This week I have been talking with some young people about what reading is to them and what they like to read about. They had some very fun and very funny things to say.

Catherine, age 4

“I like to read books that are pink and have sparkles that have princesses and girls in them with a prince who loves pink princesses.”

Hank, age 6

“Books are fun only when my mom makes voices and my dad does the actions of the people inside the books.”

Jackson, age 3

“I just like books, they are fun when they are colorful.”

Ryan, age 7

“Books are good. My teachers makes us read for 20 minutes everyday but if I like to book I will read longer. My favorite book is Captain Underpants.”

 

I love hearing kids talk about books. You get such a wide description of their experiences. Ask your kids, or cousins, nieces or nephews what they like to read and what they do to prepare to read. Do they like quiet, alone time, bedtime, long books, pictures, or do they like to make up stories? Let them show you how they read. Then come share!

eBook Week has ended but that does not mean the reading has ended.

In fact Erika Smith of the IndyStar.com has called 2009 the “Year of the eBook.” With retailers gearing up for a paper/ebook fight the winners are yet to be determined. Amazon and Sony have been leading the pack with their ebook readers that have come out early and with a fierce support and book download service. However, Barnes and Noble hopes to lap them with the ebook store they are launching later this year. 

By the year 2012 Price Waterhouse Cooper estimates the sales of ebooks to be around $12 Billion, yeah billion. 

So whats the significance of ebook week and the sales of ebooks? It shows that the market is ready for ebooks. The market is ready becuase the people are ready. The cycle of want and need, desire and purchase or simply, supply and demand. With the market and people ready that means that technology and uses will improve. Better school use, better teaching use, more availability in the classroom and most important more opportunity for our children to read and learn in a 3 dimensional world. 

So download an ebook and get reading!

Share your favorite ebook with us!!

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.

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!

In 1895 Charles Post began adding gadgets, pamphlets and gizmo’s to “entice” buyers to purchase his cereal. His “add-ins” would promise that Grape Nuts could cure appendicitis, make your blood redder and raise your IQ. By 1903 Post was getting $1 million in sales. Why? Because people want to get more for their money. They want to think that the money they spending is getting them more than cardboard, oats and grain. With the addition of Post’s “incentives” people felt better about spending the money they did not have on the this new idea cereal because they were getting a cure or an advantage, or something they could use after the product was gone.

Today, in 2009, we want the same thing. But who of us would buy a cereal that promised a cure for appendicitis or would raise our IQ; probably not most of us. We still want our money to go further and in this economic hardship if we can do that it’s exceptional.

The same idea is still used and is accepted in most things. However, the Publisher that’s responsible for the Harry Potter series is getting slack for selling the books as well as Harry Potter book toys through Scholastic Book Club, the club that is sold through your child classrooms. They argue that they are bribing kids to read. Scholastic’s Judy Newman says ”We’re losing kids’ interest [in reading]. We have to keep them engaged,” when speaking about selling items other than books to kids.  

The idea behind the argument is kids are being desensitized to the world around them. Books are not just enough, they need to come with a toy, games, kit, doll, etc. If you have not noticed it before everything marketed to kids comes with something or has a cartoon, tv show or doll right along with it. Even kids toilet paper has a cartoon friend to remind them when enough is enough.

So is enough enough? Do we really need to give a “prize” to out kids to get them to do what they need to do to succeed? eBooks are all book. They have animation and sounds, but a doll doesn’t come with the finishing of the story. There is a sense of satisfaction that comes from finish the book, then reading the book without the sound. The child is challenged and entertained while doing something that will encourage them to read again.

In a article by Carol Hurst, two different children of the same age but different reading levels and reading backgrounds were asked to tell her about The Hungry Caterpillar (Eric Carle). This is the response:

“This is about a hungry caterpillar that ate a lot of stuff and turned into a butterfly. It is a nice story. I liked it.”

That’s not bad for a beginning second grader’s writing. He certainly gets his point across, but listen to the second child:

“This is a story that I’ve heard all my life. Probably they read it to me when I was a tiny baby. And I still like it. So does my mom.
It’s about a caterpillar that eats all kinds of food. Most of it is good for you, but it just gets more and more. I’d think he’d pop or at least have a stomach ache. Instead he turns into a butterfly and he has the colors of the food he ate in his wings.
My sister thinks that green leaf he ate on the last day made him change. I’m bigger and I know he was supposed to change. They all do.
It’s sort of magic. My teacher says there’s magic all around, like me turning from a baby to a kid.
Eric Carle’s pictures are neat. They are mostly cut and paste — collage — and when he uses tissue you see through the top one to the others. He’s written a huge pile of books. Very Quiet Cricket is special and ends with a surprise.”

