Parents! Here's How To Get The Kids Reading! - Simon Cheshire

By Anonymous -

My ebook of
sample chapters 
Attention all parents! It struck me the other day that there's a simple answer to the constant parental dilemma What Books To Buy To Get The Kids Reading. Sure, you could stick with what's in Sainsbury's, or Waterstones, or the review sections of the Sunday papers, but don't forget that these are all required by law to feature only children's books which have a name you've already heard of on the cover. There's a far better alternative: yes, the good ol' Kindle!

Give your kid a Kindle, or download the Kindle app for their iPod or smartphone, and let them loose in the wonderful world of SAMPLES. They can try the first chapters of dozens, hundreds, thousands of books, and all for free. Even the pickiest of readers is certain to find something they like!

Since I've had a Kindle, I've definitely widened the range of stuff I read, all because I can download a couple of chapters at the press of a button. Naturally, a lot of samples just get deleted after a page or two, but I've come across some terrific books that I might otherwise have passed by. For instance, I've read Judith Flanders' excellent book about Victorian crime reporting, The Invention Of Murder, discovered China Mieville's wonderful sci-fi epic Perdido Street Station, and laughed out loud (on the train) at Alexei Sayle's memoir Stalin Ate My Homework.

If the proof of the pudding really is in the eating (and oooh boy, have I eaten a lot of puddings...) there can't be a better way to discover new books, new writers, new everything. I've got so keen on the idea I've even put a free Selection Box of chapters on my own website (plug plug).

Simon Cheshire is a children's writer who'll be your bestest friend ever if you buy his ebooks. 
His website is at www.simoncheshire.co.uk and his site for self-publishers is at www.bookdesign.me.uk

Comments

Jan Needle said…
all true, and splendid stuff (altho i don't have a kindle yet, bad lad). but there's another reason, too. if kids have their own kindles, they can get books their parents don't necessarily approve of. that could lead to disaster, naturally, but it could also allow the punters to read and judge books without the dead hand of parental prejudice. my saddest experience was a book called Wagstaffe the Wind Up Boy, which i wrote specifically because one of my sons never ever ever read books. i can honestly say (and i do mean honestly) i've never met a kid who's read it who didn't love it. teachers and librarians were bombarded by parents who thought it rather rude and unsuitable however (as was my highly respectable and respected publisher, Andre Deutsch) and its 'reach' was thereby restricted to the point of invisibility. i'll be bringing it out on kindle soon. let the wild rumpus commence! (my reluctant reader son, incidentally, read it eleven times.)
23 January 2012 at 10:05
Susan Price said…
Wind him up and let him go! Good luck to both Simon and Jan!
23 January 2012 at 12:25
Catherine Czerkawska said…
Excellent stuff, Simon. (And also looking forward to the wild rumpuses, Jan!) Our reluctant reader son - like many boys, he preferred us to read to him - was enticed with the Radio Times. He wanted to know what was on television and we cruelly told him to find out for himself, which he did in very short order.
23 January 2012 at 13:08
Post a Comment