Books that sing and dance

Unintended consequences are outcomes that are not (or not limited to) what the actor intended in a particular situation. The unintended results may be foreseen or unforeseen, but they should be the logical or likely results of the action. Wikipedia

I enjoyed the (well-run) panel "Digital Books for Children: Blessing, Bane or Both?" led by professor Ann Carlson Weeks (International Children's Digital Library) at the School Library Journal Leadership Summit yesterday. Along with Ann, the panel included these e-book vendors:

• Anil Hemrajani -- Big Universe
• Carl Teitelbaum -- One More Story
• Matt Keller - Capstone Press
• Jennifer Slackman -- Scholastic BookFlix

OK, no insult intended, but each of the commercial panelists showed us some pretty similar products: books that have been digitized and made accessible online on a subscription basis. Many of these books have been taught to sing and dance through clever programming and design, creating materials that are meant to be "played" more than read.

These products have much to recommend them and great potential. Such collections may well give more children greater access to more quality literature. Books that are more interactive in nature may well attract and engage reluctant readers. Stories that read themselves aloud may well be a boon to struggling readers. This is a market (as much or more targeted to the classroom/reading teacher as the school librarian) that will mature and expand. Get used to it.

But of course I can find the dark clouds around every silver lining. Two intriguing questions were raised during the discussion:

1. Why do we need print collections and school libraries (and librarians) with online collections like these? Used in conjunction with the new NetBooks coming on the market, access to quality children's literature can be from anywhere. (I've looked at this question before a couple times 1, 2.) This discussion made Joyce Valenza's assertion in the following session that "libraries can no longer be places to get things, but must become places to do things" very powerful indeed.
2. The second question, I think, may be even more interesting. Does experiencing literature in highly interactive, multimedia formats actually lead to more reading? Or does it simply create a desire for more multimedia experiences? If the print book is vanilla ice cream, the electronic book that sings and dances is the whole hot fudge sundae with cherry and whipped cream. Who's going to want the plain vanilla anymore?
   
   I certainly don't think it is intentional, but these e-books seem another step down the path leading toward a post-literate society. (The postliterate are those who can read, but chose to meet their primary information and recreational needs through audio, video, graphics and gaming.) How ironic that products designed to develop reading may instead doom it.

Be warned: it's the unintended consequences that'll get ya every time.

Comments

[Ben Knight]

Not true about the "pretty similar products" -- I believe Big Universe has a Create tool that makes it stand apart from others.

[Bonnie]

I, too, was searching for products that would help my reluctant reader. It seemed to me that interactive books would be the answer. It wasn't. I found that the best thing will always be at night when I get to put my arm around my daughter and read a book to her. She can watch the pages turn and I can change my voice and make it a real story time experience for her. She laughs and thinks and always wants more. If only I had the time. To me, if you exclude the benefits of bonding with a child (which you can't), the closest thing that represents story time that I want for my daughter is MobiStories, but even they have music and sound effects - which might take away from giving my daughter the chance to use her own creativity. I guess the best thing is to figure out priorities so that I can spend more time throughout the day reading to my child. Then, I will know that I've done what I could to turn a reluctant reader into happy reader.

[Doug Johnson]

@ Ben,

Oh these products do vary somewhat. Some have generators, some games, some more or less animation. The International Children’s Digital Library features books in multiple languages.

Before selecting to add any of these, a thorough review needs to be done for sure.

Thanks for the reminder and chance to clarify,

Doug

@ Bonnie,

My own children (and I) all learned to read sitting on our parents’ and grandparents’ laps under exactly the same conditions you describe. Ideally all children would learn to read in such a warm and personal way, permanently associating reading with caring, comfort and security. Unfortunately that’s not the case.

My advice is to give your daughter both the personal experience AND some screen time with online stories. It doesn’t have to be either or.

Good luck and all the best,

Doug