With all of the fuss around Amazon’s Kindle and Barnes and Nobles’ Nook, it’s no wonder that a very smart someone has finally decided to jump on the bandwagon and offer an ebook platform that is just for kids. It’s called Tumblebooks, and you can find them at a whole bunch of places, some local libraries, and at a special online Tumblebooks library.
What is a Tumblebooks Library
The number one thing that you need to know about tumblebooks is that they’ll work with almost any e-reader, but you will need an e-reader to get the most out of them. I have played with three or four different models, and I know that I really like the Kindle more than the others, but to be honest, they’re all pretty close.
Once you have your e-reader of choice, you simply log into your chose tumblebooks library and make your selections. A tumblebook usually costs just a little bit less than an average ebook, and offers a few interactive activities as well, depending on your model. The pages will show up brightly colored and have plenty of interesting illustrations to keep your child happy.
Literacy with Tumblebooks Library
One of the major reasons why I’m starting to really like the whole e-reader movement is that it’s improving child (and adult) literacy by involving technology. As any teacher will tell you, as soon as you offer a young student the ability to play with something that has a screen and buttons, they’ll be all over it, and this is no exception. Students love to read books from their personal Tumblebooks library, and will often find themselves reading more and more because of it.
What’s more is that when you use an e-reader to deliver these books to your children, there is very limited risk of finding them off on an inappropriate website since most e-readers have limited access to the world wide web.
Conclusion
Overall, it’s tough to find a whole lot of negatives about the inclusion of a tumblebooks library on your personal reading device, although there is one major problem – cost. Even the e-reader is going to cost you some big bucks, and then you also have to factor in the price of numerous books that run you between $5 and $10 a piece. However, if you can swing it, starting your own tumblebooks library is a great thing to look into for your children.