLPC:  One Laptop Per Child.  The organization's mission statement says:

Any nation's most precious natural resource is its children. We believe the emerging world must leverage this resource by tapping into the children's innate capacities to learn, share, and create on their own. Our answer to that challenge is the XO laptop, a children's machine designed for “learning learning.”

Last December OLPC began shipping first version of the XO laptop. 

Version 1 is an amazingly powerful machine for a hundred dollars.   OK, so it actually ended up costing twice as much as projected ($200) and it looks a little like Kermit.  But it is rugged, Internet connected and has great battery life.  All in all a pretty impressive achievement.

Naturally there critics and detractors.  Those who disparage the machine as too simplistic and not powerful enough.  Those who question Nicholas Negraponte's motives. There are Techies who are scandalized that OLPC decided to go ahead and use Microsoft Windows as an alternative operating system.  And to be fair the first version has had it's share of hardware failures and distribution problems.  But all in all, it is a wonderful idea and an impressive achievement.

Of course any technology you can buy is already obsolete.  So last week at the MIT Media Lab, OLPC announced a new version of the laptop.  Dubbed Version 1.5, it is slated for release in 2010 at the low, low price of $75.00. 

Guess what -- the thing is an eBook!

The idea is pretty interesting.  You take two DVD type player screens, add touch capacity and hinge them together.  The book-like configuration can be easily used to simulate book reading.      

 

 

 

Or you can turn it sideways, bring up a touchable image of a keyboard to use for typing and position the other side as a traditional laptop screen. 

Pretty cool, from my point of view!  Makes me wish I were a kid again (sort of).  I can't think of a better way to get a child to learn or to read a book for that matter.

del.icio.us Tags: OLPC,One Laptop Per Child,Negroponte,eBook

Note:  OLPC (like all non profits) can use your help to make this dream a reality.  Find out how you can participate!

Get Caught Reading Month

One of my earliest memories is sitting with my Dad as he read me my nightly bedtime story. 

Dad may have enjoyed our nightly ritual even more than I did.  It was his big chance to indulge in theatrics.  During his daytime life, my Dad was a rather conservative, soft spoken even humble man.  But when it was bedtime story time he became something else all together.  He whispered, roared, created voices and even sang once in a while. 

It is probably safe to say that my love of reading is forever entwined with my love for my Dad.  So, I think it is exquisitely appropriate that May (the month of his birthday) is the month for the "Get Caught Reading Month" campaign.

Dad would have loved it!

This is the ninth annual campaign since The American Association of Publishers decreed May as "Get Caught Reading Month".

This year the Get Caught Reading website  offers a selection of pictures that show a celebrity (like Queen Latifa, Jenna Bush or The Miami Heat) reading. 

These images can be downloaded as a screen saver or ordered as posters.  Or you can use them to send an an ePostcard to a friend. 

One of the most interesting features of the website is the section dedicated to their literacy program.  The most fascinating piece is the Fact Sheet on The Importance of Reading to Young Children. Here are a few of the facts and figures!

Did you know that:

• When you read to a child that in a matter of seconds, thousands of cells in these children's growing brains respond?
• reading adds definition and complexity to the intricate circuitry of the brain that remain largely in place for the rest of these children's lives?
• Literacy later in life depends heavily on a child's environmental influences?
• Reading aloud to children is the single most important way for a child to develop literacy skills?
• Many pediatricians prescribe reading activities at the time of well-child visits?

Evidently all that reading had a part in determining by eventual vocation and avocation.  And here I thought that Dad read to me just for fun!

del.icio.us Tags: books,reading,literacy,Get Caught Reading Month

Just Listen eBook editions

Every now and then I agree to read a friends "must read" book.  I am generally disappointed, but every now and them I am surprised and delighted.

Just Listen was one of those delightful surprises even though I am not a big fan of "coming of age" novels.

Annabel Greene lives in a glass house.  She knows that what you see is very often different than what is real.  Her life is full of examples:

• She has a loving family and good grades but she is miserable
• Modeling is not glamorous and fun and she really wants to quit
• Her beautiful model sister has an eating disorder
• Her perfect Mom has suffered from crippling depression off and on over the years
• Her former best friend is convinced that Annabel slept with her boyfriend even when she didn't
• Owen, the angry loner with whom she shares lunch hour is a sensitive, caring guy who uses his music to cope

She copes by carrying on.  She goes to school, she studies, she does her modeling jobs and tries to cope with her sister's illness.

In her isolation she begins to eat lunch at a table with the other loners and a friendship develops between Owen and her.

Her friendship with Owen and his world view begins to change her view of the world and her place in it.  He teaches her about being honest and finding your own voice.  He teachers her about managing her anger.  He teaches her to appreciate the sound of music, and the blaring loudness of silence.

In the end, Annabel Greene finds her voice and takes charge of her life. 

