Me & You, the Keepsake Book & Giveaway

{Firstly, wow what a great response to our first podcast episode, my nerves have been (somewhat) relieved, so Thank You to everyone who listened and gave us such great feedback! It really is appreciated so much}

Today, I have such a lovely book to share with you. When I first saw this book I really was taken aback at how gorgeous it was, and how many loving hours must have gone into creating something that is so beautiful and so personal.

Won over by E-Books for Kids

I had stayed away from electronic kid's books thus far because I wasn't sure how I felt about them.  I feel like kids need that authentic experience of touching the books, physically holding them and turning the pages. I think that it is easier to engage in the book by having it physically in their grasp and feeling the pages and you just don't get that same feeling from holding an iPad. I didn't want to start an iPad addiction for my toddler too early in life, or have to share my iPad with him!!

Then, the other day I decided to try out some electronic kids books and made a couple of purchases. I pretty much only read books on my phone or iPad these days, I can't remember the last time I bought a hardback, and so it got me thinking about kids books again. I thought because we were going to be going on another plane trip this week (a 5 hour one eeeek), it might be worth investing in some.  So, I looked up one of my favourite kids authors, Nick Bland, the guy who wrote The Very Cranky Bear (my favourite kids book!!!). I found that there are some really cool versions of his books as iPad apps. I bought The Very Hungry Bear, and The Wrong Book. I love that they are narrated by Aussie comedians, they are interactive, Ezra spends most of the time touching the screen to make things happen and he really loves them too. You can also record and play back your own voice (handy for FIFO families), and they are just fun. They are easy to pull out at a Dr's waiting room to subdue a wild toddler, or if you are travelling and don't have lots of room for books, I read Fox in Sox twice a day for a week when we were in Broome, because it was the only book we brought, and it drove me batty.

So, I guess the E-books have won me over. I still don't want to use them exclusively, I  love real paper books. But, I definitely see the value in E-books for kids, and the cost savings is also massive. The electronic age that we are living in probably means that when Ezra and kids of his generation are older, they wont be reading physical books, or writing very often on paper. They will be relying almost entirely on a device that hasn't even been invented or imagined yet.  So, teaching them young to use electronics is not a bad thing, as they will need to be able to adapt and be prepared to use them when they are at school,  I feel it is just another part of adding value to their development.

Have you gotten into Electronic books for kids yet, or how do you feel about them?
If you have any good recommendations I would love to hear them too!

And of course linking up with Jess @ Essentially Jess for #IBOT today!!

Karen xx

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Why I don't read books anymore

 I used to be a pretty avid novel reader. In my childhood I think I read almost every Enid Blyton and R.L Stine Goosebumps book that existed at the time. I was a big fan of the Babysitters Club as well and then in my early teen years I read a lot of Thriller and Horror novels which were pretty popular at the time, with names like Beach House, and The Cheerleader.  That phase seems weird now that I think back to that. I can't even watch horror movies, how on earth did I cope with these creepy books. 

Lately not much book reading has been happening. There is a good reason for that. I become a hermit and a recluse when I get stuck into a good book. In fact I have a hard time not reading or thinking about the book and the plot. This isn't a great attribute as a wife or mother. So I deliberately have been avoiding novels, until this week. I was having a bit of a lazy sick day and I remembered that I had bought "The Lucky One" on my IPad Kindle months ago. I have wanted to read it for a while. Big mistake. I got hooked, and the danger of having the Kindle app means that I have the book with me everywhere, on my phone and IPad. I couldn't stop.

I read in the car while Joel was driving and trying to talk to me, I read when Ezra was napping, and didn't do any thing around the house that needed to be done, I read instead of doing my study for uni, basically I ignored the world around me and was just engrossed in the lives of these characters. It took me about a day and a half, I stayed up late one night to finish off the last chapter. Basically every spare minute I had, I was reading.

The next morning I woke up thinking, Whoops. Then I spent the day catching up on all the things I had ignored, which still aren't completely caught up on. This is why I don't read books. Although I love to read, I love how books enable you to become so engrossed in another world and experience life from another perspective. I think I need to go on holidays, so I can get engrossed without feeling guilty!

I really did enjoy The Lucky One by Nicholas Sparks, if you are looking for a good easy enjoyable read, you will probably enjoy this.

I would love if you would go and give me a quick vote too!!


Karen xx