Jane’s keen on the Kidthing e-book program as a learning tool for young children
“Last month, I read about a new e-book program for kids called Kidthing.com. Kidthing is based on Adobe flash and is one part audio book and one part video. It really harnesses the ability of a computer to translate into a learning tool for young children.” - Jane, at DearAuthor.com.
The TeleRead take: I can see the positives here. But also consider the very real risk of many busy parents reading less to their kids the old-fashioned way. What’s more, with all the dazzle happening, could Kidthing reduce kids’ appetite for old-fashioned text? I don’t know; I’m just broaching the question. At least Kidthing does show the text with the pictures rather than dispensing with it entirely.
Idea: Any possibility that Kindthing could let parents replace the narrator’s voice with their own, if they read the whole book in segments that the program could run with the video.
Somewhat similar thoughts from Jane: “The future will also bring personalized books where you can add a picture of your child or his or her name so that your child can be inserted, digitally, into a book. While Kidthing couldn’t share specifics, they did tell me that they have deals with movie, games, animation studios; publishers; international publishers; and record companies to provide top notch content.”
A few more details: “The software for Kidthing is free and there are a few free interactive games, coloring sheets and…Horton Hears a Who. Other books can be purchased for a reasonable price (most are around $5.00). The books or games are stored on your computer, but are not transferable due to the digital rights management scheme imposed. The goal is to allow up to 5 computers to access the same purchases and allow the purchases to be shared across a local computer network. Currently, there are Windows XP and Vista versions available with a Mac version coming soon.”
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