Good morning everyone!
Kayla has announced to Mark and I that for her birthday she would like either a Kindle, or a Nook, or a MySIMS Racing Game. We haven’t really decided whether we are going to get any of the three, but Her Majesty the sleuth has decided that I have already purchased a Kindle and have it hiding in the house.
From Print Shop Professional 2.0
She made this deduction based upon the fact that when we came home yesterday from work and school, a box from Amazon.com was sitting on the porch, and I had Mark pick it up for me, since my hands were full, and asked him to put it in the bedroom. She told Mark I then told her that she wasn’t allowed to be in the craft room anymore, so that must mean that the box held a Kindle and I was hiding it from her. Neither is true. The box held two books from my childhood, The Lark in the Morn and The Lark on the Wing for which I have been searching for a long time (someone just reissued them in paperback which is why I finally had luck in finding them) and a pad of water color paper. I have no idea where she got the idea that she wasn’t allowed in the craft room anymore; she has been told that she is not allowed to mess with any of my craft supplies in the craft room, but that is very different (and an instruction she pretty much ignores at will anyhow.) Mark tried to explain to her that it probably wasn’t a Kindle, because the two of us usually discuss what we are going to get her, and he and I hadn’t done that yet, but I don’t think she believed him. I will take my turn at disillusioning her when I get home today.
I would really value the advice of all you out there who have Kindles or Nooks – would you, or would you not, buy your 10-year-old child one? (She will be 10 on her next birthday, which is a few weeks away.) If so, which would you choose? If you have gotten your child one, what safeguards do you have in it so that you can screen the books that they see on it?
I look forward to hearing your answers! I can use all the advice I can get.
Have a great day everyone!
Nancy
Tales from the Mom-Side 
Good morning: With Nooks you can download books from the library to your computer and from there to your Nook. With Kindle, you can’t. Parental controls are passive: that is, the library only has certain books and your credit card is the stop for buying. Also with the Nook, Barnes and Noble keeps a record of what you bought so you can download. They also have some books that can lend although I don’t know how that works. I have a nook because of the library download thing.
Thank you for letting me know. I appreciate your input.
Nancy
I have never used a Nook but I purchased a Kindle for my wife for Christmas. She loves it. I’ve used it sparingly but from what I’m able to take from it, it’s a great little product. The e-ink is amazingly easy to read (even in sunlight) and it doesn’t hurt your eyes over time like a backlit screen does. Also with e-ink, it uses less power than a backlit screen. The Kindle lasts almost 2 months for my wife before she has to recharge and she uses it weekly. The unfortunate disadvantage is that you can’t read it in the dark. The wi-fi was very easy to link up with our home wireless network and downloading books is quite fast. There are many free books that you can download from the Amazon store. I think all “classics” are free. I’m not entirely sure what deems a book a “classic” but really, there are more than enough to select from and other free books are added all the time. I never tested to see what parental controls the kindle has but when you link your kindle to your Amazon account, you can see exactly what has been purchased/downloaded on your Amazon account. Very handy if you want to keep track of what books your daughter is downloading to it.
The one complaint that my wife has with the kindle is some of the book pricing. I agree with her on this. Many times the digital kindle version of a book is just as expensive as the printed book on Amazon. That makes absolutely no sense to me at all.
Hope this tidbit of info helps.
Thank you very much. It does help. I agree with your wife on the e-ink in the Kindle; I have one of my own, and really like it. I have a suggestion for you about reading in the dark – the Kindle I am using now had a book cover you could by with a book light that is built into the cover and runs off of the Kindle battery. I have used it and like it. The only drawback to the book light is that it is still a little hard to see the keyboard letters with it, but it shows up the writing on the Kindle page perfectly.
We’re planning on getting the girls (13 and 10) kindles for Christmas. Tom and I both have them and love them. They already read kindle books on their ipod touches thru the free app. Something you might want to try first if a touch or any smartphone is available in the house.
As for controls, you can activate and deactivate devices (kindles, ipods, etc) at will. What I do is activate their device, put their books on it then deactivate it. They can still read the books that are on their device but can’t add anything else. And they don’t have their own amazon accounts. I use my account which they do not have access too. They have to ask me to download/buy anything for them. I run the itunes account the same way.
Hope this helps.
BTW Connor doesn’t want one. He want an ipod touch or we would get him one too. and for them we’ll probably get the WIFI only.
Yes it does; since we’re thinking about the same gift for our girls, that whole twin separated at birth thing is kicking in again, isn’t it? 🙂
Nancy
Nancy, both Mike and I love our Kindles, and Jeremy (who is 11) has been using to read since we’ve had them. We were considering getting him one as well! Like Nicki said, you need an Amazon account to buy books. They do, or used to, offer free books, but they are usually Christian based or classics, so not too much to worry about there. We also have a Math for Mom and Dads book on ours that the kids can use when they need it, lol.
Thanks Sue! Great minds think alike. By the way, does having a Math for Mom and Dads book on the Kindle make either of your boys look at math more? If so, then we definitively have to get Kayla one!
Nancy
I have a kobo but would much rather prefer a Kindle. I think it is a wonderful idea for birthday present! My son uses mine all of the time 🙂
Who makes kobo? I’m glad to know your son uses it as an e-reader a lot. Thanks for your help!
Nancy, I don’t have a Kindle, but I have the app on both my ipod touch and my computer. I just downloaded some books today from Amazon onto the computer, for future transfer to the ipod. I had to check a couple of them because I thought I was just into the Christian stories, but one comment on one of the books made me glad I had read the reviews before I ordered it. I also found some young teen stories for free. Like previous comments, you should be okay if you monitor what books are ordered through your Amazon account.
I have also downloaded the e-book program from Christian Book Distributor onto my computer and ipod and have gotten some free books from there too. Not sure if that is compatable with Kindle, though.
And I have the iBook app on the ipod with some kid’s books — Pooh, Beatrix Potter, and some Louisa May Alcott that I got through itunes.
I love Louisa May Alcott! Little Women is one of my favorite books of all time! I’m glad to know you like them too. Thank you for your input.