What Adrienne Thinks About That

This sounds just like the toy trend - most toys nowadays seem to have to make noise, have flashing lights, or some other bells & whistles to keep kids interested. They don't need to use their imaginations anymore. I would hate to see that happen with picture books. Half the fun is looking at the pictures and imagining things about them and the story. It seems like little kids don't have to think or imagine for themselves anymore...

This is rich coming from a girl writing on her blog while listening to her new MP3 player, but sometimes technology sucks.

Blogs are good because they foster communication and discussion among people who would have a hard time keeping track of each other otherwise -- very much the case with our blog author and those who regularly comment on watat. MP3 players are good because they let us carry around and listen to large amounts of our music collections whenever we feel like it. Communication, discussion, and music are all good and worthwhile things. As we all know from my links, I'm also a fan of online animation. I guess my big problem is the suggestion that books are somehow limiting in and of themselves, and I get really touchy about kids and technology. I think small kids should be immersed in a very real world full of real things. Let them deal with higher-end technology and the digital universe after they've gotten a solid grasp on concepts like counting and gravity. It's not like you aren't going to get into Harvard if you don't know how to use a mouse by the time you're 5, but it's very likely that you aren't going to end up at Harvard if you can't recite a few nursery rhymes by heart at that age. I don't know.

I completely understand. My mother-in-law is big into giving Jack toys that take batteries, but I'd just rather give him something simple: a doll with a rattle, a squeeky thing, a book. In fact, last night he got the biggest kick out of a styrofoam take out box.

My mother-in-law does give him books too, and most of the toys she gives him are "educational" so I guess its not that bad.

I also think that giving a child a book as a toy will give them a life long love of reading. And I'm all about the reading.

I found it really sad that today I told some teens that they could play Clue and they said... What's Clue? Teens don't play board games anymore do they? Everything has to be played on the computer. (Gawd I sound like an old woman!)

It really really scares me when we watch tv and Jack stares at it, fascinated. Entranced, like there's nothing better in the world. Then it occurs to me that sometimes I'm like that too.

I am looking some stuff up,so I checked in on the blog.You are extrememly correct about this topic.Children are different because they are learning basic things.You had lots of little pre-computer reading & math machines,BUT!BUT!you were read to from birth.You touched the paper,felt the books.In time I pointed to the pictures represented by the words and you read very early.You made a minimum of 1 trip to the library a week.You by God loved books.And you had plenty of them.You even made your own.A computer isn't the same thing at all.Nope.I can't help but feel that the slower,more thoughtful interaction children have with books--which are also completely under their own control,the mental discipline,expansion of concentration,the ability to figure things out in your head are all affected negatively without that solid foundation of just plain old reading.There is a place and a time for TV,video games and such,but I hope to God books are never gone for good.That would be bad.Any electrical gizmo,to some extent,renders the user toward a path of being a passive receiver.I can't help but feel it is crucial for children to interact in a proactive way with the world.I've got to get back to my search before I swear:-0 !

Unrelated topic -- Chuck doesn't post comments to his site as quickly as I'm used to. The Queen is remarkably fast at doing that. Long live the Queen. But I like Chuck's blog too.

Also, how is one able to post comments to his postings if there aren't already comments posted?

Although I agree that digital art has become a whole new dimension for artists, I've always thought that it was kind of cheating. Scanning a rough sketch into your computer and then manipulating it with digital tools doesn't take the same skill or talent required to create a painting or drawing on paper, or a sculpture out of a block of marble. It's a different skill, to be sure, but one that is easily acquired with practice. In other words, it doesn't take a lot of innate talent to create a digital image.

As for turning picture books into ebooks, I wonder how well e-paper will hold up to little teeth, drool, gooey Cheerios, and being dropped in the mud. It is pretty scary to see the path we are on with technology. The paragraph below is from a blog entry I wrote in 2004 and I think it's appropriate here...

"A few days ago, a network technician was telling me about new advances in appliances that he predicts will be standard in most homes in the next few years. These include microwaves that come with a network card (probably wireless) and a barcode scanner that will let you scan the code on a frozen dinner, communicate with the manufacturer's website and have the cook time automatically entered based on the power of your microwave. I sat here thinking that in 10 years, no one is going to be required to actually think to do anything! If we have a "digital divide" now, just think what it will be like then. A whole generation of people who have no idea how to have an idea."

I screwed something up on my settings and I can't figure out how to get the comment thing back. There wasn't much to post about till today other than "yup, still eating crap." So starting today, as I mentioned in the first post, I will be posting and updating at least daily. I'll post before bed tonight. I admire that Adrienne updates here daily, it's one of the reasons I check it so often. I will try to emulate that aspect of her site.

Thanks for the props on my concern about this article. My negative reaction was making me feel like a bit of a fuddy-duddy.

And thank you Jeffrey and Chuck for commenting positively about my comment posting and daily updates. I clearly wouldn't be doing any of this if I didn't enjoy it immensely, but I continue to be so happily amazed that people appreciate and enjoy my efforts. :)

Reading to small children is fun because they can hold the book and turn the page, etc. Lucas wants to be a painter some days, and write stories other days, and occassionally make movies but he always wants to use paper to create so I think Jean Gralley is just daft. why do people think batteries and electronics foster creativity in children? Granted my son has a lot of battery operated toys but he still plays with them after the batteries die and I don't replace them. The Queen has also made sure he has plenty of "real" toys too, the jingle bells are a gift that keep on giving.