American kids want their new president to do a few things for them.

Like, bring nine-year-old Lonnie’s dad home from Iraq.

Or find a job for 10-year-old Zachary’s dad in Michigan.

Or make it rain candy for six-year-old Aaron. 

These are just a few of the tiny requests coming from 45 hundred or so 5-12 year olds that were being asked of the newly appointed leader. All petitions came to Kid Thing and with the generous assistance of the National Education Association the winning hopes were neatly organized into not just a book, or journal but an E-BOOK! 

The young bidders then shipped the book off to a very special address, 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue, you know the White House!!  

This little initiative will help launch education, reading and the value of the ebooks. I mean if the President likes them, they have to be super cool!

you can download the eBook for free!

Big things this week in the world of eBooks!

1. It’s Read an eBook Week!

This is a great opportunity to go check out that eBook idea you have been hearing about but not sure what to do with. eBooks are being used all over through readers like Kindle, Sony and even your iPhone. You can take your favorite novel or favorite magazine with you anywhere. 

2. Thinking of saving money?

College students listen up… etextbooks are available and they are for the most part, CHEAPER. Its cheaper to download and etext, then spend the money for the hard copy. Most retailers are providing the alternative and advertising the alternative. These days everyone is counting pennies and with rising cost of education with the lowering amounts of funds, saving big bucks when buying those required  textbooks is a BIG bonus!

3.  Retailers are getting the eBook bug!

Big time retailers are taking notice to the ebooks. Big time book seller Barnes and Noble release a staements saying that they plan to offer ebooks in the coming year. This is huge! The fact the retailers are taking notice to their customers that are wanting the option to purchase ebooks. I know that I love to grab a book the second the mood strikes, when a new book comes from a favorite author I want it now. I don’t wait for it to show up in my mailbox, by then I have lost the desire to read it. Read the full release at TG Daily

4.  Kids dig ebooks!

Ok moms, grandmas, caregivers and au pairs listen up. Need a afternoon activity to help get those kids through the day? Go with them online to read. Reading online is more than putting words in front kids, it is engaging them into a world that changes their perspective on what reading is. Reading is more than words, it is the story that takes a child into his imagination and tell him or her it’s ok believe in something else beside reality. Reading takes a child to a place where they be anything. Allowing kids to read online lets them be in charge of the story and the outcome. It gives control, and what child does not what that. Reading together with a child gives them security and a memory they can hold onto. 

eBook Week is March 8 ~ 14 download some great reads!

In a longitudual study done by the Children’s Hospital of Boston and Harvard Medical School, that concludes

“TV viewing before the age of 2 does not improve a child’s language and visual motor skills.”

The study done on children birth to age 3, published in the March issue of Pediatrics, didn’t measure any detrimental affects of television viewing. But the researchers say there are other indications that children younger than 2 should not watch television, which is the stance of the American Academy of Pediatrics as well.

“Contrary to marketing claims and some parents’ perception that television viewing is beneficial to children’s brain development, no evidence of such benefit was found,” Marie Evans Schmidt, Ph.D., lead author of the study, said in a statement.

BUT…programs like “Sesame Street,” “Between the Lions,” and “WordWorld,”  all provided by PBSKids, have been shown to boost some of the pre-skills necessary for learning to read. There are even some efforts under way to help parents, child caregivers, and teachers of young children to use educational programming more formally. These programs also provide online support to enoucourage and enagage children into reading and words/languge skills. 

Also, Tennessee Public Television is launching a program for children 3-8 that will enhance reading and the way kids learn to read. The program called “Raising Readers” is partnering with 20 PBS stations to bring reading to the fore front on education. Catching children early to start the fundamentals of reading and build the foundation through programs they watch everyday. 

I know that my 5 year reads along with “Between The Lions” and “Word World” I too love playing the games online with him!

What do you see as the pros and cons of promoting educational television as a learning tool?

Alexis Marcionette, 5th grade student from Florida, has signed a deal with K-8 online learning company BigIQkids.com to release her first book “”UGH…You Again!” in eBook format complete with interactive graphics, “click to hear” word functionality and built in reading comprehension and vocabulary quizzes.

This is fantastic. Kids are not only reading online they are writing! This shows those stuffy old adults that reading from a worksheet and then answering question in short answer is not learning. Kids who take things outside the box, are learning. They are taking what they take in and out putting it into a format they see. If you did not catch that allow me to rephrase. Billy, a 5 year old in kindergarten hears a story about a knight and a castle; he then goes home and tells his mother what story they read today in class. She gives him a piece of paper and a crayon and he draw the images he heard about. Then he makes a story to go with those pictures. He took that information in and relayed it into something tangible that he can now share with others. He learned. In opposition, Susie who is 7 read a short story in class today about a man who discovered a technique for pasteurization. Susie was asked to then write 5 sentences about the story of Louis Pasture. She wrote 5 basic sentences and handed her appear in. When she got home she was asked about her day and what she did. She relayed the information of “some guy who made milk safe.” Because she was forced to regurgitate the information her imagination was blocked. 

This proves that information must be free when teaching children to learn. Not just read but learn. Miss Marcionette took advantage of speaking out in a an area she felt comfortable to explore and therefore share what she is learning. 

