By Jeanette McLeod  » Children need to be exposed to books and reading to improve their literacy levels including their vocabulary knowledge. The wider variety of reading matter they are exposed to can develop these skills.

Parents/carers play a critical role in exposing children to reading as well as providing the support and encouragement every child needs. However parents/carers can often be too busy to invest the amount of time needed reading with their children to develop these literacy skills.

So what about other formats available alongside paper books? There are a number of digital or ebooks that are available on the market that require less of the parent/carers time that can supplement a child's exposure to books and reading. They should be seen as complimentary not a replacement as nothing can replace the bond that is created between a parent/carer and child when cuddled up with a book. This article explores the pros and cons of digital books for children. 


Here are the pros of why you should consider digital books for children:

• A child can get exposure to left to right reading, modelled fluency, and the opportunity to associate sounds and letter groupings/words as the text is highlighted and the audio reads along. 

• A child can listen to a story they love time and time again without adult support and the repetition element for young children is vital in their learning process.
• Emerging readers can read stories to themselves and if they do not recognise a word they can click on a particular word and hear it spoken without having to interrupt the story and wait for adult intervention. 

• Reading electronic books can be very engaging medium for reluctant readers.

 Here are the cons of why you may not want to invest in digital books for your children. 

 You need to be assured of the quality of the book before you purchase it. There are some sites that offer very poor quality books that are badly illustrated or are a PDF version of a hard copy book. Check that you can view inside the first few pages or better still a reputable site should offer free examples of books so that you can see the quality on offer.

• Some digital books do not have any functionality such as read along or click on a word. These digitals books will not support your child reading by themselves and will need much more adult intervention. Stick to paper books in this case.
• Digital books are not designed to replace cuddling up and having the human bond of sharing a book. You should not purchase ebooks as a replacement for this activity more that they are in addition to this activity.
• Do not purchase digital books where there is advertising on the site. If you leave your child alone with a computer then they may click through to inappropriate sites from these adverts.

Digital books are not meant as a replacement to paper books or the bond that can be created in sharing a book together. They are meant as an additional resource to encourage children to read more and instil a love of books that will last a lifetime and improve literacy levels. Be sure to check the quality of the product before you buy to make sure it has the functionality that can help your child to read independently. Try the books with your child before you buy to make sure they are suitable.

Digital books can be a great medium for encouraging children to read more. In turn their literacy and vocabulary levels will improve.

• Jeanette McLeod specializes in bringing the magic of books to life through her site wizz-e.com