The popular question "How to make a child love books?" has many answers. Search engines are happy to offer quick solutions. Those interested in getting off the ground will find popular and trendy articles entitled "Seven Steps to the Reading Child", "Ten Rules for Successful Reading" or "Eight Reasons to Teach Children to Read Classics".
What is a sin to conceal, at a time when it seemed to me that, having read the Internet manuals, I have the right to give advice to all sides of the world, myself with pleasure and, as it seemed to me, for the benefit of society tried to write something similar.
All these tips with small variations are reduced to several key concepts: personal example, book environment, freedom of will. It is clear what is meant here. But how does this relate to contemporary reading practices? Are parents reading hypertext, creating a book environment or "stuck in gadgets"?
By writing to someone on Wyber or commenting on the status of friends on Facebook, do parents expand children's understanding of the reading space or introduce them to the reincarnation of TV-sapping? By reading an e-book and text from a tablet or smartphone screen, do parents devalue paper books or demonstrate new forms of reading?
My personal experiment in this field lasts six years and produces some results. Of course, the sample is lame: two adult readers (with only one blistering eye, almost 24 hours a day) and two observing children. The children from birth saw me with an e-book in my hands. Their children's library is growing much faster than my adult library, with one new adult paper book per month accounting for a dozen children's books. I have also found printed books in my hands often, but under certain conditions: good lighting, comfortable home environment.
At the same time, the electronic book is constantly with me: on the playground, while the children ride on the slides, in line to the doctor to reread their favorite poems, in the evening in the children's lit up built into the screen, while the children fall asleep (worked well as a night light), close and long-distance trips, hiking in cafes and restaurants - all with a convenient compact "device". Any attempts of children to get hold of this interactive toy immediately stopped, no other gadget was not so zealous. Most likely, the words "I'll be without it as if without it", "This is the most dear thing for me" contributed to the sacralization of the electronic means of reading.
It is clear that the forbidden fruit is especially sweet, so the children were expected to successfully steal the book, but in an amazing way it was not spoiled (and few things have survived the children's enthusiasm unscathed), but learning how to use it: change the formatting, adjust the lighting, sort and choose files to read, the youngest daughter at the age of two years was found at the stage of confirming the purchase of a children's picture book in the Amazon. The process did not stand still, and at some point the children asked if there was anything for them on my book.
The children of the digital age did not have any problems with the new format of reading. They welcomed the new opportunities. Little or no illustrations, it's great that now you can just listen instead of looking at the book. The book is no longer an object - it's great to have a whole library in one piece, the freedom of choice is off the charts. The book you like is over - it only takes a few minutes to load a sequel, if it exists. In any place, even far from home with his library, you can remember your favorite story - and it will be very quickly in front of your eyes.
The ability to read from a new medium has not affected the relationship with the paper books. Their place in children's reading experience is not infringed at all, and the e-book only increases the presence of reading itself, making it more accessible and diverse. Does this fall into the category of expanding reading space? It seems so.
It is not the very presence of gadgets in the hands of parents, but the purpose of their use is read by children. Reading, whether from a smartphone or a personal computer, is perceived by children as reading, but also as reading hypertext, which leads to a change in the way the reading itself is read. But won't children grow up with this new way?