Do children use Kindle to read books?

[CJGloucester]

I have recently published a children's story on Kindle but after chatting to a friend, she doesn't think children (8 - 12 year olds in this case) actually read books on Kindle. I'd be interested to know what anyone's experience of this is?
Do your children read books on Kindle?
Do they have their own Kindle?
Is a Kindle on their Xmas list?!

[Jestrin]

I am a school librarian and therefore absolutely love books! We've just recently bought kindles for both our children who are 9 and 12. My 9 year old is a real book worm and loves both books and her kindle. My son is a very reluctant reader and removed all the books, not that there were many, out of his room. I took my kindle on holiday and put a couple of David Walliams books on there. During quiet times, they literally fought over it. Which is why they now have their own kindles. I think my son likes his because it is a 'gadget'. Positives: you can instantly download a book and start reading. The books are cheaper or free. Negatives: not colour and therefore perhaps less illustrations to entice the reader.

[CJGloucester]

Thanks for that Jestrin. Wasn't sure if I was doing the right thing and publishing on Kindle.

[MadameCreeper]

My children read on their Kobo's

[chicaguapa]

DD(11) reads on hers, though she does prefer actual books. But she'll happily take it away with her.

[changejustforyou]

We have a "family" kindle, and both dds use it (dd2 6y and dd1 9y).

[Arcticwaffle]

12yo has a kindle and her younger sisters read on it too. I'd say it's not the cheapest way of reading books, not compared to library/charity shops/school fete book buying which we do a lot of. Adult books are often bargains on kindle whereas the children's books seem to be similar prices to new paperback prices, and my dc just romp through them. That's the main negative for me, apart from that all dc enjoy reading on the kindle, and I download the freebie classics for them on it, if you or dc like old classics the kindle is great as so many of them are free.

[Dillydollydaydream]

My 9yr old dd uses a kobo. She's always reading.

[TooManyQualityStreet]

My DD (11) reads kids book that i've downloaded for her on my Kindle.

DS (7) is a bit more of a reluctant reader so he doesn't generally read on the Kindle though he has occasionally used the Kindle App on our iPad. I think he prefers the screen/colour.

Maybe now that there's the Kindle Fire out it won't be so much of a problem.

[TunipTheVegedude]

My 7yo dd is begging me for a Kindle full of Jacqueline Wilsons, but she ain't getting one.

I would imagine if you give it a year or two there will be more kids with their parents' old Kindles passed down to them. There's no reason why they wouldn't like to use them but there can't be many kids out there who actually have them.

I've been surprised by how many kids' books aren't yet available on Kindle (ones I wanted to read myself) but I suppose it hasn't yet hit the critical mass of enough child readers to make it worthwhile for the publishers to put practically every book on there. I am sure it will increase massively soon though.

[NotMostPeople]

We have three kindles between five of us. DD1 who is 13 is a purist and has decided she prefers a proper book, DD2 and DS love reading on the kindle they're 10 and 11.

[D0oinMeCleanin]

Dd1 has a Kindle. When checking her balance I was pleasantly surprised to see she used over half of her "kindle allowance" to buy books. She's bought four in total, although these are mainly by authors she has already heard of.

She has a Lemony Snicket book and several Jacqueline Wilson books.

[JiltedJohnsJulie]

No they don't have one, they are 5 and 8. A few of their friend have ereader s, a few more are getting them for Christmas. In my experience, and I just know this wont be the Mn experience , its the parents who don't read themselves and don't take their DC to he library who buy the ereader s.

Although if I did replace some of DDs books with an ereader I might be able to get into her bedroom.......

[redlac]

DD who is 6 asked me last night if she could get my Kindle once I get a new one :) She already has some books on it and reads it whenever she gets a chance.

[JiltedJohnsJulie]

Think if I was going to get one I'd go with the kobo, our local library have started loaning out ebook s.

[Dillydollydaydream]

Yes that's the reason we got dd a kobo not a kindle. I can't borrow e library books on my kindle :(

[MuddlingMackem]

It looks like we're going to be spending Christmas money on a family Kindle. DS and I are total bookworms and now that DD is getting better with her reading it looks like she could be too in a year or so.

One thing I'm wondering, is it possible to each have our own folders of books, or are they all bundled in together? It's possible that I may want some unsuitable-for-the-children books and it would be good to keep them separate.

PS We will only getting the basic £69 version, we didn't get that much Christmas money.

PPS Any recommendations of good, free children's books would be much appreciated too. Ta! :)

[Fuzzymum1]

A friend of mine bought her two boys kindles for christmas. they are 6 and 10. They are real bookworms and love them. My almost 6yo DS loves books and is keen to have a kindle app on his (old hand-me-down) ipod touch. I have to work out if I can set him up his own amazon account because I wouldn't want him having access to some of the books I have on my kindle app!

[Fuzzymum1]

A friend of mine bought her two boys kindles for christmas. they are 6 and 10. They are real bookworms and love them. My almost 6yo DS loves books and is keen to have a kindle app on his (old hand-me-down) ipod touch. I have to work out if I can set him up his own amazon account because I wouldn't want him having access to some of the books I have on my kindle app!

[thekitchenfairy]

What's your book CJ? Good for bookworm 10yo DS with kindle vouchers to spend?

DH insisted ds1 nearly 10 absolutely wanted a kindle this Xmas. I wasn't convinced as we are prolific library dwellers and book swappers... But I am pleasantly surprised.... He luffs it and worked out how to download free chapters and find the 12 days sale within a day or so. Still got excited spending a Waterstones voucher on a trolley load of discounted annuals today tho

TBH i think kids can be wary off trying a new author/genre regardless of format, even with an ebook it's al in the sell!

[MrsDmitriTippensKrushnic]

You can put books in folders Muddling. I have a separate 'Kids' folder on mine.

DC have books downloaded onto my Kindle (the Undead Ed ones) which they read on journeys sometimes. It's not a regular thing, mainly because it's my Kindle and I don't to encourage them to pinch it all the time, but I got a Playbook with Kobo(?) on it from work for Christmas, so I'm going to put a lot more on that one for them. It's mainly DD(9) and DS2(12) who borrow it.

[MuddlingMackem]

Thanks MrsDmitri, I bought the kindle on Monday and worked out how to make collections. I now have a 'Muddling's stuff' collection and a 'DS's stuff' collection. Will probably also have a 'DD's stuff' collection on it sooner rather than later.

So far we only have free downloads on it, but I'm working my way through the first of the five Edgar Allan Poe collections I downloaded and DS is reading 'Book of Dragons' I think it's called, by E Nesbit. So so far we're both happy. :)

Technically it's my kindle as I bought it from money my dad gave me, DS only contributed 6p towards it as he had that left on an Argos gift voucher he got for Christmas. I will be controlling how much he gets to use it, but I won't be too mean . . . probably.