Dear Reader,
Please welcome today's guest author, Bob Hostetler. He is an award-winning writer whose more than fifty books include the new children's book, I Dream a Dream for You. He lives in Nevada.
With its sweet bedtime rhymes, I Dream a Dream for You is a charming read-aloud bedtime book for toddlers. A family of red pandas make their home in the forest. When it's time for bed, Mom and Dad tuck in their three kiddos, and as they all drift to sleep, dreams come to life through the vibrant pictures and story.
Reach out to Bob for a chance to win one of five copies of I Dream a Dream for You. Email: [email protected]
The Beauty of (Physical) Books
Ebooks are great. I read, on average, twenty-five or more ebooks every year. They're convenient, especially when traveling. They don't take up precious shelf space. They don't have to be dusted.
I don't feel guilty when I read an ebook, but I purposefully choose physical books for the majority of my reading, for numerous reasons. Reading a physical book provides a more sensory experience. Touch, smell, weight, all contribute to the pleasure. Studies suggest that those who read a physical book recall and retain the material better. Some find that reading a physical book causes less eye strain and/or headaches than reading from a screen.
But here's something I've realized only recently, and it relates to the legacy I want to leave my kids and grandkids. We all know that children imitate their older family members--parents, especially, but also grandparents, aunts and uncles, and older siblings. They talk like them, walk like them, play "mommy and daddy," "mowing the lawn," and "doing the dishes."
However, when you use a tablet or an e-reader, your kids or grandkids can't see you reading. They don't necessarily know you're reading a book. From their perspective, unless they're looking over your shoulder, you may be reading Facebook or playing a game. You might be watching a movie or YouTube video. You could be checking a text or email message.
But when you hold a physical book in your hands, it says something to a child or young person who may--even casually--notice. When your youngsters see you curled up in your favorite chair with an absorbing book, laughing with James Thurber, pondering C. S. Lewis, and crying with Nicholas Sparks, it communicates, "This is something people do." It says, "Books are interesting," "Reading is fun," and "This is a great way to use your time." And reading a physical book to or with a child (or letting children read to you!) is one of the most pleasurable experiences our world has to offer, even (or especially) in the age of ebooks, video games, and the internet.
It may seem like a small thing, and maybe it is. And I have no plans to abandon ebooks, by any means. But children live the values they learn from parents and others. Maybe they will value books and reading more if they're given the opportunity to observe the appeal of a good book in the material world.
-- Bob Hostetler
Reach out to Bob for a chance to win one of five copies of I Dream a Dream for You. Email: [email protected]
Thanks for reading with me. It's so good to read with friends.
Suzanne Beecher
[email protected]
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