Ebook Usage Has Doubled Among Children, But Printed Books are Best For Bedtime

Posted on January 29, 2013

Scholastic has released the fourth edition of its biannual Kids & Family Reading Report. The national survey of children ages 6-17 and their parents looks at changing views of ebooks and general attitudes towards reading.

The findings were pretty interesting. Ebook usage among children has doubled since 2010, from 25% to 46%. Tweens and teens said they would read more if they had more access to ebook. Forty-nine percent of parents say their kids do not read enough for fun -- that's a big increase from 2010's 36%. Parents approve of ebooks: 72% want their kids to read ebooks. Boys were especially motivated to read more if they were given a book on an ereading device.

Ebooks were shown to increase the time children spent reading. Kids who had access to ebooks read more books for fun. But the survey also shows that printed books are still loved. Fifty-eight percent of 9-17 year olds say they will always want to read paper books, even when ebooks are around. As for bedtime, printed books are best. Ebooks just aren't as much fun to read with mom and dad.