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Back-to-school time once again and with it comes a sudden, distinct briskness in the air, a certain desire to buy new markers and discussions with The General about how education has changed on our daily walks.
I read lately that this current generation of parents, right now, will very likely be the last to wax nostalgic about genuine, hard cover books as opposed to interactive ebooks and ipad versions. This is not to say that they will eschew the technology for their own children of course but rather, be the last to sentimentally recall reading an actual picture book – exclusively – whilst propped up in someone’s lap. There are plenty of arguments for and against ebooks vs books and redundant to list them here (and unless you have been living in a sealed cave you will have seen the Stephen Fry meme noting that “Books are no more threatened by Kindle, than stairs by elevators”) but what strikes me, is that we often don’t acknowledge that the reason that we were so wholesomely amused in The Good Old Days was because nothing else was available.
I remember how disappointed I was with Etch-A-Sketch, a hugely popular toy in the sixties. (And which has since been updated to an app by the way). My friend had one and when I quickly realized that the most rewarding part was shaking the whole unit rapidly to remove the series of steps I had drawn, I was happy to return to my Jumbo multi-colour pad of paper and crayons. (Plus, I had a much treasured “perfumed” pen with a myriad of colours that could be selected by clicking down the notches on top. Sadly, the “perfume” aspect was somewhat lacking and smelled suspiciously like “hot ballpoint pen.”) Spirograph – foil or otherwise – was equally tiresome. Who wants to waste all that time circling out a weird set of spirals when you could be doing something fun?
But lamest of the lame was Silly Putty (which I also saw at a friend’s house since my mother quite reasonably did not want it to be “trodden all over the house” and therefore forbade it). Aside from coming in a cool egg-like container, the only hype here was that you could (wait for it) press it onto a comic book page, then distort the image by stretching.
When I told my kids this, they looked at me in as though I was fondly recalling playing with a wooden spool by the open fire a là Laura Ingalls Wilder.
I guess what I am saying, after years of reassuring troubled parents in my job with the library, is that it may not be reasonable to expect your child to be begging for a bit of Kipling of an evening when really, they would much prefer this instead. (And to all those parents who insist that their five year old is transfixed by your bedtime readings of the life of Marie Curie – I do not believe you. Let them watch this legitimate classic and then we’ll talk again …)
A middle ground is possible and may even be preferable and I do agree with Fry. And I say this as someone who has still not forgiven Disney for its ghastly interpretations of Winnie-the-Pooh and Tigger when the original drawings by E.H.Shepard were so flawless. We have to accept that apps are here to stay and constantly evolving but it’s important to note that not every charming book (at least yet) will be available as an app so there are still plenty of cuddling opportunities ahead that involve real books. Both versions have merit (and yes, I understand one can cuddle equally well with a tablet too) but books may even increase their appeal with this new status as a novelty item.
I do think we have to start from where we are though and regardless – reading will always be SO much better than Etch-A-Sketch.
I much prefer a book that doesn’t need to be plugged in. I like words on paper and my back and neck prefer it too.
‘looked at me as though I was fondly recalling playing with a wooden spoon by the open fire, a la Laura Ingall Wilder.” LOVE IT! The sass is back!
I freaking LOVED Spirograph! The huge ones! The tiny ones! HUGE AND TINY TOGETHER! I do agree with you on the Silly Putty, though, the only thing going for it was the smell. And we won’t even talk about the tears involved when it inevitably ended up in someone’s hair.
After falling under the spell of ebooks for a few years I have returned to the printed page. There is nothing wrong with ebooks; there are many things right about them (I’ll be getting that Alice app!), but I like paper books just as much now as I did when I was young. I’m sure as my eyesight gets worse or my hands can no longer hold up a great big juicy book I’ll return to ebooks. For now, I’m going to continue enjoying actually turning pages.
I have to agree with Mrs. Loudshoes. I too loved Spirograph, and just recently found a set at Goodwill for $5. I spent hours that day Spirographing away – putting little ones inside of big ones. But, now it’s just sitting on a shelf, so I’ll probably send it back to the Goodwill.
As for Silly Putty, well, after you stretch a few comic book character faces it gets dirty. I refused to buy it for my own daughter after witnessing my sister’s despair after falling asleep with hers – which certainly did end up in her hair.