Toddlers engage more with print books than with ebooks, study says

Families join a weekly story time event at Women and Children First bookstore in Andersonville (Shannon Longworth/MEDILL)

By Shannon Longworth
Medill Reports

Although many parents choose to read to their toddlers from ebooks, a study published this month in the journal Pediatrics says print books are a better option for a child’s development.

In the study, researchers evaluated child engagement through their levels of verbalization and collaboration, which are two critical pieces of the learning process. Ebooks are popular for their convenience, but the study showed that tablets served as a distraction. Parents spent more time explaining how to use the device than they did reading the story displayed on it.

Photo at top: Families join a weekly story-time event at Women and Children First bookstore in Andersonville. (Shannon Longworth/MEDILL)