Reading - convenience versus real pleasure

This is my second entry on e-books versus real books, but the former has become so dominant in people's lives that it brings a fear to my loyalist heart that beats for the latter.

Parents nowadays are already exposing their young kids to the former. Granted, the kids are still enjoying the reading and learning process. However, they don't have the opportunity to fully do so.

I agree with the article by Huang Huifen. The e-book may make it easier for parents to ensure their kids are occupied but the reader of the e-book is not the parent. As a result, there is not enough bonding between the family members. It is as if the kids are merely watching a movie. I do acknowledge the benefit of the interactive games that will help the kids better understand the story though. At the same time, there are other ways to occupy the kids. Parents can give them colouring/activity books, jigsaw puzzles or building blocks/playdough. These toys enhance the creative and mental aspects of the kids' development, far better alternatives to a technological option.

Indeed, real books spark the kids' sensory development through the accompanying features of sound and touch complementing their understanding of the world around them. This form of development is more important to their growth, since it is the most basic one. Also, it is chilling to note that older kids' imaginative skills are compromised due to e-books. The novel and poetry industries will have fewer outstanding writers to come as a result. How will traditional literature continue to survive through the ages? On a note which is closer to home, it is no wonder that the essay content of kids in school suffer. The plots they come up with are too simple, since e-books unfold the plots for them with the interactive features.

I am impressed by a parent who uses both tools to teach her kids the English language. Most parents nowadays use just the e-book. Another parent really hit the nail on its head by saying that reading real books teaches patience. To add on, it enhances the real pleasure of reading via increasing the anticipation of how the plot will proceed. For this to occur though, the power of the language used must be potent enough; the descriptions of the settings and the emotions of the characters must 'speak' so convincingly to the reader that he becomes part of the story and can't wait to live it out.