For
centuries, people have snuggling up to a good book at bedtime. Some
people have complained that electronic materials just don't have the
same "warm fuzzy" feeling as a book. On the other hand, don't
knock it until you've tried it.
Many classic books for young people are available online including Hugh Lofting's The Voyages of Dr. Dolittle, Voltaire's Candide, Chaucer's Canterbury Tales, Jack London's Call of the Wild, Anna Sewell's Black Beauty, Mary Shelley's Frankenstein, Thoreau's Civil Disobedience, Jane Austen's Pride and Prejudice, Mark Twain's The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, H.G. Wells' The War of the Worlds, Charles Dickens' A Christmas Carol.
Go to one of the following sites and browse the possibilities of great books online. Try searching for a popular classic author or work: Bartleby, Online Books Page, and Project Gutenberg. Or, check out the Top 100.
Read the following materials resources related to electronic books for children and young adults:
E-Books, E-paper, and E-ink- Electronic Books and Online Reading from Teacher Tap
Read the following materials on this page related to fiction
materials for children: Audio Books, Electronic Books in the Real World, Fiction on CD & DVD, Web Books and Selection.
Audio Books
Audio books are a popular electronic technology for young people. In the past, many libraries have provided books-on-tape and books-on-CD. A growing trend is toward books-on-MP3. These can be downloaded to portable MP3 players such as the iPod.
However self-contained MP3 players are growing in popularity with libraries. The Playaway provides a book on a small portable MP3 player with earbuds. It requires a triple A battery. A number of children's books are available such as Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, Charlotte's Web, The Chronicles of Narnia, Inkheart, Watsons Go to Birmington, and Wind in the WIllows. Books are also available for young adults.
Electronic Books in the Real World
Electronic books are great to read in the car because they are "back lit" and don't distract the drive like an overhead light. Laptops are literally a bed warmer with their soft purr and warm bottom.
Some
parents purchase "lap-ware" to read to their children at night.
These are interactive books designed for a parent to read as a child
sits on their lap. Berenstain
Bears Clean Up from Sound Source Interactive is an example
of an interactive book that reads the story aloud to children.
Although many interactive books are sold on CD-ROM, an increasing number of materials are available for handheld devices and specialty "smart toys" such as LeapPad Books.
Although some parents and teachers aren't easily persuaded of the value of electronic books, recent research is demonstrating their value in teaching and learning.
Read Are Electronic Books Effective in Teaching Young Children Reading and Comprehension by Jamillah Grant in the International Journal of Instructional Media (2004, Vol. 31, Issue 3, p303, 6p) (PDF document). (IUPUI password required).
For those who love traditional books, don't despair. E-ink will soon revolutionize traditional books. E-ink allows books to be reused over and over. Readers receive a "blank" book containing special paper. They simple "scan" the book and the pages are automatically printed. Rather than wood paper, the pages are made of tiny electronic material.
Fiction on CD & DVD
Everyone loves a good book. Many print materials have been converted to the "ebook" format. In some cases, sound, animation, and information resources have been added to the original text and graphics.
Children
Many interactive books for children available on CD-ROM. From Mercer Mayer to Dr. Seuss, you can find many popular authors and characters. After reading the page aloud, the computer lets the child explore the animation on the page.
Fictional materials include linear, “read-aloud” books, interactive books, and novels. Some of these resources provide “hypertext”. In other words, users can click on words to link to additional definitions, pronunciation guidance, pictures, or other information.
Living
Books, DK Interactive Learning, Scholastic and Trivola are only a few of the many
interactive book series for young children. Living Books's New Kid on
the Block, Stellaluna and Green
Eggs and Ham (shown on the left) are all examples of books that
have been converted to the CD format. Some books can even be personalized.
You can also find folk and fairy tales. Edmark's Stories and More contains
lots of activities to go with their short stories.
Young Adults
Fictional materials aren’t just for children. Many classic and popular books for teens and adults are available as ebooks. Using a special device or software on your computer such as Adobe eBook Reader, you can download and read novels. The Dinosaur Field Guide and Stephen King's Riding the Bullet are two examples.
There are an increasing number of fictional works that provide a nonlinear fictional world for students to explore rather than using a “page-turning” book metaphor. More of these unique exploration environments will be designed as computers become more sophisticated and virtual reality elements become more integrated into computer software.
An increasing number of young adults are reading graphic novels and comics in an electronic format.
Read Sequential Art, Graphic Novels and Comics Workshop by Annette Lamb for more ideas and lots of examples.
Go to the Marvel Comics website. Skim a classic comic. This site provides some of their most popular comics online at their website. They also have a few materials available on CD-ROM.
Web Books
An increasing number of web-based books for young people have emerged.
Go to the FunBrain Reading website. Skim Diary of a WImpy Kid, Callahan Cousins, or Camp Conidential. For younger students, try a FableVision story such as Tess's Tree.
If you don't have much experience with web-books, consider a trial of one of the subscriptions such as Tumblebooks or Scholastic's BookFlix.
Learn more at Electronic Books and Online Reading from Teacher Tap.
Selection
When selecting interactive books for children and young adults, carefully explore the features of the program. Also, consider how it will be used. For example, a growing number of teachers are using e-books with their interactive whiteboard such as a SmartBoard. In other cases, you might be thinking about students using the e-book independently.
- Do the “bells and whistles” contribute to or distract from the story?
- Is the lettering large enough to read?
- Is the reading level indicated?
- Are multiple reading levels available?
- Can the sound be controlled?
- Can the story, page, and individual words be repeated?
- Is a dictionary provided?
- What about pronunciations?
- Is a bilingual element integrated into the system?
- Are games or activities provides to extend the experience?
- Is visual and auditory help provided for young learners to increase independence?
Look for the learning aspects of the interactive book. Many ebooks for children including activities and thinking games. Some include multiple reading levels and help to increase independent use. The example on the left is one of many Clifford books from Scholastic called Thinking Adventures.
Go to Scholastic and read a Clifford Interactive Storybook.
View Reading Centers (7:47)
At Taylor Elementary School students use computers in centers to help them find resources to hone their reading and writing skills (Grade 4). - Available through WHRO
Download free Windows Media Player.