Has anyone bought one for their/a kid (age range 9-11)? I'm thinking about getting my daughter one for Christmas, but am a little concerned about the quality and book availability for her age range. The local library sponsors ebook loans...which I thought was pretty cool. I'm a little wary due to how fast my daughter reads and the level of books she's currently working on (4th-8th grade). If she were older and read full-length novels, I probably wouldn't be so hesitant about buying her ebooks...but since the books she's currently reading are shorter and will probably only read once, I'm reserved. Thanks for any input.
the low end one (which IMO is the best one) is now just 80 bucks - just buy it and if she doesn't like it, somebody in your household probably will.
How often can you take her to the library? One trip a week should be enough to keep her occupied in addition with her homework. If she's reading new stuff it might be worth it, but most of the stuff I read as a kid I got at the library.
I got my wife a Kindle this year and now my son, who is 8, wants one. It is a difficult decision, as there are pros and cons. Purchasing books gets quite expensive - around $10 per. There are many classics available for free due to copyright expiration. Libraries are beginning to get with the eBook loaning program, but it still doesn't work well yet IMO - there are long waits for popular books and I've not seen any library where you can renew a book beyond the initial 2-week checkout. On the flipside, since it's an electronic transaction, you'd theoretically be able to check out books from any library in the world that offers e-loaning, as long as you can secure a card without being a local resident. At the end of the day, I don't think it's worth it since my family tends to go to the library and load up once a week or so, and the convenience of an ereader doesn't make up for all of the previously mentioned detriments.
An Amazon Prime account gets you access to the Kindle Owner's Lending Library... something to strongly consider...
Both of my kids (14 and 11) have one and they use them every day. My Kindle is one of my most favorite things.
This pretty much describes the scenario. Still...it's a tough decision because I know she would thoroughly enjoy it for a long time into the future. And...we do have Amazon Prime...and I saw that feature today regarding their loaner library. Tough decisions...hmmmmm. (and thanks for the feedback guys! )
I was always kind of meh when it came to eReaders. It was more dismissive than any real opinion. Then I got one of the $80 dollar ones that came out last month. Now I carry my Kindle everywhere I go. I've read the first three Song of Ice and Fire books already and am on the fourth one. More than I've read in a long time. My son, who is 8, also likes to read on there. I haven't gotten him anything weighty yet but he reads the Brothers Grimm fairy tale stuff on there. I think there would be plenty of stuff for your daughter to read. And like someone else said, if she doesn't like it I'm sure someone else will. It's great.
I like the BN simple touch better because it supports Epub. Epub is the most common format for "free" books.
Don't let book formats deter you. There is a open source software called Calibre that will manage your entire book library and export it to whatever format/eread you have.
I would say this... if it would cut back on the number of books your kid is toting around... it'd be worth it. I actually had someone ask me about this same thing at work today. I told her there are lots of free books out there if you know where to look for them. The cool thing about the kindle is they will replace it fairly simply if it gets damaged *this is from other people's experience not mine - and it's much lighter than carrying around thick books. Also if they can keep it in good shape you can always buy school books for it - cutting down on that annoyance as well
I purchased a Nook Touch, rather than a Kindle, because it had a touch screen version at the time (touch the left or right of the screen to change pages... easy). I knew Amazon was coming out with new Kindles in the fall, but couldn't wait. I needed an e-reader simply because the novel I wanted to read was a thousand page edifice (A Dance with Dragons) that was just too difficult for me to read comfortably. It does a great job. One of the best things about it is if I've discovered a series of books, I can get the next one in a couple of minutes simply by downloading it off the net. I'd like a larger screen, but I figure to wait for the iPad 3 to fill the bill, although the Kindle Fire sounds pretty good. Actually, the new Nook Tablet is giving it a run for its money. I'm going to give it a close look. It's had some good initial reviews. My suggestion for that age group? Get the small Kindle, or the small Nook Touch. Both are essentially the same thing, although the Nook's price has dropped to $99 without the ads as a screensaver. That's a great deal. Mine is sturdy, very light, and I wish I'd had one at that age. Very cool. You can't go wrong with either, in my opinion.
