Seven Reasons to Give a Kid a Kindle:

1. She will think it’s the coolest gift ever.

2. It’s the gift that keeps on giving, endlessly renewing itself: new books at the touch of a button from here until eternity….

3. You’ll never have to rush out to the bookstore to get the next book in the series she’ s absolutely hooked on (unless Kindle doesn’t stock the next book in the series…. ).

4. Her bookshelves will be a lot less cluttered. No untidy piles of books waiting on the night stand.

5. Books are deeply discounted on Kindle. Assuming that they generally cost about $5 less, after about–say–25 books, the device will have paid for itself and you will start clocking up real savings.

6. She will be able to read several books at once without toting a huge book bag around with her.

7. And did I mention, she’ll think it’s the coolest gift ever?

Six Reasons Not to Give a Kid a Kindle:

1. Do you really want your absent-minded teen to have to keep track, on a daily basis, of  something that costs several hundred dollars?

2. It’s too easy to shop on a Kindle–just the touch of a button, no credit card details required.  What if she buys five books a day?

3. I like to know what my teen is reading; much harder to monitor, on a Kindle.

4. What if she wants to lend a book to a friend? No way is she lending out her Kindle…

5. She can’t read a Kindle at the beach, in the bath, or up a tree.

6. I bet she’ll be wearing glasses within six months if she starts reading on a screen full time–yes, despite what they say about it being no-glare etc.

BUT she will still think it’s the coolest gift ever

6 thoughts on “Should You Give a Kid a Kindle?

  1. Cool blog! And a fine idea of a gift, one I wasn’t even thinking of. But to make it even more perfect, colleges and universities should start selling their books on the kindle; much, much lighter, and better for your back, too!

  2. Thanks so much for this great topic. We’re discussing it because our son is 14 and totally into anything computer like. Still sitting on the fence because part of my concern – I’d like to see what purchases….but in 10 years I know all kids will have one. – Renee

  3. We had just this discussion over the holidays, because our college-age daughter was, in fact, lugging five or six books from city to city as we traveled. Despite how much lighter it would make her load, she has no desire for a Kindle. She likes the physical book–being able to dog-ear pages, underline, and, as you mention, reading in bed, up a tree, and on a beach.

    I was also recently at a forum where a number of college students were asked if they still read paper-and-ink books. Except for one who said he reads coursework like Shakespeare through open source, they all said they like the physical book for reading, especially for pleasure reading, and said that one of the things they like is that they can say, “This is a great book, you should read it!” and hand it to a friend.” Not something that’s going to happen with a Kindle.

  4. I do have a Sony e-reader, which I think is the same sort of thing, but my daughter wasn’t impressed!

    Just read Married with Baggage by the way, and loved it :o)

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