The characters are fully drawn and finely nuanced.  The story captures the frustration and pain of being almost an adult while carrying a full load of adult secrets.  I wish they had written books like this when I was a teenage!

Here is the publisher's synopsis:

When Annabel, the youngest of three beautiful sisters, has a bitter falling out with her best friend, the popular and exciting Sophie, she suddenly finds herself isolated and friendless. but then she meets Owen, a loner, passionate about music and his weekly radio show, and always determined to tell the truth. And when they develop a friendship, Annabel is not only introduced to new music but is encouraged to listen to her own inner voice. with Owen's help, can Annabel find the courage to speak out about what exactly happened the night her friendship with Sophie came to a screeching halt?

del.icio.us Tags: ebook,.e-book,dessen,just listen,YA fiction

The Daring Book For Girls eBook edition

The Daring Book for Girls is an eclectic mix of games, crafts, history sports and general knowledge.  The book, written by popular "mommy bloggers" Andrea Buchanan, and Miriam Peskowitz, takes us back to a gentler, more innocent time.

My sister brought me the print version exclaiming "you gotta see this book." I picked it up and started browsing.  It was a trip down memory lane. We both remember long-forgotten childhood pleasures: cootie catchers, friendship bracelets, scoter building and willow whistles.  The format reminded us of the old Girl Scout manual (without the planet diagrams) that we used to have laying around the house.  I was charmed.

While there is certainly an old fashioned feel to the book; there are come jarringly contemporary sections  like negotiating a salary, finance and public speaking.  Admittedly, useful and important but not exactly in context with pressing flowers.

The acid test, of course, was putting the book into the hands of my neighbor and her three little girls aged 7, 9 and 10.  The result was fascinating.  The 7 year old was intrigued by pressing flowers, paper airplanes and whistling with two fingers.  The 10 year old experimented with putting her hair up with a pencil and bandana trying.  The 9 year old picked it up, thumbed through it and wandered off to check her Zwinky site. 

Their consensus was that it was "OK". Their Mom on the other hand loved it!  She is hoping that it will be an antidote to the "Mommy, I'm bored" summer ahead.

Obviously this is no where near conclusive but I suspect that it may be indicative of a more general response.  Girls like it; Mom's love it.  Which, all things considered, is probably good news for the authors since the Moms are the ones with the money to buy the book.

For the official stuff you can read the publishers blurb:

The Daring Book for Girls is the manual for everything that girls need to know—and that doesn't mean sewing buttonholes! Whether it's female heroes in history, secret note-passing skills, science projects, friendship bracelets, double Dutch, cats cradle, the perfect cartwheel or the eternal mystery of what boys are thinking, this book has it all. But it's not just a guide to giggling at sleepovers—although that's included, of course! Whether readers consider themselves tomboys, girly-girls, or a little bit of both, this book is every girl's invitation to adventure.

Or watch this video:

 

Technorati Tags: ebooks,e-books,Daring Book for Girls,kids books,eBook review

Call me Gene (eBook edition)

The best thing about my job is that I now get paid for doing what I have always done – reading. All my life people have been handing me books saying “You have to read this.” And mostly I have ‘cause I love to read. Then I got into publishing and people started “handing me books” by mail and these days by email. How cool is that!

Last week a woman by the name of Celeste Bailey sent me an email telling me about her books on genetics: Call Me Gene. She even sent me a copy to read.

I have had special interest in genetics since the day I tried explaining hereditary traits to a very precocious seven year old.

She listened to my explanation very carefully. You could almost see the wheels turning in that little brain. After a moment she said. “Well, I think I have more of my Daddy’s genes than my Mommy's”. She was quiet for a moment and then added “But I’m not bald.”

Right then and there I decided that I should probably stick to reading and not try to be a teacher!

Fortunately, there are people in this world who are teachers. They seem to have a gift for making complex information simple and interesting! Celeste Bailey and her sister Lucy Eskeland are two of them.

Call Me Gene is quite literally fun! Yes, it is a kid’s book, aimed at 7th and 8th graders but I actually leaned a couple of things I didn’t know.

The graphics are great – simple, colorful and informative. By the time I was done, I had refreshed my knowledge about basic genetics, cell structure, cell reproduction, Mendel's heredity experiments, and dominant and recessive genes. The discussion on mutant genes and cloning was well written. You may or may not agree with their opinion about human cloning, but I do applaud them for at least addressing it.

This is a great book for anyone who is interested in genetics from the precocious seven year to her grandparents; and of course, her teachers.

Here’s the official stuff:

Call Me Gene-Third Edition is a science book describing the genetic code and the scientific advances in biotechnology. The book is appropriate for late elementary/middle-school students, either in the classroom or home school. The book is written in a narrative and easy-to-read approach. There are numerous colorful illustrations throughout the book.