Giving children the book is not as important as giving them the knowledge to interpret and share the information inside it.

With these tough economic times everyone it seems is finding a way to utilize what resources they have to not only improve the bottle line but raise the bar for their customers. I can tell you that I love getting magazines, its like a little present in the mail just for me, but to be honest I am finding it a tough justification to pay the cost. Publishers are feeling the same way. With newspaper and magazine sales down 50% publishers are seeking new media to get their news into your hands. 

With the big time sales of E-ink readers such as the Amazon Kindle I & II and the Sony Reader, the man behind the pages of everything from Cosmopolitan to Esquire and the San Francisco Chronicle has put into action a large format wireless E-ink reader of his own. Kenneth Bronfin, exec at Hearst says:

 ”I can’t tell you the details of what we are doing, but I can say we are keenly interested in this, and expect these devices will be a big part of our future,” 

All this comes from the new technology, the money flow is not as flowing and business still want to maintain the integrity and following while cutting the cost of printing. The publishing industry is a $300 billion dollar industry, with most of the income going back into the printing of newspapers and periodicals. Within the year Hearst plans to release a black and white version of the new reader and a large format high resolution model that folds as well as allows for full page reading and ads to be seen. 

What Hearst and its partners plan to do is sell the e-readers to publishers and to take a cut of the revenue derived from selling magazines and newspapers on these devices. The company will, however, leave it to the publishers to develop their own branding and payment models. “That’s something you will never see Amazon do,” someone familiar with the Hearst project said. “They aren’t going to give up control of the devices.”

I love that they are not afraid to let go and allow others to embrace this idea, they know that they have a handle on the market and with this new technology things can only grow and become better . Love this idea. 

What do you think, are E-ink readers better than the paper (non-green) version? Which would you buy?

Visit the Hearst Article

 

Now the greatest ebook site for kids is on Facebook. Keep up with news, new books and all the Wizards fun on the site you spend time on anyway. Check us out and become a fan of Wizz-E. 

In Lew of the official launch of Wizz-e.com

“great”    “so fun”   “coolest graphics”    “more please”

Who were these words flying from you ask? Well, upon the launch we sent out emails to moms, dads, grandparents, and friends asking them to check out the sight and email back their thoughts. They had so much to say. Mostly the comments surprised us. As they told of the search for online books that were diverse enough to keep and toddler engaged and challenging enough to keep a young reader interested so they return to the site. Most had been introduced to ebooks before but not in children’s media. 

They did have some questions too. Steve from Oklahoma asked “the ebook is great but how can a child learn from this media, also is it your intention to release the traditional book?” I answered “by no means.” We are partnering with parents to encourage and engage children though technology, this to which they are already well versed. Karen from New Mexico asked “what are ebooks? Is it something like kindle books?” I answered, “Yes, Karen they are somewhat like Kindle books, however our books are made for young readers. They are designed with audio and animation to enchant the reader and show then that reading can come to life.” Our books are unique and diverse enough for children ages 3-8.

We encourage you to check out WIZZ-E.COM and let us know what you think of the site!!

 

Children 3-8 can rejoice in their options for great reads online!

In a Press Release from PRweb.com

Studies show that the newest generation of students comprehend better and
enjoy more when using technology to read.

Dallas, Tx, February 23, 2009 -

For those parents and educators struggling
to instill the love of reading in their kids, there is a new solution.
eBooks4kidz, a UK based company, is launching Wizz-e.com…
The business was created after the CEO and co-founder, Jeanette McLeod,
struggled to find quality eBooks online for her own kids. “It was
frustrating to search for quality materials online to help my kids read,
only to come up empty. They are the technology generation! This is how they
learn best,” says Mrs. McLeod.

Wizz-e.com is not meant to replace traditional books but work in addition to them. The books are of the highest quality, combined with audio and animation. Combine them with fun games, jokes and coloring pages it is a site geared toward grabbing kids attention and keeping them not only entertained but give them the desire to learn. 

You can read the full article at PR Web

Check out all the fun at Wizz-e.com

 

 

eBooks for kids can now be found at http://www.Wizz-e.com

The castle is open and that means that books are available for download and purchase. If you have been window shopping today the wait is over. Now you can buy books, download free books, sign up for new book notifications and enjoy the fun games and activities our site has to offer.

Come by and Read a Story with Us!

If you have children or have not been living underneath a rock for the last year, you know about the small handheld gaming system made by NIntendo. The Nintendo DS Lite, a double screened gagdget that allows you to play on two screen as well as use both screens to draw, text, keep babies, horses, and pets alive or be a cheerleader, chef and the newest addition to this superb contraption, read entire novels. Classic kids stories, and adult favorites. 

This device is taking ebooks to another level. One that will get them into kids hands which is the idea right? The DS works with Wifi so they can use it on the go as well as at home. Think of it as a “Kindle” Jr. only this one allows you to do so much more than read. This is just another way that technology is being used to encourage kids to read. We have said it before, if you can present the task to a child in a forum that is exciting to them, within their understanding and familiar  to what they normally do they will partake in it. I mean, would you seriously pass this thing up? 

Game is avail. in the UK and soon in the USA: Wired: blog