This should be a wake up call to us parents. Reading is Fundamental and we are not even on the basic level of fundamentals. The fact that children are sponges and they want to learn, want to be stimulated, want to share the experiences of learning with us parents. We need to get busy, lets face it if we can cook dinner, catch up on the 500 emails that were due out yesterday, laundry and baths all from the same place and with the two hands we have - that is a victory. Most of us do this every day and go to bed wishing we had more time with our kids, to read, play, enjoy and be parents.

That is why online reading is such a great supplement to quiet time with our kids. While we are working online, our kids and be next to us reading, or being read to. Getting entertained by a great story, stimulated to read on their own and getting excited about books and the creative outlet that reading provides.

Nothing says that hot cocoa with mini marshmallows, the only blanket that can take away tears, mom or dad and a laptop is a bad thing. In fact, it can be a great chance to read a new story the second the moment allows.

Comic books seem to bring back memories of doing just enough chores to run to the store getting the latest edition of Superman, a bottle of Crush and a pack of Bubblicious Gum. Ahh, those were the days. But have no fear the Internet is here. Now you can share with your kids the excitement of reading those same comics and some new ones. 

At Marvel Kids you can read about everyone from Spiderman to The Hulk and even some new characters. Kids can watch videos, read digital comics and learn about the characters and their authors. 

You may be asking why kids need to read comics at all, never mind online; well, here is why. They get to use their imagination, explore something that is beyond reality, share in an adventure and be apart of something bigger than they are. Reading these things online, gives them an insight into the stories and a lifelong interest in wonder and creative thought.

According to Behaviorists, imaginative play is key to a toddlers and young child’s cognitive growth and development. 

…we discovered that education is not something which the teacher does, but that it is a natural process which develops spontaneously in the human being. It is not acquired by listening to words, but in virtue of experiences in which the child acts on his environment. The teacher’s task is not to talk, but to prepare and arrange a series of motives for cultural activity in a special environment made for the child. (Dr. Maria Montessori)

It is not just about the words being heard as a child is read to but the interaction between him and the reader. Thus, online reading for children is a great way to combine great interaction as well as cognitive stimulus. 

 

 

In a recent article written by John Biggs, a contributor to CrunchGear.com he says:

We won’t need any more “things” in the basest sense as long as the media we consume is compatible with the things we have. By buying digital, we will point to what formats we want to use. 

He has a point. We consume things, collect things, give things; all in the name of gaining more things. The same things to which we consume (gadgets, phones, game consoles, etc.) can be reloaded, so-to-speak with the things to which we bought them for. For instance, giving this holiday season can be maximized by gifting digital formats to be downloaded to the hardware we already own.

John Biggs goes on to say that:

How should you give digitally? Head over to the Amazon MP3 store and gift an album. Buy someone with an XBox a 1-year 1 DVD/streaming only subscription to Netflix (I know it’s cheating, but tell them not to get the DVD).Buy someone some cool ebooks and some software to read it on their phone.

I am facinated by the fact that when I buy a gift not only does the price of the gift factor in but the wrapping, postage, and card; they cost as well. One of the perks of digital giving, card comes with it no wrapping or shipping. Not only is this cool, it contributes to the “green” movement. 

The fact is we, people, kids, grandmas, teachers; are all telling the industry what to keep, toss and recreate. Conservation does not have to mean skimp on giving, it’s mearly giving the right thing. We can still give music, books, DVD’s; just in a more conscious way. We need to tell the market that digital downloads are user friendly, more convenient, and better for the wants and needs of the public. 

Top 5 Digital Gifts:

 

1. Credit to Wizz-e, allowing your child/family member/friend to enjoy the great selection we provide online.
2. iTunes gift card, can be sent via. email.
3. Wii, Xbox, PS3 gift card to download games 
4. Amazon allows you to download a great deal of various gifts. Video on Demand can be gifted through emailed gift cards. Video on Demand can be played on your PC/MAC or Portable device like TiVo.
5. eGifts has 100+ stores you can purchase egift cards.